Wondering how to increase Pinterest views?
These Pinterest pin design tips for beginners will expand your reach, grow your following, and increase outbound clicks!
This guide to how to create a Pinterest pin teaches bloggers and business owners:
- what a Pinterest pin is
- the main purpose of Pinterest
- pin design ideas and how to create Pinterest images in Canva
- tips to make your Pinterest pins beautiful
- how to create a viral pin
- time-saving hacks to grow your Pinterest profile fast
- how to upload a pin to Pinterest
Let’s get started with a brief introduction to Pinterest pins.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I could earn a commission at no cost to you if you make a purchase using them.
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Pinterest Pin Design Tips for Beginners (2022 Guide)
Since it’s a cross-over between social media and a visual search engine, there is a HUGE learning curve involved in understanding Pinterest!
What works on Instagram doesn’t necessarily work here.
So, if you’re brand new to using Pinterest as a creator, read through the faqs below to get a better sense of this platform’s purpose.
If you already have somewhat of an understanding of Pinterest, feel free to skip this section.
What is Pinterest and how does it work?
Pinterest is a cross-over between social media and a visual search engine.
Users can follow content creators to keep up with their tips and ideas while creating boards to save this information for reference later on.
What is the main purpose of Pinterest?
The main purpose of Pinterest is finding inspiration.
Users browse pins and articles relevant to a topic they want to know more about and have the option to save visuals and guides to recreate those things later on.
Think of a dinner recipe!
Let’s say a busy mom wants to make something slightly different for her family to eat tonight.
She runs a search for “chicken recipes” on Pinterest and this search engine presents her with the images and articles most relevant to her query.
Then, she clicks on a pin to visit that website and try the recipe (or save it for later).
What is a Pinterest pin?
A Pinterest pin is an image or graphic created by a blogger or business owner to attract potential followers and customers to their website.
As a general rule, the more relevant a pin is to a user’s search query, the higher it’ll rank in Pinterest searches.
Higher rankings equal more clicks!
What is the difference between a Board and a Pin on Pinterest?
A Pinterest pin is an image or graphic created to encourage users to visit a blog or website.
A Pinterest Board is where a user saves related ideas – for example, the mom above might have a board just for chicken recipes.
She’ll save pins for various chicken recipes in that board – Thai Chicken Curry, Lemon Keto Chicken, etc.
Here are a few of my Pinterest boards – you can learn how to make your own unique board covers to brand your account in just a few minues.
How to Create a Pin
A pin can be as simple as a photo in portrait orientation.
The optimal Pinterest pin size is 1000 x 1500 px or an aspect ratio of 2:3.
The minimum size your pin should be is 600 x 900 px.
Uploading a Photo as a Pin
There are some business and blogging niches that can achieve Pinterest success through uploading simple photos.
These categories include:
- fashion
- food
- home decor
How to Create Pinterest Images in Canva
Pinterest graphics tend to get more clicks than simple photos so, it’s worth knowing how to design pins.
To create a pin in Canva, first open Canva in your web browser.
If you don’t have a Canva account, I highly recommend that you Sign up for one to save your designs and templates for later.
Canva can be used as a FREE Pinterest pin design tool among its other powerful creative features and makes your workflow SO much easier!
That being said, Canva does also offer a Pro plan that features access to exclusive:
- templates
- graphic elements
- stock photos
- and more
I personally use Canva Pro and love it – it makes designing digital content so much easier.
Once you’ve got Canva open, click the Create a design button in the top right-hand corner.
Search for and select Pinterest pin – you’ll be taken to a blank design screen 1000 x 1500 px in size.
Now, let’s design a really basic pin together!
From the left-hand vertical menu, select Text.
Select Add a heading.
Write your website’s name – mine is nikkiblogs.com
Place it at the bottom or top of your pin design – this is a really important step that sometimes gets forgotten and can lead to trouble later on!
Pin theft is a HUGE issue on Pinterest – other users stealing content from creators and using it to link to their own website.
Labelling content with your brand name makes it easier to report Stolen pins and have them removed from Pinterest’s search results so they don’t get in the way of the outbound clicks you deserve.
Next, click Abhaya Libre ExtraBold to choose a different Font – I chose Montserrat.
Click on 31.5 to change your font size – I chose 80.
Now, click Add a heading again or copy and paste the text you just wrote to duplicate it.
Repeat this until you’ve written a title for your pin.
Move your text and adjust it so it lines up with the suggest top purple border outline.
Now, play with your font style – I like to bold keywords and change less important focus words to feminine or script fonts (that way essential words are the focus of my pins).
Clicking on the Uppercase aA button to change your text can also have a dramatic effect on your pin.
To add a Rectangle graphic to your pin, click Elements and search Rectangle or browse Canva’s suggested Shapes.
Place the shape in front of a word you want to emphasize and click the Position option.
Select Backward.
I like using arrows for descriptive text like the “that get clicks” description I wrote.
Search Arrow or any other graphic you want in Canva’s Elements menu to find a design you like for your pin.
Next, click on Photos to find a stock photo for your pin.
Click on the Filter menu to select only Free images – you can use these visuals royalty-free for your blog and pins as long as you abide by Canva’s terms (click on the i for more information).
To use an image as the background for your pin, click and drag it onto your design.
