Creating the Best, Most Effective Pin Titles
How’s it going with your Pinterest marketing? If your pins just aren’t getting the attention you had hoped for, there’s a good chance your pin title isn’t as effective as it could be. In this post, we’ll look at some simple tips to write better Pinterest pin titles.
On both your pin image AND the pin title section!
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Optimal Pin Titles on Your Pin Image
Pin titles, headlines, captions, etc. Whatever you choose to call them, they’re important.
First, let’s look at the title on your actual pin. Meaning, the wording you’re using on the pin image itself.
While Pinterest is a search engine, it’s important to remember that it’s a visual search engine.
The way your pin looks matters. And that includes the title or headline you choose to incorporate into your design.
Your title needs to make the Pinterest user want more information. Enough so that they don’t even hesitate to click through to your post.
For example:
Let’s pretend you’re on Pinterest searching for a chocolate chip cookie recipe.
You’re scrolling through a sea of cookie pins.
Are you more likely to click on a pin with the headline: “Chocolate Chip Cookies” OR
“The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Eat!”?
Kind of a no-brainer. Titles matter.
How to write the most engaging pin titles
The key is to create titles that leave the user wanting more.
Think about what wording you can use that would make YOU, the user click on your pin.
Words like “easy”, “simple”, or “foolproof” tend to work well.
It also helps to remember that when people use Pinterest as a search engine they’re looking for an answer to their question.
And your pin has to leave them feeling confident that the answer to their question is just waiting for them by clicking your pin.
For great examples of engaging pin titles, check out this starter pack of FREE Pinterest pin templates HERE.
Another example:
Let’s say someone searches for “ways to help a colicky baby”.
Are they going to click a pin that’s simply titled:
“Colicky Baby Tips” or one that says “7 Effective Hacks to Help a Colicky Baby for Good!”?
There’s a lot of competition out there. The headings you incorporate into your pin image can truly mean the difference between getting traffic or getting lost in a sea of other pins.
Creating Great Pin Titles in the Description Section
Now let’s look at writing better titles in the description section. You’re given 100 characters for your title. And I recommend using as many of those characters as possible!
Why?
Your title section is an important aspect of Pinterest SEO. You’ll want to use keywords here that you think people would use in a search.
Using all 100 characters and as many keywords as possible helps the algorithm figure out what the pin is about. And this helps the pin get found in searches.
Try to change up the title here from what you did on the actual pin image.
Your pin title is what gives your pin image some context. This is also your chance to provide additional info to your image. So it makes sense to seize the opportunity and use a different title here than you did on your image.
Writing Optimal Pin Descriptions
The same can be said for your description as well.
Let’s look at this pin as an example. The image title, pin title, and description each target different keywords.
The image title may resonate with people who feel lazy when it comes to housework.
The pin title will help this pin get found in searches using the words Time-Saving or Cleaning Hacks.
And the description targets lots of highly searched words like, “organizing”, “sanitizing”, “DIY”, and takes it even further by being specific about different rooms of the home.
So you want to try to cover as many keywords as possible. So for example, if someone was looking for some easy cleaning hacks, I may use the word “Effortless” on the pin image, “easy” in the title section, and “simple” in the description section.
Why? Some people might use the word “easy” in their search while others may pick “simple”.
This way, both those words are attached to your pin and you can potentially come up in search results for both!
Testing different pin titles for the same post
Here’s something else you may not have thought of. The title of your post might not be the best possible title for your pin.
For example, I have a post titled “Honest Review of Easy On Page SEO“.
But that title on a Pinterest pin likely wouldn’t stop a Pinterest user mid-scroll and entice a click through.
But a pin title like “The Proven Way to Boost Your Search Engine Traffic” might.
And you can have many different pin titles for the same post. In fact, it’s a great idea to test out various titles and see which ones bring you the most traffic.
I have pins titled “How to Diversify Your Blog Traffic” and others titled “How to Add Multiple Income Streams to Your Blog“.
They both lead to the exact same post, and both titles are relevant to the information within that post.
So when you’re creating your pins, brainstorm as many alternate title ideas as you can for your posts. As long as the information that goes along with each title can still be found in your article, it is totally fine to title your pins differently than the posts.
