Welcome to the series where we profile social media apps and websites from a digital marketing perspective. Join web design instructor Brad Koyak as he explains the ins and outs of popular social media platforms and how you can use them to improve your business.
Why is Pinterest So Valuable
I want to ensure that you take the time to understand why Pinterest is so important in your digital marketing strategy. Almost every client I talk to writes Pinterest off. I practically have to force them to listen to me.
The reason Pinterest is such a powerhouse is that unlike Facebook and other social media platforms, Pinterest allows search engines to crawl through its site. This means everything on Pinterest is a potential backlink for your brand.
What is a Backlink?
A backlink is a link on a website other than your own that directs users to your site. Google sees the link and thinks, “Hey, if this page is linking to another site then that site must be important.”
For instance, the blog article you are currently reading is present on Laurus College’s website. It includes a link down in my author bio that points back to my professional site. When Google crawls the internet it says, “Oh hey, this guy Brad must be relevant because this college is linking to his site.”
Nofollow vs Dofollow
Now it isn’t just as simple as creating and sharing a hyperlink. You can plaster your brand’s URL up and down your Facebook timeline but it won’t create a backlink. For a hyperlink to be an actual backlink, it also needs to be set as a dofollow link.
A dofollow backlink tells Google and other search engines that this site is giving authority (sometimes called “link juice”) to the linked page. Effectively you are telling Google, “I am vouching for this link.” For this article, we’ll continue to use the term backlink to refer to dofollow links.
A nofollow link still functions as a regular hyperlink for users. However, a nofollow link does not bestow any authority on the site you link to.
Sites with a higher authority rank better in Google searches. Outside of creating a ton of content, the number one way to optimize your search ranking is backlinks.
Getting a Little Technical
For those of you that know a little HTML, here is an article on implementing rel=”nofollow” and similar attributes on your hyperlinks.
Backlinks and Pinterest
Now that we understand backlinks, let’s get into why Pinterest is so critical to your marketing plan. When you share a link on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc. it’s gonna get set to nofollow. That means no matter where that link is placed it is not establishing authority. While of course having the pages and producing content help your ranking, for the most part, the influence these sites have on SEO stops there.
With Pinterest, every single item you create links back to your site. This means every single individual pin from other users, every like, every share, every curated book that includes one of your posts creates a backlink to your personal or business website. This gives you the potential to create an incredible amount of relevancy.
If you create a pin and 10k people share it, that’s 10k backlinks telling Google “hey this site is legit!”
So what is a Pin
Now you understand why this is such a critical piece of your marketing plan, but I’m sure you are thinking “what the heck is pin”
On Pinterest, users organize their internet finds into categories called boards. Boards are made up of individual items called pins. Pinterest, in general, is eye-candy so every pin should be visually appealing.
For instance, a clothing retailer can post their inventory items within their profile as well as include a Pinterest link to individual products on their site. From there, users may see an item, like it, and decide to pin it which creates a backlink.
Pinterest Demographic
Another reason Pinterest is unique is it’s demographics. Pinterest is one of the very few platforms that is dominated by women. Over 77% of Pinterest users are women. In fact, according to Pinterest’s own data, 4/5 of moms use Pinterest. Go ask your mom if she knows about it, I bet she does!
Pinterest is especially popular with Millennials. 80% of Millennial women and 40% of millennial men have a Pinterest account. However, the age demographics represent a large portion of all US internet users aged 18 to 64. The representation among Rural, Urban, and Suburban populations is also evenly spread with over 41% of all users averaging over $75k income annually.
Another huge difference is that pinterest users love to shop. 2/3 of users say they “go to Pinterest to find new ideas, products or services they can trust” and 85% of users have bought something based on pins.
Pinterest is a Friendly Place
When asked, 91% of users responded that they believed Pinterest to be a “positive space.” Pinterest users tend to be encouraging, positive, and constructive on the platform. Users enjoy Pinterest, it’s a curated, anonymous experience that doesn’t require constant updating or giving people a window into your private life. Pinterest is all about enjoying your hobbies in a negative free zone.
Other Values to Marketers
Pinterest gives marketers an open window into consumers’ interests. It allows you to easily discover new trends to turn into content. In addition, Pinterest is clean, fuss-free, and easy to use. Pinterest utilizes a brilliant card gallery web pattern to present hundreds of pins in an easy-on-the-eyes fashion.
Pinterest remains one of the most underutilized social media platforms on the web. It is a marketing powerhouse for any company interested in optimizing search engine presence (SEO).
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