It’s official. Over the past few weeks you may have noticed a strange message appearing on your Pinterest account telling you that you can now verify your account.
Don’t panic if you haven’t. Sit tight because over the next few weeks Pinterest is progressively rolling out its brand new verification feature.
Why is this good news? Well up until now your domain name was hidden behind a planet earth icon in the About section on your Pinterest page. Nice. But not really helpful if you want to brand yourself or your business, grow your audience or attract more leads and customers to your website.
In a move that shows it means business, Pinterest’s new feature now lets other pinners learn more about the people and businesses they’re following. In short, verification will let you display your full website URL on your Pinterest profile. Users will also see a red checkmark next to your domain in search results and on your profile.
Here’s a quick 3-step-process to help you verify your website on Pinterest along with the key benefits of doing this today.
How To Verify Your Website
First log in to your Pinterest account as you usually do using Facebook, Twitter or your email account. Then click on your profile name and select the “Settings” option.
You will be taken to your Settings page where you can change or update any of your profile settings.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Website box where you may have already added your URL. There should be a Verify Website button to the right.
Click on that button and a new page will appear with the following instructions. Keep this page open during the verification process.
Step #1 Download Your Unique HTML Verification File
The first thing you need to do is download a HTML file to your computer. I suggest you add it to a location that you will be able to find easily such as the desktop.
Be sure to make a note of the unique file name which will be in the form pinterest-xxxxx.html with “x” denoting random letters and/or numbers.
Step #2 Upload The File To Your Server
The next step is to upload this file from your desktop to the server associated with the domain you are using on Pinterest. This sounds tricky but is in actual fact pretty straightforward – and even I, a self-confessed non-techie managed to do it!
Essentially, you are moving the verification file from your local computer to your website on your hosting account via FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
If this sounds too technical then I recommend you hand this job over to your usual tech person or webmaster. You can also hire someone to do it for you on the micro-jobs site Fiverr for just a few dollars.
Pinterest is aware that some users may experience difficulty with the verification process so a third option is to contact Pinterest support directly via this link
Help, I Can’t Verify My Website!
However, if you are tech-savvy and up for a spot of DIY, then I recommend you use a great free FTP solution called Filezilla to verify your website. Just download the appropriate version of the software (PC or Mac) to your computer and follow the step-by-step instructions on the website.
Be sure to transfer the file to your main domain and not a sub-folder otherwise Pinterest won’t be able to find it. It’s also worth noting that this feature is currently only available for top-level domains, like www.JeffBullas.com or www.Epreneur.TV and not sub-domains.
There’s one more thing to bear in mind. If you have an ecommerce business that is hosted on sites like Etsy, Shopify, or eBay then you won’t be able to verify your website on Pinterest because these sites don’t allow you to upload HTML files to their servers.
Step #3 Verify The Website On Pinterest
Once this is done, just head back to the Verify Website page on your Pinterest account and click the link that says “Click here to complete the process”.
Pinterest will then check your website for the HTML file they gave you.
If you’ve uploaded the file correctly, a red circle with a check will appear in your settings page confirming that your website has been successfully verified.
And that’s it!
Now, if you take a look at your About section, you’ll notice a nice full URL displayed at the top of your Pinterest page as in the image below.
The Benefits Of Verifying Your Website
So what’s the point of doing all of this?
#1. More engagement and traffic
Well up until now Pinterest users had to click on an icon to visit your site. Now your URL is prominently displayed at the top of your Pinterest page which creates a dramatic effect.
Other pinners can find out about you and your business quickly and easily, especially if they are already following you and enjoying your content. This is bound to increase engagement and drive more traffic back to your website! And who doesn’t want more traffic?
#2. Boost your online visibility and SEO
Another bonus is that unlike the other links within Pinterest this feature appears to create a Do-Follow link (for the time being at least). This means that you could get some extra link juice in the form of SEO benefits.
Pinterest will most likely change this in the near future as they did earlier this year for their other links, so it’s worth verifying your website straightaway.
What do you think about Pinterest’s new verification feature? Will you be doing this for your website on Pinterest? Have you found Pinterest beneficial for your business as a whole?
Please comment below.