Unique Ways to Use Secret Boards on Pinterest

Have you noticed that little “Secret” toggle button on Pinterest when you’re creating a new board? Are you wondering why you’d want to keep a board a secret? If you’re not already using the Pinterest Secret Board feature you are missing out! Read on to learn 6 ways to use Secret Boards on Pinterest. Because who doesn’t love a good Pinterest Hack?

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Here’s what Pinterest says about the secret board feature:
“Only you (and anyone you invite) can see your secret boards. Secret Pins and boards won’t appear in your home feed, in search, or anywhere else around Pinterest.”

Here are 6 Ways to Use Pinterest Secret Boards:

Non Niche Related Pins

Some people have what are known as Bait Boards on their profile. These are used to entice followers outside of their main niche. But if you really want to be taken seriously in your niche, it’s best to just stick to what you know. Decide who your audience is and create and post content for them.

For example – My business is about providing people with tips to succeed with blogging, online marketing, and social media. Having a board about my favourite vegetarian Crock Pot recipes is SO far off topic, it may make me look less professional and potential followers may take my content less seriously.

That’s the sort of board that belongs on a personal Pinterest page. But that doesn’t mean I don’t stumble upon things of personal interest while I’m on Pinterest as my business.

Enter Secret Boards. You can now have as many secret boards as you like (within the 350 overall board limit). So go ahead and create a board for those off-topic, personal items. Just select “Secret Board” when creating/naming it. Pin any non-niche related pins there so you can come back to them later.

 

 

Blog Post Inspiration

Sometimes I’ll read a really inspiring blog post by a fellow blogger and it gives me an idea for a blog post I’d never thought of before. I save those pins on a secret board for later. Then when I’m sitting at my computer with absolutely no idea what to write about, I refer back to that board for motivation. Let me be clear… I do not steal the content of those posts. However, sometimes just the title alone is enough to make me realize I have something unique to say on that same topic. 

 

 

Building a New Board Up Before Making it Public

Would you follow a board that only had 1 or 2 pins within it? Me neither. Having a board with only a couple of pins makes you look unprofessional. No one is going to take you seriously as an expert in your field if you have so little information to share.

If you discover a new topic you’d like to cover, create the board but keep it marked as “Secret”. Continue to add pins to the board until you’ve got a good variety of pins. This also gives you time to find high-quality content instead of just pinning to fill the board up. You can also take the time to add a custom board cover with your branding on it and a well thought out description before making it public.

Once it’s ready, toggle off the “Secret” button and your viewers will instantly have access to a new and very professional looking board full of high-quality content.

Just don’t save too many pins to the board before making it public. Once you change it from Secret to Public, ALL the pins on the board will be posted all at once. Avoid looking spammy or annoying by inundating your followers with 50 pins all about the same topic. (I know….so many things to remember with Pinterest!)

I personally like to publish a new board once it has at least 10 pins. Enough to show you’re sharing quality content on the subject, but not so many pins all at once that could potentially annoy your followers.

 

 

Storage and Organization

I like to keep a copy of all my own pins and affiliate pins on a Secret Board I have for my own personal pins. This way I can find my pin descriptions, titles, and URL links all in one place.

This really comes in handy when making NEW pins for older blog posts. This way you can simply copy the description and URL from your secret board and paste it into your new pin. Saving you from having to rewrite a perfectly keyworded description all over again. I try to change the description or title up a little each time. But this method at least gives me a good base to start.

Bonus Tip: Take the organization one step further by breaking your secret board into sections. Mine has a section for my own pins and another section for affiliate pins.

 

 

Pin Now, Read Later

We have all found pins and blog posts while searching Pinterest that we are interested in but just don’t have time at the moment to REALLY read and focus on. I have a secret board for just those pins that I want to read later and learn from but don’t necessarily want to share with my audience.
Or maybe you’d like to make sure it’s good content BEFORE sharing it with your followers. 

 

 

Collaboration Projects

You can create a secret board but add collaborators so you can work on a board with others. You can add to that secret board and only the people you’ve added as collaborators will see those pins. This works great for things like work projects and events like surprise parties or wedding planning with your bridesmaids. My favourite idea is sharing Christmas wish lists with family members. Anyone else’s mom asks for gift ideas every year??

 

*Post updated to include a 7th way to use Secret Boards*

 

Test a Pin’s Appearance on Mobile View

Since most readers scroll Pinterest on their cell phones, it’s so important to make sure your pin stands out in the user’s home feeds and is easy to read.

If you’re not quite sure about your pin design, save it to a secret board before making it public. Then open Pinterest up on your phone and have a look. Are your fonts big enough now that it’s so much smaller than it was when you designed it? Does it stand out and grab attention? Adjust if needed before you publish and enjoy knowing you’ve given that pin a great chance at getting clicked.

 

 

Now that you have some ideas, simply create a new board and toggle “Secret” when you name it. That’s it!

Where are my secret boards on Pinterest?

I’ve had a few people ask me this. To find your secret boards, click on your “Boards” tab on your profile. Scroll through all your personal boards and group boards. Your secret boards will be at the very bottom, underneath all your public boards.

 

I hope this list gives you some helpful ideas to utilize the Secret Board feature. It really can help you keep your Pinterest account organized and can also act as a virtual planner and To-Do List.

And if Pinterest is still a big mystery to you, I can’t say enough good things about the Pinteresting Strategies course. It’s by far the best investment I’ve made for my blog. 

Do you have any other useful ways to use Pinterest Secret Boards?

 

 

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For more handy dandy Pinterest Tips, check out my board – Pinterest Tips for Bloggers:

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