Once it’s there, select the image and click the checkered Transparency feature to the right of the horizontal menu bar above your image.
I personally like to leave images around 60 or 70, depending on how bold they are to begin with.
Tweak your pin until you’re happy with it and then click the Download arrow next the the Publish to Pinterest button at the top right-hand side of your screen.
I prefer to upload my pins to Tailwind and like to save copies of all of my work on my computer.
Publishing to Pinterest however, will send your design right to the platform where you’ll be able to add the final details for your content.
And there you have it!
You just created a beautiful basic Pinterest pin on Canva.
Pinterest Design Tips for Creating a Viral Pin
I like to describe the best pins as loud without being noisy.
What I mean by this is that you want your pins to stand out from the rest in search results without looking cluttered or messy.
A great pin demands a user’s attention and generally fulfills the following criteria:
- aesthetically pleasing
- uses legible fonts
- contains bright colors like various shades of pinks, oranges, and reds
- uses calligraphy sparingly and for less important words
- keywords are easy to read
- features an exciting title that forces viewers to stop and have a look
- utilizes keywords in the pin’s description
- links to the exact page where related content can be found
Pinterest Pin Ideas That’ll Save Hours of Your Time
You’re probably wondering:
How many pins should I pin per day?
Tailwind, my favorite Pinterest tool for scheduling and sharing content, recommends pinning between 15 to 25 times a day.
But what on Earth does that actually mean?
This number represents your TOTAL number of pins per day – including your content and others.
How do I get my pins noticed on Pinterest?
Right now, Pinterest is favoring NEW content which means you’ll be rewarded for producing it.
Personally, I’ve found success with launching between 3 to 5 new pins a day on Pinterest.
That means graphics that have NEVER been uploaded to the platform before.
However, these new graphics can link to old blog posts!
Is there a limit to how many pins a blog post can have?
No – I actually asked a Pinterest team member this question directly after an accidental Pinterest account suspension that I thought was caused by this.
How can I save time creating pins?
I used to create a unique design for every blog post – doh!
And while my pins were pretty and often popular, pins tend to only have a lifetime of 4 months – your time is better spent focusing on long-term games like SEO.
Instead, create (or purchase) pin templates in Canva to save time.
I’ve gone from creating 3 to 70 new pins in an hour – it makes a HUGE difference.
Upload a Pin on Desktop
To upload a pin on your desktop, open Pinterest in your web browser.
From your business account homepage, click Create in the top left-hand corner of your screen.
Select Create Pin.
Click the arrow icon in the image square to manually locate the graphic you want to upload to Pinterest or Drag and drop your image from your desktop.
In the Add your title field, write a title that very briefly summarizes what the article users will click to is about.
In the tell everyone what your Pin is about field, write a description that recaps what your article covers.
Click the Alt text field to describe what your image is about – this feature is intended to help users who cannot see your visual understand what it’s about.
In the Add a destination link field, add the link to the exact page where users will find the content in this photo or graphic.
Some content creators add a link to their homepage and as a Pinterest user myself, I can tell you that this drives people crazy!
People want to take the quickest route possible to access the information they want NOT rather than searching for it – kind of like driving.
Choose Publish immediately for your Pin to go live right now or select Publish at a later date to schedule it for some time in the future.
Upload a Pin on Mobile
Creating pins on your mobile device is possible but its faster and more efficient to do on desktop, especially with Tailwind for Pinterest!
Use my special link to get one month of Tailwind Plus FREE – you’ll get access to:
- Pinterest scheduling
- Analytics you can’t even get on Pinterest
- Tailwind Communities (similar to Engagement Groups for Instagram but for pins AND they’re ACTUALLY allowed!)
Tailwind is still easily my favorite tool for Pinterest growth today – I rely on it every single time I design a new pin.
To create a pin on your phone or tablet, open the Pinterest app.
Click the + button in the bottom centre of your screen.
Select Pin.
Give Pinterest access to your Camera Roll and select the image or graphic you want to upload to Pinterest.
Click Next.
Write a Title for your pin that utilizes related keywords for Pinterest and tells users what the page they’re about to click on is about.
Write a Description for your Pinterest pin that details what users will learn through your blog post.
In the Destination website field, provide the exact link for the content this image is about NOT your home page.
Under Schedule date, click the pencil icon to change the time your pin goes live or leave it be to Publish now.
Use the Alt text field to describe your graphic for those who cannot see it.
When you’re ready, click Next.
Now, choose the most relevant Board (and ideally, the one with the best performance) to save your pin – this will give your pin a boost the moment its live!
Once you’ve selected your board, that’s it.
Click See Pin to check out how your graphic looks and make any changes if need be.
When designing a Pinterest pin, be sure to do the following for best results:
- create aesthetically pleasing graphics that stand out
- be selective about calligraphy and use easy to read fonts for important keywords
- write catchy titles that will make viewers want to know more
- sprinkle keyword into your pin descriptions
- link to the exact page where your content is located
Be sure to take advantage of one month FREE of Tailwind Plus to give your Pinterest profile a boost today!
Nikki Slivarich
Writer
Blessed mama of two beautiful little girls. I’m a full-time blogger and social media content creator who teaches moms and boss babes how to start an online business. Follow me on social for clever ideas to make money using the platforms you already love!
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