Should You Optimize Your Blog Images For SEO OR Pinterest?

Should you optimize your blog images for SEO or Pinterest? Not sure? Read on, my friend! I’m going to let you in on a little secret that can help your Pinterest Marketing strategy AND keep the Google Gods happy.

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here.

When you upload an image into your WordPress site, you’re able to (and you always should) fill out the Metadata of each image. Metadata is all the data attached to your image. You should have something that looks like this when you upload a new image.

Let’s talk about the Alt Text Section

Your alt text (or alternative text) is what will appear as your Pinterest description when your image is pinned from your blog post. So to optimize your alt text for Pinterest marketing purposes, you’d want to fill in whatever you want to go over to Pinterest with the pin. Usually a description of what your blog post is about, including keywords and hashtags. Sounds great, right?

BUT…

The alt text area is actually meant for another purpose. Using the Alt Text section for your pin description can actually hurt your site’s SEO.

It’s really there to give a detailed description so search engines can find your images. It’s how Google can search your image without actually “seeing” it. And we really, really want Google to be able to find us, right?

 

For Optimal SEO

We should be using the Alt Text field to describe what our image looks like – not what our blog post is about. For example, the Alt Text for the image below should read something like this: “Woman in white dress and heels walking down a country road.”

 

The Alt Text will also appear in place of your image if it doesn’t load properly due to an issue, like a broken link.

Not only that, it helps screen readers for the visually impaired give a detailed description of the image. And screen readers cut off at 125 characters. You need more than that for an ideal pin description. Pinterest allows 500 characters.

Let’s Recap

– Setting our Alt Text for SEO is NOT ideal for a Pinterest description.
– Setting our Alt Text for Pinterest is NOT ideal for SEO.

SO frustrating! What’s a blogger to do? Set your Alt Text to be SEO friendly? Or Pinterest friendly?

Enter, The Tasty Pins Plugin.

Game Changer. The best of both worlds!

The Tasty Pins Plugin gives you a section JUST for Pinterest Text!

Now you can set your ideal Pinterest description, including your keywords and hashtags, that will perform well in a Pinterest search.

This also means, anytime someone Pins an image from your post, the description YOU created will automatically post to Pinterest with your image.

You can then set your alt text section with a detailed description of your image, (the way it was always intended,) and boost your SEO. It’s a beautiful thing!

 

More to Love

– Disable Pinning. Once installed, you’ll be able to disable certain images for Pinterest sharing. Adding images to blog posts is a great way to break up paragraphs and keep content interesting.
But we don’t necessarily want all those images being shared to Pinterest. For example, the horizontal, Tasty Pins image in the section above… Since Pinterest prefers vertical pins, it’s not so ideal for sharing on Pinterest. Tasty Pins allows you to disable those not-so-Pinterest-friendly images from being shared. You can also choose a preferred image, like the vertical one below, and force that as the image that gets pinned to Pinterest.

– The Price: is only $29 for an entire year! And if you choose not to renew, you can still use the plugin. You just won’t get access to any updates. So really, if you don’t care about the updates, this is basically a one time purchase of $29 dollars. This is a super affordable boost to your Pinterest Strategy.

– Support when needed. Included in the price is above and beyond customer service. You get unlimited support that can always be counted on to help solve any issues you may have.

– No risk. They have a 15-day money-back guarantee. If you install the plugin and decide it’s not for you, no problem. They give you a full refund. So you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

– It’s Simple! Installing the plugin is quick and easy. From purchase to installation literally takes 5 minutes. Once Tasty Pins is installed, the next time you upload a photo to your site, you’ll instantly be given the new section just for your Pinterest description. As well as a “disable pinning” checkbox for those images you don’t want to be shared.

 

To Wrap This Up…

This one is totally worth the small investment. Once you have it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it! If you’re looking for a boost in your Pinterest strategy while also upping your SEO game, this plugin is a must-have for all bloggers. You can get the Tasty Pins Plugin HERE.

P.S. Tasty Pins was created by WP Tasty. In addition to Tasty Pins, they have some other amazing WordPress plugins with a focus on food bloggers, as well as affiliate marketing. Check out what else they have to offer HERE.

 

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For more tips to improve your SEO, check out my Pinterest board below:

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Blogging Resources I love and recommend:

SiteGround – I use SiteGround as my web hosting platform and I love it. They are trusted by the owners of over 1,900,000 domains! It’s secure, fast, reliable, and the customer service is AMAZING! I’ve had to contact them for help for a few reasons and the support I received was outstanding. Learn more about SiteGround HERE.

Tailwind – Is the Pin Scheduler of choice amongst most bloggers. Tailwind allows me to schedule my pins on the days I can’t be near my computer. It’s like a blog/Pinterest assistant. If you haven’t already, sign up for a FREE month of Tailwind HERE.

Sendowl – Is my favourite source of affiliate income. Earn money through Sendowl 3 different ways. Refer people to their services, promote products for other bloggers, or use it to sell/run your own affiliate program and products (such as e-books). Learn more about Sendowl HERE.

ShareASale – If you are interested in monetizing your blog through affiliate marketing, ShareASale has got to be one of the easiest ways to do it! They’ve got merchants for every niche looking for affiliates to promote their products. Learn more about ShareASale HERE.

Grammarly – I saw a huge improvement in my writing after installing Grammarly. It’s the World’s leading checker of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and plagiarism. The better your writing, the more credible you will seem to you readers. Did I mention they have a FREE version? Check it out HERE.