What makes a successful pin? Pinterest is a dreamy, visual website where people go for inspiration and planning. To create successful Pins for Pinterest, you melt into the aspirational aspect and inspire people to save your Pins to their boards.

The most shared Pins are helpful and beautiful. I’d like to share the elements of a successful Pinterest Pin with examples to help you be more proactive in your Pinterest execution.

Design matters

On Pinterest, long, tall images command the show taking up the most visual real estate in the Pinterest feed. Pinterest’s preferred image aspect ratio is 2:3 to 1:3.5.

To create pins that generate interaction, design images 1000 x 1500 pixels. While this size might not be optimal for your blog, you can create a pin on Pinterest with your custom graphic and embed your pin into your blog post. This size creates an engaging invitation to repin your pinned article.

You can highlight your Pinterest Pins by showcasing them on your profile cover. From your main Pinterest profile, select the pencil in the top right corner and choose to show a specific board or recent activity which is Pins people saved from your claimed website and linked accounts.

On my Pinterest profile, I share my board for my blog.

Add context to your content

Your Pinterest pin images should help tell the story of your article, recipe, or craft that you’re sharing. The image is a breadcrumb leading to the main meal, and people don’t want a surprise when they get there.

Do a few searches on Pinterest to compare what people will see when they search for your keywords.

Use high-quality images

85% of Pinterest activity takes place up close and personal on mobile phones, so people are looking directly at your graphic. Depending on the size of the images, three to four images will be showing in the stream or only one picture if people tap to see more.

Are you creating Pinterest images that will stop the scrolling and entice a tap?

Your image needs to capture attention quickly and hold it with exciting text or visuals.

I created this example in Adobe Spark. It’s on-brand, easy to read, and describes the article.

Add your link

Sometimes people get so caught up adding images to Pinterest they forget the crucial step of adding their URL by editing the image once it’s uploaded.

One of the most popular things that people ask me is how to add a new Pin to Pinterest – many people only repin items already on the website.

1. Click + at the bottom right corner of Pinterest and click Upload a Pin
2. Click Choose Image and find the file on your computer
3. Add a URL to your Pin and add a description
4. Pick a board for your Pin
5. Click Save

Craft an interesting description

Write thoughtful descriptions with user-friendly language, and include keywords in the text. Beware: don’t stuff in keywords that aren’t of value to the pin. Make sure the information is helpful, minimal and appeals to pinners. Plus, avoid overly salesy text.

Add keywords for search

Pinterest images are essential, but text counts too. Optimize your pins for search by including industry or niche-specific keywords.

Think about your target market and determine what they’re typing in search when looking for your product or service. Now use those in your Pin text areas:

Pin text

• Title
• Description
• Link text
• Board name
• Link alt text
• Image caption
• Page title
• Page meta title
• Page meta description
• Page meta keywords

The key is to use natural language for your Pinterest descriptions. Tell people what your article is about to inspire them to click through to read it on your blog.

Successful pins have hashtags

Hashtags for Pins are in the description and help your Pin reach more people. To add a hashtag to your Pin description, type “#” and add a keyword or phrase. If you want to change your hashtag later, edit the Pin description.

Pinterest says, “Hashtags help Pinners discover the freshest content on Pinterest.”

You can discover related content by clicking on a hashtag in the Pin description. You can also search for a Hashtag, like “#flaylayideas” or “#greensmoothie.”

You might also like to read my Quick and Dirty Guide to Hashtags on Pinterest.

I hope these ideas make your Pinterest Pin creation more effective and natural as you get into the flow of following these best practices images. Spending time and effort will pay off for your Pinterest presence and bring more traffic to your website.

Infographic by MDG Advertising