This one may seem like a no-brainer for those of you bloggers who use Pinterest every single day. But occasionally I still see new bloggers forgetting to take this crucial step with uploading photos that will literally make all the difference in optimizing your photos on Pinterest. Plus, as a bonus, it also helps with SEO.
The thing??
Titling your photos. Here’s how to do it:
1. Begin by opening up your post and finding the image you want to title.
2. Click on it, and then click on the “Edit Image” button (the little icon with the mountains) that pops up.
3. Whatever name you gave the image when saving it on your computer will now pop up.
(Another big tip — save your images with the names of the post! Not IMG_3928, or however your camera wants to name it. This will majorly help with SEO.)
Still, whatever image name you have here is what you want to change, because this is the text that will show up when people go to pin your image.
4. Ideally, the experts say that your title (and alt text) should have around 200 characters to be best optimized for Pinterest. I recommend including:
- The title of your image/post (even if you use Rich Pins, those titles usually don’t show up on all mobile devices)
- Some kind of description
- Your URL or Pinterest handle (I love the URLs because they are live links that people can click on within Pinterest)
- Hashtags (optional, and I recommend only using 1-3)
Then copy whatever text you included, and hit “update”. Then go and paste the text on all other photos that you have on that page. (Or change them each to include whatever text you want.)
You can also do this step when uploading photos to WordPress in the first place.
5. So now, whenever someone goes to pin your image on Pinterest…
6. …your sweet new title text will show up in the description. So much better than “Chicken Parmesan Baked Ziti”, yes??
7. Of course, any pinner has the option of typing in whatever text they want to replace yours. But as someone who uses Pinterest day in and day out, I can confidently say that the vast majority of pinners never bother to take the time to rename your image.
So decide what you want to say, and title that text baby!
(And by the way, this Chicken Parmesan Baked Ziti will knock your socks off. Give it a try!)
I’ve always thought shorter was the way to go, but now I know the opposite to be true thanks to this! Thank you for the great example, now I can step up my photo game!
Hello,
Thank you very much for this information.
My website is not yet ready for launch but i have been active on Pinterest a few weeks and am thankful to learn this now and not in a few more months.
Happy New Year,
Lora Smith
You’re very welcome, Lora — we’re glad this was helpful! Happy New Year to you as well, and good luck with your site! :)
Thanks for the great tip! I am about to launch my first blog and it’s a bit intimidating!
We’re glad you found this helpful, Hannah!
Thank you so much! This was so helpful. I’m a new blogger too so this definitely helped ?
We’re happy you found this helpful, Arlene — best of luck to you with your blog! :)
Hello! Thank you for a tip! I didn’t know it’s sooo important and helpful for SEO! Now I understand better how and why! It’s very helpful! Thanks! Have a good day!
We’re glad you found this helpful, Maria!
Oh. My. Word. I never even THOUGHT about this when adding images to posts!?!? Thank you so much for the knowledge and for sharing!!!
Sure! We’re so glad you found this helpful! :)
I didn’t know this
Thanks for sharing..very helpful
We’re glad you found it helpful! :)
This is a great post! Thanks so much for this step by step guide. I have a question – do you put anything in the “link URL” field, or did you just put your website in the alt text and title? Thank you! I’m a brand new blogger and still learning:)
Hmmm, I don’t seem to have that field?
Nice article….
Thanks for these helpful tips. I am just beginning and this will help me out a lot.
You’re very welcome Jamie — we wish you luck on your blog! :)