Pinterest SEO for Non-Profits: How to Get More Targeted Traffic to your website

Pinterest SEO for Non-Profits: How to Get More Pinterest Traffic to your website by 2024

I keep hearing more and more people in the voluntary sector say, we don’t use Pinterest, how can it help our cause? The thing is we have shared before on why charities should be on Pinterest. So today we will focus more on Pinterest SEO for non-profits 2024 and beyond.

If you haven’t yet read our article on why charities should be on Pinterest go check it out here. We will wait!

Okay, Pinterest can be a powerful platform for non-profit organizations to increase their website traffic and reach a broader audience. I am talking about non-profits that have products or services they offer as a means of raising funds for your causes. If your website is just a calling card, then this may not be for you. 

To optimize your Pinterest presence and drive more traffic to your website by 2024, you need to understand that Pinterest is a Search engine, and thus why we are talking Pinterest Search Engine Optimization – SEO. You could learn more about Whitehat SEO for your website so that the info we share here today will be even more enhanced for other search engines.

Obviously, you are chomping on the bit ready to dive in, right? Then follow these specific Pinterest SEO strategies for charities and other voluntary organisations:

My 11 Steps to Pinterest SEO for Non-Profits especially Charities.

The first step is always to have a Pinterest account. After all, you cannot win it if you are not in it. And since you are looking to get that shmoney, donations/grants, then you of course will ensure that account is a business account. Branded to your organisation, coz you can add your Logo. In fact, use it as your profile image.

 

You can use a professionally designed banner image that reflects your brand ethos, and of course, you can have Pinterest board covers that are branded too. If all this sounds like Greek or a foreign language, then I am happy to share with you complimentary for now our:

Pinterest Domination Blueprint. Go ahead and download it now. Then all this will make sense.

DOWNLOAD BUTTON    

Okay, and one more thing, you might be using Pinterest on a personal level. Trust me that is a whole different continent from using it for business. And if this is you, I encourage you to also read my book “The Art of Pinterest Profits”, to fully get why you need to leverage Pinterest for your voluntary organisation.

Okay here are the next steps for you to start attracting more followers from Pinterest, getting targeted traffic to your online offers, and/or whatever your charity or community organisation’s goals.

 

#1. Create Compelling Visuals:

Once you have your account fully set up and created your boards or updated them, then go ahead and get pin images created. Use high-quality and visually appealing images that represent your non-profit’s mission and work.

Make sure your graphics are well-designed and attention-grabbing to encourage users to click through to your website. We use various tools to do this top-of-the-list being this free tool.

And now it’s time to start…

 

#2. Telling Your Story:

Even the names of your Boards should reflect your Goals, Mission, Events, Actions, Collaborations, Fun, Behind the scenes, Testimonials, Gratitude, Blog, etc.

Use your Pinterest boards and pins to tell the story of your non-profit. Share images and videos that showcase the impact of your organization’s efforts, success stories, pain points, how you work – volunteers, your events, collaborations, and staff at work, who you work with – stakeholders and the most important being the people you serve. (With their permission of course).

Always remember a picture and/or video speaks a 1000 words

Pinterest SEO works with the next step. I would argue it’s the most important. It’s no use telling your story with random words so let’s talk about…

 

#3. Keyword Optimization:

Am not talking about any old Keywords. If you have gone over my gift to you of the Pinterest Domination Blueprint, then you know what TYPE of keywords I am talking about. It is free after all, so why not get it, even if just to find out this point?

Incorporating relevant keywords in your pin descriptions, board names, and titles gives them half a chance of showing up in a search on the Newsfeed. It is curated as you know by now. So, ensure your content shows up when people type your brand keywords in the Pinterest search box. It looks like the image below.

Use keywords that reflect the issues your non-profit addresses, the results people get when they interact with your non-profit, and the causes you support. This will improve the discoverability of your content on Pinterest.

 

#4. Create Dedicated Boards:

You could say arrrgg, Julie, why did you wait to share this now? Well, Rome wasn’t built in one day and I am walking you step by step through your charity or social enterprise Pinterest SEO.

So, let us organize your pins into dedicated boards based on specific themes, events, or campaigns related to your non-profit. This will make it easier for users to find content that interests them and helps your pins reach the right audience. I liken Pinterest boards to filing cabinets. Here’s the thing…

Have you ever gone through a disorganised filing cabinet with no clear guide? You’re trying to find something and it’s not filed in the right alphabetical order? Yep. That feeling is what your audience will get if you pin/save random images in random boards.

So, make the time to organise things from the get-go and you will find that Pinners find your content faster too.  Kinda like doing unto others… And they will do so why not….

 

#5. Engage with your Community:

Am not saying give them all rings, lol. What I mean is respond to pinners who show interest in your content. Pinterest will send you notifications of all kinds based on the options you choose. Respond to DMs, engage with those that like your content, check out theirs too, and if aligned, repin their content to a relevant board.

Engage with Pinterest users by liking, commenting, and repining their content. Interacting with the Pinterest community will help you build relationships, increase your reach, and attract more followers.

See why I recommend you find a person who loves social media? 

It is a long-term game my friend so from the next tip, I am going deep to help you get some of those awesome followers.

#6. Utilize Rich Pins:

One of the essentials of attracting business on Pinterest is to Enable Rich Pins for your website content. Pinterest makes it easy, once you create a business account, one of the steps is to create rich pins. So follow the steps, saves me carrying the donkey and I am so not about that.

