Tag Archives: pinterest tips

How to verify your website on Pinterest

You can now verify your website on your Pinterest profile. Once you’ve followed the instructions below a red tick will be displayed to the left of your website address proving that you’re the real owner.

It’s worth doing this to confirm that you own the domain name listed in your Pinterest account as it demonstrates to visitors that you are who you say you are and that your website is authentic. It also prevents imposters from using your website and impersonating you or your brand. You will need access to your website server to do this.

To obtain verification for your website:

1) Select your Name on the top right of Pinterest
2) Select Settings
3) Scroll down the page and select the Verify website button next to your web address

You’ll then be prompted to save a weh page file which will need to be uploaded to the root of your web server. If you don’t have access to your web server then save the html file and email it to your web developer or web hosting company and ask them to upload for you.

Whilst your in Settings you should take the opportunity to check that you’ve filled in all the required fields and that the settings are the way you want them.

As soon as the file is uploaded the red check mark will appear on your profile and in search results.

The system currently only supports a limited number of top level domains (eg .com and co.uk), but the Pinterest state they are working to allow users with different domains (like .tv)  to verify their accounts in the future.

It is also hoping to introduce verification for blogging platforms eg Blogger and sites like eBay and Etsy which don’t allow you to upload html files.

If you’d like to find our more about how Pinterest can help your business give me a call on 01242 332016 or book one of my regular Pinterest Masterclasses.

5 tips to power your Pinterest

Pinterest continues to grow apace and is becoming increasingly significant as a source of traffic for websites. Earlier this month Shareholic announced that Pinterest was the 4th largest source of traffic after Google, Direct traffic and Facebook. It’s anecdotal but my own experience supports this. For the first time in August Pinterest featured in the top ten referral sources for intranetfuture.com.

Here are 5 tips to help you power your Pinterest:

1) Add images to your blog or regular news posts and make them pinnable eg eye-catching and easy for visitors to pin. This will help encourage more visitors from Pinterest to read your blog or regular updates. Pin your blog posts images to your own boards too.

2) Learn which of your website or blog images are being pinned by visitors with this link:  http://pinterest.com/source/<yourwebsite>.com This can help you fine tune the tip above - eg show you which are images are working best on your website and blog.

3) It’s not all about pinning from websites. You can upload your own pins. Don’t forget to add an appropriate website address when you do this. There’s no prompt so select Edit and add a website address after you’ve uploaded.

4) If you are promoting your products you can add their cost by putting a £ or $ symbol in the pin’s description followed by the cost of the item. This is then displayed in the top left hand corner.

5) Pinterest isn’t just for photos. You can pin and upload videos, infographics, PowerPoints and pdfs - all of these can work well if you provide a service and don’t have any products to photograph.

I run regular 2 hour workshops on Pinterest in Cheltenham so come along to learn how Pinterest can help drive traffic to your website and grow your business. For plenty of social media tips and statistics check out my Social media works and Social media tips Pinterest boards.