Pinterest, a new social network, was founded in Palo Alto, USA in 2010 by the trio Evan Sharp, Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra. The network is characterized above all by image collections. These image arrangements can be pinned to a virtual bulletin board. Other users can “repin” images, which corresponds to “sharing” or “liking” on other social media platforms.
Explanation of terms and ideas
The term Pinterest can be derived from two words, namely from English. to pin and interest. Consequently, all images that are of interest to a user can be pinned to the platform. At the same time, the idea behind it is that people around the world can exchange information about their interests in the form of images. Originally, it was intended that all images stored on Pinterest would remain public. Due to strong criticism from users, Pinterest also allowed the non-public storage of image material.
- Pinboard = A subject area within a Pinterest account in which individual photos or videos from YouTube and Vimeo can be stored. A user can freely choose the name of a pinboard.
- pin = upload a picture to his wall
- a Pin = An image or video uploaded by a user to a pinboard. This can either come from an external source or be pinned to your own from another pinboard.
Linking to other social media platforms
A Pinterest account can easily be linked to other social network accounts. It is also possible for a user to register with their Facebook or Twitter account. Images uploaded to Pinterest can be automatically published on your own Facebook page or as a tweet after being linked to other social media channels.
Anyone who wants to access Pinterest with their smartphone has been able to access a corresponding app for Apple iO or Google’s Android since 2012.
Distribution
In the spring of 2013, Pinterest already had more than 35 million registered users in the USA. In Germany, shortly after its introduction in 2012, there were more than 800,000 users.
Pinterest, SEO and Marketing
Since the discussion about the importance of so-called social signals for search engine optimization within the SEO scene finds neither clear supporters nor clear opponents, the positive effect of Pinterest on the placement in the search results has not yet been proven. However, it can be assumed that a prominent Pinterest account can be advantageous for companies if it generates traffic.
As part of a marketing campaign, Pinterest can also be used for advertising campaigns or prize campaigns, for example. These actions attract attention to the actual web project (an online shop or a company website) and this attention in turn creates the possibility that individual products will be rediscovered or the number of visitors will increase.
Pinterest is particularly interesting as a marketing tool because the account can be set up with relatively little effort and a large impact can be achieved if attractive images are used that other users “repin” on their own pinboards and thus share and spread. Pinterest is already being used by many large companies to strengthen their brands.
Because each pin can be backlinked to a specific landing page, many webmasters are tempted to use Pinterest as an external link source. However, the positive effect on the rankings has not been proven.