Blogger, Please! I Want To Pin Your Pretty Images, But …

You’re so excited! You’re all set to pin that pretty and powerful image, attached to that incredibly valuable and timely article! You’re a curator of killer content and you’re going to share it far and wide. You click the pin button, ready to share it the Pinterest and …

Much like making sure your articles are tweet-ready for Twitter, bloggers really need to put some power behind making their publishes pin-ready.

I’m sharing some of my pinning woes in an attempt to enlighten bloggers as to why their posts might not be getting the pin numbers imagined and hoped for.

The image IS itty-bitty!

Not just in the post itself. In actuality.

Guess, what, most pinners are going to assume that you’ve uploaded a perfectly-sized image ready for pinning. Especially if you’ve activated various pinning buttons.

When I see that sweet white “P” on a red background, I’m led to believe that you’re down with the Pinterest P’s and Q’s.

But when I see that itty-bitty image, I give a small huff of frustration, because I got powered up to pin, and it’s been a short, but wasted, effort.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Have A Pin It! Button? Format That Image For Pinning, Puhleeze!” quote=”Have A Pin It! Button? Format That Image For Pinning, Puhleeze!” theme=”style4″]

Your Pin Description Is Gibberish

IMG879664532. Wow! That tells me a lot about a pin and really gets me excited to click through for a read. NOT!

First of all, it might lead me to believe you’ve lifted this image from another site without permission, as that’s the kind of naming convention you see on large stock photos sites. Many of which require you to pay for a subscription or pay a fee per image. If I see random number image names in the description area for your pin, I’m going to wonder if you actually have permission to post that image in your publish.

Secondly, WTF? What’s that actually say about your article? NOTHING!

Most of the time I’m scheduling pins for future shares and I’m not in the mood to create a suitable description for you. I may, MAYBE, if the content is REALLY awesome – something I haven’t seen discussed in-depth by another blogger. But, sometimes I won’t, especially if I’m pushed for time and I know I can find similar information from another blogger who will take the time to prep her pin for the easiest, most optimal, pinning.

And, FYI, this image “description” isn’t helping you out one itty-bitty bit when it comes to SEO.

Excerpts From The Beginning To Character Limit

From a super-short bit of file-name gibberish to a verbatim pull from your published read … we’re covering it all here.

Much like excerpts in RSS feeds and auto-excerpt pulls when you post on Facebook, Linkedin and Google+, you’re not telling your future, hopefully, reader a whole lot about what the article’s about. Especially of you’re like me and tend to ramble and muse a bit as you get into the process of making your point.

Take a couple minutes to craft an excerpt that actually tells your audience what the article is about. What are they going to get out of it? What gems of knowledge and expertise are you going to deliver?

There’s No Image At All?!?!?!

Seriously!!!

Okay, I’m seeing images in your post, but when I click on the Pinterest button on your social sharing bar, NOTHING shows up?

The whole idea of pinning an image is predicated on there ACTUALLY being an image to pin!

[clickToTweet tweet=”No Image? Not Pin-Ready, Now Is It? #pinterest” quote=”No Image? Not Pin-Ready, Now Is It?” theme=”style4″]

What Should We See When It Comes To Pinterest Descriptions?

I’m more apt to pin when you’ve done the work for me. I don’t want to, and shouldn’t have to cut and paste content to flesh out your pin’s description. Just like I shouldn’t have to seek out your Twitter handle!

Got a great, descriptive title? That might be enough …

But what’s even better, more share-savvy and the MOST pin-worthy?

Power up that Pinterest description with a creative and on-topic title and a nice meta-description! BONUS: It might also boost SEO!

How About You? What Are Your Pin Peeves?

I’d love to talk pinning peeves and proper practices. Give me a shout with a comment and tell me what makes you deem an image pin-worthy!