9 Ways to Use Pinterest to Generate Leads, Traffic & Sales

On occasion, I have recommended Pinterest as a tool for select clients to use to help with SEO, branding, traffic and even lead generation.  Often times, I get blank stares when I mention Pinterest. They say, we don’t know enough about Pinterest. I decided to come up with a few best practice tips on how to pin on Pinterest, simple ways you can transform Pinterest to help you generate leads, traffic and even improve your SEO. Sweeeet!

1. Give your business name some oomph on Pinterest, give it some personality 🙂
2. Your username should represent you or your business.
3. In the “About You” section, make it interesting
4. Verify your site, verified sites show up on profile and in search results
5. Carefully name your pin and board descriptions. Use up to 500 characters with strategic keywords you’ll like to be found on Google for, you’ll be surprised to see those same keywords on Google Search results some day! Use #hashtags (explained here).
6. Use tall images rather than wide, brand your images and spice up your pin description
7. Use YOUR OWN pinnable images and photos so you don’t have to credit someone else. In your images, add product information such as your web site or a way to find you/your business
8. Create a pin for people to sign up and opt in to receive email blasts from you, announce upcoming events or contests and promos.
9. Remember to use #hashtags and links in your pin descriptions.

I also came across a thorough 48-slide SlideShare deck by Cynthia Sanchez on how to effectively . Cynthia provides some good statistics on Pinterest and demonstrates easy ways to set up opt-in to email and Facebook.

Here’s an info graphic explaining why Pinterest will rule social media in 2014, click on the image to view it in large size. There’s additional tips provided on the graphic itself, bonus!

Have you used Pinterest successfully for SEO, lead generation and sales? If so, please share your efforts!