We know you’ve been busting your hump pinning away, and you’ve been hitting the search engine optimization (SEO) work hardcore. You want to do more, but you may think it’ll take too much time. What if we told you that you could optimize your Pinterest account without even trying? No snake oil salesman tricks here, just simply doing it the right way. Putting a solid effort into Pinterest can pay off in more ways than one, and we’re talking about some nice SEO boosting! Better hurry up and read on.

More chances to show up in the SERPS

The goal of any SEO activity is to be prominently featured in the SERPs, otherwise known as search engine ranking pages. Having a pin-kickin’ Pinterest page can help boost your page to the front of the branded searches. If photos, recipes, and other uber pin-able items are key drivers for your biz, then you would love to have your Pinterest profile on page one. Whole Foods is a rocking example of a company that’s doing just that. Their Pinterest page is ranked 5th when you search “Whole Foods.” Not too shabby, and they’re obviously doing something right because they have over 150k followers. Without a doubt, Pinterest is a huge traffic driver for the organic and natural food company.

Get more links, (remember they are “nofollow”)

Backlinks are still the #1 way to increase your rankings in Google. Each Pin is a different link back to your site. Now before you go off PINNING ALL THE THINGS, remember that all links from Pinterest are “nofollow,” so they do not pass “SEO juice” to your site. “Nofollow” links are a topic of controversy for SEOs on whether they really do or do not pass link juice. One thing can be for certain, if your Pinterest boards rock, people will be more apt to click through to your site.

Pinterest is a search engine

When you hear the words “search engine,” you automatically think Google and (hopefully) Bing. Those are the obvious ones, but there are millions of searches every month on YouTube and of course, Pinterest. It might seem near impossible to rank for any of your keywords in Google, but getting some of your content to the top of Pinterest might be more realistic. Just like getting to the front page of Google, it won’t happen overnight, so be prepared to put in some solid work to get your Pinterest game to front page levels.

Social signals and fresh content

Bing is already using social signals in their rankings, and there’s much speculation about if, and when Google will start doing the same. Might as well get a head start on the competition by beefing up your Pinterest game. A newer bit of news: Bing is now including Pins in Image Searches. This is a huge opportunity for many small businesses to rank on the front page with the big dogs! You’re really killing two birds with one stone here, because it’s no secret that Google and other search engines love to see fresh content in the SERPs. The more high quality, highly shared/re-pinned and relevant content you have will make Google want to crawl your site more.

So there you have it, four easy ways to boost your SEO efforts with Pinterest. Which ways have worked best for you? Be a pal and share in the comments!

For more tips on using Pinterest for your business, grab our free guide,  A Small Business Guide to Pinterest. 

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