Want to know how to set up Rich Pins on Pinterest in no time at all?Â
If you are a blogger, then this is super easy way to increase traffic and shares from Pinterest. Â
In this post, I show you How to Set Up Rich Pins for your Blog Articles on WordPress… in just 5 minutes. Â
Retro Alarm-Clock by Shutterstock
I've posted before about the importance of visual content and how Pinterest drives traffic to your site with visuals months or even years after they are first shared.
So let's take a look at what Rich Pins are on Pinterest – and why you would want them to help with driving traffic to your blog or website.
What are Rich Pins on Pinterest?
As Pinterest describes them, Â “Rich Pins add extra details to Pins from your website”. There are currently 4 different types of Rich Pins (these were changed in January 2017).
- Recipe –Â adds info to your pin like ingredient lists, cooking time, serving and if the recipe is vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free etc.
- Article – shows the headline, title, description and author of your article and blog post (I'll show you how to do it quickly in this post!). Â
- Product – lets you show the price, stock level/status and a description of the product on pins from your website.
- App Install –Â takes iOS users to the app store to download your app.
Find out more about all the Rich Pin types (and how to set them up) on Pinterest here. Â I highly recommend you read this page as if you get stuck with the instructions below or there are any changes, Pinterest is the best source of information.
Before You Go Any Further – Read This:
Pinterest have occasionally changed the type of RIch Pins and how they are set up. Â For this reason you should always check their instructions and check for any updates.
The steps in this post below for setting up Article Rich Pins on WordPress are a workaround that enables non-techy people (including me) to set up Rich Pins easily and Quickly.
It's not the only way to do it and Pinterest provide detailed instructions for your web developer to do it for you.
The steps below have worked well for many people since the time of writing, however if you have any problems, you should read the instructions from Pinterest to check if anything has changed or contact them for support.
You can also ask your web developer to add the Rich Pins for you. Some of Pinterest's instructions are a little techy, so if you can't use the workaround below, then a good web developer will understand what to do and will be able to set it up for you easily.
The good news is… it's working for most people, so if you want to set up Article Rich Pins for your blog and you are on WordPress, then keep reading as I have explained it, step by step, below.
Example of Article Rich Pins on Pinterest:
This is an Article Rich Pin on Pinterest from an article I wrote for Social Media Examiner. See how it has a bold title and then a different description as well as the website listed?
Rich Pin (Article)
Without Rich Pins set up, it will show only a single description below the image – no bold heading and sub heading and author details.
The extra detail may not seem like much, but when helping people to decide on clicking on or sharing a pin… it's a lot!
How to Set up Rich Pins on Pinterest the Easy Way
This is easier than the instructions that Pinterest gives.
It takes just 3 steps (and 5 minutes) to set up Rich Pins on Pinterest if you have a WordPress Blog.
Here's how you do it:
1. Â Install Yoast SEO and Edit Settings
If you haven't set up Yoast SEO yet then do it (it's your SEO knight in shining armour even if you know nothing about SEO).
You can grab Yoast SEO here.
Other than helping you make sure every post on WordPress is optimized for your best chances with SEO, Yoast also lets you set up Rich Pins easily.
Simply do this:
- Activate the Yoast Plugin. Â
- Click on the “Social” tab in the Settings area.
- Click on the Facebook tab and make sure “Add Open Graph Meta Data” is enabled.
- That's it for this part!
Check that Open Graph Meta Data is “Enabled” – Pinterest will use this data.
2. Â Use the “Rich Pin Validator” to Validate Your Pins
This part is click and click… super simple:
- Go to this link and open up the Rich Pin Validator.
- Add a link to any post on your site where it says “Enter a Valid URL”
Note: Â We have had many community members add Rich Pins to their WordPress site with success. Â Â However, occasionally somebody has a problem and receives an error report when submitting for final validation. Â If that happens, check Pinterest's guidelines, reach out to their support or better still, get your web developer to help you as they will be able to set it up easily for you.
3. Click Apply and Wait!
- Apply to have your Pins Validated – just Click Apply Now! (here's an example)
- Then you wait, but you won't be waiting long. You'll receive confirmation like this from Pinterest shortly after (it can be very quick!):
Happy Days – your pins are now “rich”.
You'll see a difference in your pins as soon as they are approved!
Hot Tip When Adding Images to your Blog Posts
I suggest that you consider adding a different title to your Rich Pin that will act as the sub title. I use Social Warfare plugin for this.
It's as simple as adding a description into the Pinterest section of Social Warfare. See the image below.
This will appear below your image title on the Rich Pin when it is pinned to Pinterest.
But if you don't use this plug-in then you can also add this “sub-title” via the Alt Tag on your image. Â Just make sure that it's something that is also useful to Google and explains what the image is.
Here is the set up for Social Warfare:
Social Warfare helps with your Rich Pins on Pinterest.
And here is what the rich pin looked like on Pinterest, bringing in the Pinterest Description from Social Warfare:
Add a description that differs from the title.
You can get clever with your description in this way – giving more information that will entice someone to click through to the article or re-pin. You can even include a call to action.
Remember that when you set this up, it's the description that shows up when readers hit the Pin It Button on your post.
For more information about Social Warfare, check it out here.
Â
Why should I bother setting up Rich Pins on Pinterest?
There's something you need to know about Pinterest.
Even if you are not an active pinner to Pinterest, your audience might be.Â
So, this is about setting things up so that they get the most information on the pins they share and so your pins are optimized so more people discover them and then repin them.
And so on it goes…
Remember: Â Even if you are not pinning actively, set up Article Rich Pins on your articles/blog posts.
And of course:
Rich Pins on Pinterest stand out on the feed because the title is bold.
You also get the benefit of being able to include a title and a subtitle by way of how you enter your information!
Why if I don't have a WordPress Site?
The good news is that Kate from Simple Pin Media has written a complete guide to Rich Pins and has included steps for:
- Blogger
- SquareSpace
as well as more information about how to set up rich pins for recipes. Â Read her post here.
Ready to Set up Rich Pins? Pin this for later! (Image by Shutterstock)
Go… Set up Rich Pins on Pinterest
Jump to it – it only takes 5 minutes.
And if you don't have WordPress, then ask your Developer to do it for you – don't stress yourself out with the tech stuff!
The point of this post is for you to set it up, whether you manage to do it DIY or you leverage the power of a savvy tech person (seriously, they can do it quicker than we can), make sure you set them up.
Your business will be glad you did!
Donna Moritz
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