How to design AWESOME pins (and get more repins)

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**HOW TO DESIGN AWESOME PINS THAT GET MORE REPINS**

Want know how to pins that get more repins?

Or how about creating viral pins?

When I had my first pin go viral, I was thrilled! I had over 130,000 people see that one image. And now:

Almost a year since it went viral, it still brings me thousands of page views every month.
I reach over a million people on Pinterest monthly thanks to viral pins (you can check out my Pinterest account here).

In fact, that one pin transformed by blog for good so much so, that I decided to create a Pinterest ebook all about how to design viral pins and strategies to make your pins go viral.

(You can read more about The Viral Pin Guide here!).

And one of the main reasons that particular pin went viral, and not images I had pinned previously?

That pin looked waay better.

Ultimately, if you want your pins to be shared by hundreds or thousands of people on Pinterest, it needs to look good enough to be shared.

This post is a list of design essentials that you must be sticking to these tips if you want a viral pin!

WHAT YOUR IMAGES NEED TO GET MORE REPINS

These tips fall under the following categories:

Size
Visuals
Text
Content

THE SIZE YOUR IMAGES NEED TO GO VIRAL

The images you should be creating need to be long.

Pinterest has specified their preferred size is 600 px by 900 px, which is a ratio of 2:3. So as long as your images stick to this ratio, they are more likely to get repins and go viral.

Why?

Because as well as Pinterest wanting you to use long images, vertical pics fit into the homepage better and are harder to ignore (short images are easy to scroll past).

It’s also worth noting that if you’re in group boards (struggling to find any? Here’s a list of 30 group boards all bloggers can join and 400+ DIY and craft group boards), many of them will specify for long pins only. So make sure your images are tall!

If you’re using Canva to create your image, they have an option specifically for Pinterest graphics (735 px by 1102 px).

Although this is bigger than the recommended size, Pinterest states you can use images as tall as 1260 pixels. After that height, they will be truncated in the feed.

So keep this in mind!

THE VISUALS YOUR IMAGES NEED TO GET SHARES ON PINTEREST

Whether you’re using stock images or taking your own photographs for your Pinterest graphics, make sure you use:

Good quality pictures. This should go without saying, but there’s no point using an image where it’s not clear what it is. You can use free online stock images, just check the usage rights first. But obviously if you have the resources, time, and skills, it’s better to take your own! I use a mixture of stock images and my own photographs. You can find out the best photography equipment for bloggers here.
Natural lighting. If you are taking your own photographs, I’ve found from experience that natural lighting tends to be the best lighting. Obviously if you have the right equipment you can replicate the look of natural lighting. But natural lighting tends to look softer and still creates a clear image.
Bright, light colours. Images that use brighter light colours tend to grab the attention more. Obviously this will be to do with your aesthetic and branding. But I tend to use lighter shades to lift the whole image.
Take “natural” looking photographs. You can kind of tell when a photograph is staged and when it looks natural. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t create a scene when photographing. What I mean is that photographs that look well thought out and natural (as in not fake) seem to do better.

Check out two of my pins for my previous blog below:

The image of the cinnamon lip scrub had more engagement on Pinterest.

I think that’s because the picture looks more effortless. The images are clearer, the colours are brighter and the white background is whiter.

For the coffee scrub image, it was a lot harder to take the photograph and required more editing. And I think this shows in the outcome- the photographs aren’t as clear, and the white background is slightly grey-ish.

o learn from my mistakes and use images with the points made above in order to get more repins!

THE TEXT IMAGES NEED TO GET MORE REPINS

Regardless of your niche, you can be placing images in your blog posts with your blog post title on, and pinning them to Pinterest to get more traffic.

Title pins use a mix of images and fonts. When using fonts, make sure to:

Use readable fonts. This goes without saying, but if you’re putting words on your image make sure people can actually read them! You need to be especially careful of this when using script fonts. If they’re too intricate people won’t be able to read them (and then definitely won’t repin them).
Use different sizes. If you’re using text, think about the most important parts and make them the largest. If you’re using headings make them larger so they grab the attention.
Use colour (but dark). You should definitely be using colour for your text. Pink is a colour that does very well on Pinterest, but remember to make sure the colour of the font is easy to read or nobody will be reading it (no light yellows/ pale blues etc!).

If you just don’t have an eye for fonts, find out the best Canva font pairings here.

THE CONTENT YOUR IMAGES NEED TO GET MORE REPINS

Okay so now you know what your images should look like, what should they contain?

Use visuals. Pinterest is a visual place, so make your images visual. Even if that means just putting one or two different illustrations in to accompany the writing, or an image behind the text. I do sometimes use images that are just text, but even these are colourful and nice to look at.
Good grammar and spelling. Nobody is going to take you seriously and repin your recipe if it’s got spelling mistakes. It lessens your credibility and makes you seem less professional. (You can read how to make your Pinterest look more professional here). Get someone to check your spelling if it helps to have a fresh set of eyes see it!
Space is everything. Less is more, especially when it comes to design. If you find you’re struggling to fit everything you wanted into the one Pinterest graphic, just make another! An image that is cluttered won’t get repinned.
Add your logo/ copyright it. You can find out why I don’t brand my pins here. But you should absolutely add your logo or your website at the bottom. Why? Because pin theft is real, people! There are bad people on Pinterest who will use the image you’ve spent the time making for themselves if you don’t put something on it to show it’s yours. It won’t stop them using it, but you can report them and at least people will know it originally came from your blog.

DESIGNING IMAGES THAT GET MORE REPINS- FINAL THOUGHTS

These are the general design rules I follow that help me to get viral pins.

There is much more to learn about viral pins, which I cover step by step The Viral Pin Guide.

This includes:

So if you haven’t already, make sure to check it out!!

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Otherwise, check out these posts you may be interested in: