335 | Pinterest Foundations Every Course Skips That Are Costing You Traffic

You're creating Pinterest graphics, following the course advice, and still getting zero clicks. The problem isn't your design. It's your foundation — and most Pinterest courses skip it completely. In this episode, I'm breaking down the 5 foundational pieces every successful Pinterest account has that almost nobody teaches.  In this episode, we cover:

• Why Pinterest is a search engine — not social media — and why that changes everything
• How board names (not board covers) affect your search ranking
• What your Pinterest profile needs to say to attract your ideal client
• The difference between poetic pin descriptions and commercial intent keywords
• The one metric almost everyone is tracking wrong — including Pinterest experts
• How one client tripled her traffic in two weeks just by fixing her foundation

ALL THE LINKS: https://jenvazquez.com/5-pinterest-foundations/

Transcript

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I know this might be controversial, but Pinterest courses teach you to make pretty pins. They skip the foundation that actually matters, and foundation piece number five will shock you. Hey, I'm Jen Vasquez, Pinterest Pioneer, since 2009, and I audit Pinterest accounts that aren't converting. Most people focus on pin design and wonder why their beautiful graphics get zero clicks. Pretty pins don't necessarily drive traffic. Strong foundations do. I'm gonna show you the five foundation pieces that every single Pinterest course skips, but every successful account has. But first, let me show you what happens when you get the foundation wrong. I had a client spending hours, I mean hours, creating Pinterest graphics that looked amazing, but zero traffic, or almost zero traffic. When I audited her account, every foundational piece was wrong. And she learned every single one of those from a very popular course in the Pinterest industry. I'm not gonna say more than that. We fixed the foundation in two weeks and her traffic tripled. Here are the five foundational pieces, and again, number five is the one that will surprise you most because Pinterest experts actually get this wrong too, in my opinion. Foundation number one, Pinterest is search, not social. Pinterest is a search engine. This isn't marketing fluff. This literally changes everything about your strategy. People don't scroll on Pinterest like they do on Instagram. They search with intent. Wedding photographers near me or how to price coaching services, they want answers, not inspiration. Your pens need to answer searches, not get saves. It's a huge difference. Now, Pinterest wants saves. So getting saves along the way is is great. But if you are using Pinterest to grow your business, saves is not where it's at. Foundation number two, board names matter more than covers. Foundation number two, board names are Pinterest's SEO gold. Pretty board covers don't rank in search. Strategic board names do. Now you can have pretty board covers, that's totally fine. But when my clients are spending more time on creating pretty board covers, instead of working on the actual board names that help in search, that's where the problem lies. So instead of dream weddings, try wedding photography inspiration in the Bay Area. Instead of business tips, try how to start a coaching business. Pinterest reads your board names for search ranking. Make them count. If you want to know exactly how Pinterest Search works and how to optimize it, grab my free Pinterest masterclass. The link is in the description, and it covers exactly why Pinterest is so effective at marketing your business. Foundation number three, your profile is your Pinterest storefront. Most people obsess over individual pins and ignore their profile completely. Your business name should include keywords. Your bio should be search-friendly and specific for your ideal clients. Other people are going to find it, but this is where you want a niche so that you stand out in someone's search. Your profile should scream. Foundation four, use commercial intent keywords. Most people write poetic pen descriptions that sound pretty, but they don't convert. Wedding day magic sounds nice and exciting, and it makes you a little curious, but it doesn't convert. Wedding photographer pricing guide targets people ready to hire. Commercial keywords bring commercial traffic. That's how pins become clients. Foundation number five, track the right metrics. And here's the one that will probably shock you. Stop tracking saves and repins. Track pin clicks and outbound clicks because website traffic is telling you if you're gonna grow your business with all of this Pinterest work. Pinterest rewards engagement and Pinterest lives for saves. But you, you need traffic, not saves. A pin with a hundred saves and ten clicks is worse than a pin with 10 saves and a hundred clicks. Most Pinterest experts obsess over vanity metrics such as impressions and saves. Smart business owners track conversion metrics. These five foundations are exactly what I audit in my Pinterest strategy sessions. I don't just look at your pins, I audit your entire Pinterest foundation and give you a customized roadmap to fix whatever is broken. If you want me to audit your Pinterest foundation and create a custom fix-it plan, Pinterest audit details are in the description. Next week, I am showing you how to take professional brand photos with just your iPhone that actually convert browsers into buyers. Perfect timing since the last Thursday of the month. Tell me below, because I'm really curious, which foundational piece that I covered today surprised you the most? Put a number one or two or three or four or five in the comments and tell me which one you need to fix first. I'll give you one specific tip to get you started. See you next week.