Using Pinterest To Improve Business Local Search Ranking

We all know by now that, social networking sites are a powerful tool in promoting and boosting the online presence of our brands. Nowadays, more and more people are spending some fractions of their daily time on social media sites. They actively interact with their friends and followers, particularly on Facebook, sharing and talking about the latest trends and events on the web space. We can take advantage on this online activity for our business by promoting our brand through our social pages.

Aside from Facebook, another popular social networking site that's becoming a new social media addiction is Pinterest. It is an online pinboard that allows users to post their favorite photos or videos, termed as “pins,” on a single page. Users can share their pins with their friends and followers, and browse pinboards of other users. On the basis of popularity, comScore reported that Pinterest, as of January 2012, has more than 11 million active users, making it the third most popular social media site next to Facebook and Twitter. More importantly, search engines can crawl on Pinterest pages. Hence, pins shared by users can appear on Google search results pages. Creating your business profile on Pinterest, then, and applying the right SEO technique on it will boost the online exposure of your brand.

What's in a Pin

You create a backlink for every pin you share on your Pinterest page. The link goes back to either actual file location of the image through a do-follow link or the page where the image is originally posted. A pin can have multiple do-follow links. You can add links on your pin description or by commenting on it. As well, a pin has a custom code, making it easy for other users to share it on other sites.

Local Search Visibility

Here are some factors one should consider before using Pinterest to improve local search visibility.

1. Business and Target Market

What kind of business are you into? Can you effectively promote your products or services mainly by images and videos? If you are into jewelry, house remodeling, or food business, Pinterest can definitely serve best your business interests. You can pin your new or best products to allure potential customers. But if you're into legal or accounting services, Pinterest may not work best for your business. You would have a hard time on procuring creative ideas that could best represent your services on an image or video. In addition, your visuals should have links to your products or services shown on your site so that users can easily find them once they decided to make a purchase. As well, since majority of Pinterest traffic is contributed by women, a business that targets women as consumers will likely has a better chance of success on the site.

2. Maximizing Business Presence

Though creating an account in any social networking sites is easy, reaching out to your prospect clients necessitates consistent efforts. To use your Pinterest page for local SEO, you should add your target keywords and geo-specific information on your page's “About” section. On your profile, indicate your site URL and then, link your Pinterest page to your other social pages like Facebook and Twitter. Your business site should have “follow” button for your Pinterest page and “PinIt” buttons on each of your products or services featured on your site.

On your Pinterest page, create individual boards using names that accentuate your products or services. You can use common marketing terms to attract buyers like “high quality boots for only $49.99” and “On Sale.” On every board, pin photos or videos of your products that are featured on your business site. Add product description and indicate the product price on each pin. More importantly, don't just focus on generating sales through your pins. You should also pin images or videos related to your business. For instance, if you're into selling of clothes, you may pin videos on how to add some accessories on old fashion dresses.

3. Use Hashtags

Hashtags on Twitter enable users to conveniently categorize tweets relating to topics of interest to them. These also work well on Pinterest in highlighting your targeted keywords on the brief description about your pins. Just make sure that your target keywords best describe your pin and they are broad enough to cover a range of topics. By doing so, you are exposing your pins to the largest audience possible.

4. Join Pinterest Community and Promote Interactions

Follow influencers, prospect clients, and other Pinterest business pages. In this way, you can monitor the activities of other users and engage them into friendly interactions. You can like their pin and make some positive comments about it. Or you may re-pin creative content to encourage conversation between you and your followers.

Just like in other social media, you may also hold a contest to promote interactions on your Pinterest page. You may ask your followers to upload pictures of them using your products. Or you may ask new marketing ideas from them. They can upload images, featuring their way of marketing your products or services. Of course, don't forget to reward the winners. You may give either some freebies or special discounts on your products as their prize.http://goarticles.com/article/Using-Pinterest-To-Improve-Business-Local-Search-Ranking/7053071/