In Conclusion
I hope these tips help you write the best Pinterest pin titles possible to help get more clicks. But if you still think you need help with your pin titles, check out this very affordable, and super helpful mini book:
Pinterest Traffic Title Hacks For Bloggers
I love and highly recommend this 20 page guide to writing better headlines. You can implement the tips right away and there are some truly helpful hacks you likely haven’t thought of yet.
Here are some additional Pinterest resources to learn more:
How to Properly Set Up Your Pinterest Business Account
7 Reasons to Hire a Pin Designer
Why I Didn’t Click Your Pinterest Pin
Free Pinterest Pin Templates
Like This Post? Share it!
Better Pinterest Pin Title Ideas
I totally agree that it is important to remember that when people use Pinterest as a search engine they’re looking for an answer to their question. Thanks for sharing this!
You’re welcome! I think people sometimes tend to think of Pinterest as a social media platform and not a search engine. But to make it work properly for marketing purposes, we have to treat it as a search engine to see success!
This is such an amazing breakdown. The pin description is very helpful!
So glad you found it helpful, Cyndi!
This was really what I needed as I have always struggled with Pinterest. Will definitely follow these tips
Pinterest can definitely be a struggle 😉 I’m glad you liked the post, Anitha.
This is so helpful. I always struggle with headlines.
Thanks Aditi! Headlines and Titles can be so tricky on Pinterest. Especially if you’re making a new pin for an old post and you don’t want to use the same title over and over again!
Oh my gosh yes, every time you create a pin, you really are creating 3 different titles! I like to use my most catching title as the text overlay on the graphic.
Thanks Evie! And yes! Using the catchy titles on your Pinterest pin to help grab a user’s attention is a great idea.
Great tips!! I’m definitely doing to use them.
Awesome to hear! I love helping people use Pinterest effectively 🙂
This was such a useful tip- especially as a content creator. Thanks for sharing!
I love hearing that! Happy you found some useful tips for your Pinterest title writing.
Gurrrl, I struggle with pin titles. Thanks for the tips! I think I’m going to use the word “foolproof” on my next one. I need to keep a running list and easy, simple, and foolproof are getting added. 🙂
That’s a great idea! I’m so glad you found the pin title tips helpful.
This was informative and helpful. For someone still growing in their pinterest knowledge, this has been beneficial.
Amazing! I love helping people who are still trying to find the way to best use Pinterest marketing for them 🙂
OMG I’m loving this post! My pinterest is so hit and miss…. these tips are sure to help!
Hey Cindy, I’m so happy you found the Pinterest pin title tips helpful 🙂
Love this! Super helpful!
Yay! That makes me happy!
Love this! I am all about learning new tips and tricks, my pinterest has been struggling lately so I can use all the help I can get!
Happy to help 🙂 Thanks, Kayla!
Super helpful! I always struggle when it comes to sitting down and writing these captions and titles so I am glad to have this resource.
I’m so glad you found the pin title tips helpful!
These are all excellent tips! I’m going to apply some of them to my Pinterest strategy. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! I hope the pin title tips help your strategy. Thanks for the comment, Miranda.
This post has been a godsend to me. I have been struggling on Pinterest for months to gain traction and I think this is the reason. I was making my pin title and pin description the same. No wonder It was not happening!
Everyone kept telling me how wonderful Pinterest was and I just couldn’t believe it to be so.
Now I know it was me.
Thank you so much 🙂
Lisa.
This is so nice to hear, Lisa! I’m thrilled you found the Pinterest pin title tips helpful. Thanks for commenting.
This is so true. The title matters just as much as the picture!
For sure! You have to hook the reader with both the pin title and the pin image!
Very useful information. I’m still trying to get my head around Pinterest. What I find hardest is coming up with different titles and descriptions for the one post being pinned to different boards. I have saved this article so I can keep referring to it. Thank you for sharing.
I’m glad you found it helpful, Joanna 🙂
Just what I need. Now I know “keyword” is the key. Thanks so much for the info
With Pinterest, keywords are everything. Think of it as a search engine and you’ll get more positive results.