#TIPSTUESDAYS: 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PINTEREST THAT YOU PROBABLY DON'T ALREADY

A few weeks ago I headed to London for a morning at Pinterest HQ where I had a delicious breakfast and learnt all about some top tips on how to maximise your Pinterest use with some other lovely bloggers. I took away a notepad full of helpful tips and am so glad I can share some of their top tips with you all! I have to admit I absolutely adore Pinterest but I'm looking forward to putting some more time and effort into my account and also taking on some of these amazing tips that I learnt at the workshop, I hope you find this post helpful!....

1.) Think of Pinterest as Google: I've pretty much always thought of Pinterest as a social media network but the lovely guys at Pinterest advised us to see it more as a 'google' search engine. If you were looking for a 'DIY beauty face mask' for instance, Google would provide less exciting visuals and some links to relevant posts whereas Pinterest will offer exciting rich pins and content with step by steps on how to create your mask. Pinterest to me is essentially Google's 'older, cooler sister'!

2.) Always fill out the description box: Eeeeeep, this is something I really need to get into the habbit of doing as I find myself getting pin-happy and just reposting lots of pins without changing the text to my own. We were advised to always fill out the description box, re-pin and state why you love it or where you found the content - others will be more likely to click through and it will appear less 'spammy'.

3.) Create boards for topical events, i.e Christmas, Valentines day, Easter etc: Around two months before each topical event create a board as people will start to build inspiration for the event. For example around Christmas time, pin your favourite DIY decorations and present ideas, or your favourite festive recipe - this will drive people to your boards as they will be looking for inspiration too!

4.) Put your most relevant boards at the top of your profile: Google will monitorise your content from the top of your boards downwards, if it's nearing Christmas always move your most relevant boards to the top so it will come up in Google searches, essentially driving traffic to your boards/account. 

5.) Always link to the source: Pinterest is a great tool for driving traffic to your blog so always make sure you link your blog post to the pin so people can head to your blog and read the full post. If you've sourced an image from outside of Pinterest/your blog make sure you link it too so people can shop the item or click through from your pin - it's so frustrating when I find a pin of something I love but it has no link or original source. 

6.) Vertical pins work better: We were advised that Vertical pins work better as a high amount of users are on Pinterest via their phones/tablets so it's more natural for the images to sit vertically - this isn't a necessity but it's just more visually pleasing on the eye and makes your boards flow easier.

7.) Don't ever delete boards: Apparently, there's no such thing as 'too many boards' - don't ever delete a board because you think it's not relevant becuase there will more than likely be a time where it's relevant again, like 'Summer beauty' or 'Valentines gift ideas' etc. If you're unhappy with a board why not tweak/delete a few images but don't delete the board in case people are following your board and not your profile, you'll then loose followers. 

8.) Be specific with board titles and descriptions: Whenever you're creating a new board be informative with your board title and description. Make sure you include any relevant information but try not to make it spammy. Also, hashtags aren't really relevant on Pinterest so avoid using those too!

9.) Use a really good cover image: I don't know about you but it always takes me ages to pick my cover image as I find I'm always so fussy! Make sure you pick something relevant, eye catching and a picture that you would always click on yourself. Remember, it's the first thing people will see when they decide to click through onto your board so make it a good one!

10.) Content is evergreen: There was an amazing quote from the event (I can't fully remember it but it was something like): 'The life of a tweet is 2 minutes, the life of a Facebook post is 2 days, but the life of a pin is evergreen' - essentially meaning that your content has the potentially to just keep being re-pinned and constantly be seen by new followers and pinners. Don't create time specific content as your content will always be relevant at some point on Pinterest and that's the beauty of it!

You can follow my Pinterest account here for daily pins of flatlays, marble, interior spaces, rose gold and so much more - see you there! :)What are your top tips for using Pinterest? Did you find this post useful?