Anyway, Rich Pins provide additional information (e.g., article title, meta description) directly on the pin, making them more informative and appealing to users. I am assuming you don’t just upload any old image names like  45921e3e9209309.png to your website…Do you?

Today is the day you stop that!  NAME every image what it relates to, using some of those juicy keywords you did research on before…Ha, you still don’t know what type of keywords am talking about? Well…my Jajja used to tell me:

Syl you can take a goat to the well but you cannot force it to drink…

In which case, carry on, and maybe your persistence and numbers will somehow bring that breakthrough…! Right? No, it won’t. So do take the right SEO steps and get your desired results.

Still, consistency is bedfellows with success, so…

 

#7. Pin Consistently:

Develop a schedule and use digital tools. Of course, I know how busy you are. And that’s why I suggest you get a volunteer or apprentice to do this. Still, they too need to have a life and stay motivated. So provide them the tools. And the one I recommend is Tailwind to schedule your content, connect with other pinners in your niche and build community faster.

Because consistent pinning is meant to maintain engagement with your audience. Aim to pin regularly, multiple times a week, if possible, but avoid overwhelming your followers. Tailwind will help you do the regular bit! BUT, please do not pin the same image multiple times. THAT doesn’t work anymore, it will simply get your account dinged by the Pinterest popo robot police.

So instead of the police, how about you do a digital outreach campaign and…

#8. Partner with Influencers:

For a non-profit, those would possibly be present, past, and potential funders and or Influential pinners with large active follower numbers who are passionate about causes like yours.

Understand that many will ignore you. They probably receive hundreds of people asking to Collab with them. But persistence will pay off. So, keep on approaching them, share your testimonials, show your happy beneficiaries, emphasize that you are Not asking them for a direct cash donation…not yet anyway! 😉

Rather appeal to their identity and emotions..not their wallet! You could ask if maybe they could give a shout-out to their audience about your causes. No links involved to start with… Links come with solid relationships built over time.

With time and as your presence grows, as the influencer and their audience check out your good works, on other social media platforms and on your website, you will attract Collaborations with influencers or well-known personalities in your niche who support your cause. Partnering with influencers can extend your reach to a broader audience, and attract even bigger stakeholders – funders or corporate sponsorships.

Of course, you are either planning them and…

 

 

#9. Promoting Your Events and Campaigns:

Use Pinterest to promote your non-profit’s events, fundraisers, and awareness campaigns. Create special boards and pins dedicated to these initiatives to generate interest and drive traffic.

Be sure to update these boards regularly so that someone doesn’t end up looking at an expired event that happened donkeys ago…That would be the fastest way to lose a potential collab or even funder.

Oh, and be sure to also share your funders, partners, influencers, and pinners whose events you attend or plan to in your relevant boards. This is like what you give you get back…those with integrity and who are active on Pinterest or any other social media will return the favour. As these did for a non-profit we work with. 

 

If they don’t return the favour, that’s NOT your fault, is it? Heck, Some will, some won’t, so what…next! It’s a campaign and mind you some outreach campaigns don’t have the glue to stick! Other people aren’t as “giving as they make out” Don’t let it stop you, keep showing love and love will come back to you, even via social media. 

Talking of glue, ever heard of a successful business or charity that doesn’t track progress and monitor performance? Naa me neither so… 😉

 

 

#10. Measure Performance:

Since you have a business account, you get to access your progress and efforts stats so you know which pins work better for you and push such content. And create similar images for other content you link. This is by using Pinterest Analytics to track the performance of your pins and boards. 

Be sure to analyse the data to understand what content resonates best with your audience and tailor your strategy accordingly. Which Pins attracted the most click-throughs? That is what you want. Not just impressions/views. Rather how many came to check out your website as a result of your image and caption?

If you cannot read your stats fully, heck hire a Social Media expert for a day focusing just on your Pinterest SEO and stats. It shouldn’t cost you more than your last pair of shoes and handbag… I am talking about investing buckeroos money to build that authority on Pinterest.

It will be money well invested. The returns will be major esp. if you get a mini strategy to follow from that conversation. Check out our performance for July is below – only for Business accounts

 

Okay, with money well spent you will be…

 

 

#11. Sharing Success Stories: all day long! Yep.

This is gratitude on speed. Nothing shouts, success more than other people talking about your organisation’s positive impact on their lives. And nothing attracts more funding than seeing such good news on your socials.

So, Highlight success stories and the impact of your non-profit’s work through pins and stories. Record mini 60 sec videos no longer than 2 mins and post them as Idea Pins aka Pinterest stories. Do add notes and inside those notes add your website link. Cos Idea pins don’t give a link option!  The beauty is you can repurpose these videos for your Tik Tok, IG, and Facebook Stories and Reels. #Bingo we love leverage.

One stone, multiple birds..I say! By the way, NO birds were hurt in the writing of this article…

Anyways, people love to see the positive change your organization is making. And remember: Success leaves clues.

And now that you have my 11 tips, what are you waiting for? Volunteers to guide, work to be done, people to serve…go!

By implementing these Pinterest SEO and marketing strategies, your non-profit can increase its presence on the platform, reach a wider audience, and drive more traffic to your website by 2024. This in turn will help you serve more, reach a wider audience, and even more targeted funders/stakeholders/collaborations… etc.

Remember to stay consistent, authentic, and focused on your non-profit’s mission throughout your Pinterest efforts.

 

Well, if you enjoyed our article on Pinterest SEO for non-profits and you want some more SEO tips, feel free to like & share your needs or experience in a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

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Julie Syl Kalungi

Live. Learn. Love

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