There are now dozens of social media networks in existence, but few draw the attention and number of visitors that Pinterest does. Currently in the top five social media networks, Pinterest has grown rapidly, from a tiny upstart just a few years ago into one of the world’s most formidable SEO powerhouses. Yes, websites such as Pinterest can offer your business or website great search engine optimization potential when used properly. The only issue is that many businesses fail to utilize Pinterest to its fullest potential in this regard. Whether your website has performed poorly or you simply have some time on your hands to improve overall SEO on your social networks, you will want to continue reading to find out about some simple ways you can optimize your Pinterest profile for SEO.

Tidy Up Privacy Settings

By default, your Pinterest account may have privacy enabled, which will block your exposure in search results. You can rectify this problem by going to your “Search Privacy” settings and disabling this feature. Whenever this feature is enabled, you will not be pinging URLs to Google and other major search engines.

Engage in Local Optimization

There is no doubt room for your small business or brand to thrive in local search results – sites such as Pinterest can help augment your performance in these key SERPs. When you click on “Edit Profile”, you will find several fields that can be filled out to help search engines determine where you are located (address, city, keywords). In addition to this, users can also create specific pinboards that focus upon local events and subjects. You can also improve your relation with select search results by following local individuals who already have an established presence on the network. All of these tiny elements will ultimately snowball into a much more effective SEO strategy that can improve your profile and your website’s performance in various SERPs.

Share, Share, Share

The more footprints you leave across social media, the more social signals you send to various search engines. While you are pinging URLs to your readers on Pinterest, you should also be sharing this content with users on Facebook, Google Plus and other networks; we recommend linking these accounts to enable seamless sharing. In addition to this strategy, you also can share others’ photos and pins in order to garner additional social attention for your own profile. You want to be sure, however, to only promote and pin images that have high resolution and are overall aesthetically pleasing (this maximizes sharing potential).

Tell Us More

There are a variety of different fields within your Pinterest profile that can be filled out in order to provide additional SEO potential. Not only should you be sure to completely fill out the details of your profile, but you should also strive to provide thorough, complete descriptions for each new image or product that you pin. This way, you are constantly conveying an association to search engines between various long tail keywords, your small business website or blog, and your presence on the social media network.