How to Create a Pin in Pinterest: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide
Pinterest is one of the most visual platforms on the internet — a searchable, saveable collection of ideas, products, recipes, tutorials, and inspiration. At the heart of it all is the Pin: a single image, video, or link that gets shared, saved, and discovered across the platform. If you're new to Pinterest or just getting started building a presence, understanding how to create a Pin correctly makes a significant difference in how your content performs.
What Exactly Is a Pinterest Pin?
A Pin is a piece of content — most commonly an image or video — that links back to a source URL. When someone saves your Pin to one of their boards, it spreads to their followers, increasing its reach organically. Pins can be created from scratch, saved from websites using the Pinterest browser extension, or uploaded directly from your device.
There are several types of Pins you can create:
- Standard Pins — A single image with an optional title, description, and destination link
- Video Pins — Short or long-form video content that plays directly in the feed
- Idea Pins (formerly Story Pins) — Multi-page, story-style content with text overlays, stickers, and voiceovers; these don't link to external URLs
- Product Pins — Pins tagged with pricing and product metadata, typically used by business accounts connected to a catalog
Each type serves a different purpose, and knowing which one fits your goal shapes everything from image dimensions to description strategy.
How to Create a Pin on Desktop 🖥️
Creating a Pin from a desktop browser is the most feature-rich experience Pinterest currently offers.
Step 1: Log in to your Pinterest account at pinterest.com and click the + (plus) icon in the top-left area of the navigation, then select Create Pin.
Step 2: Upload your image or video. Pinterest accepts JPEG, PNG, and WebP formats for images. For best results, Pinterest recommends a 2:3 aspect ratio — typically 1000 × 1500 pixels. Images that are too tall or too wide may get cropped in the feed. Video Pins support MP4, MOV, and M4V formats.
Step 3: Add your destination URL. This is the link users land on when they click your Pin — a blog post, product page, or any web address. This field is critical for driving traffic.
Step 4: Write your title and description. Pinterest functions as a visual search engine, which means your title and description carry real SEO weight. Use relevant keywords naturally — not keyword-stuffed. Descriptions can be up to 500 characters, though only the first 50–60 appear in the feed without expanding.
Step 5: Choose a board. Every Pin must be saved to a board. If you don't have a relevant board yet, you can create one directly from the Pin creation screen.
Step 6: Add optional details. Depending on your account type and the Pin format, you may be able to add alt text (important for accessibility and search indexing), a tagged product link, or interest tags.
Step 7: Publish immediately or schedule. Business accounts can schedule Pins to publish at a future date and time — useful for maintaining consistent posting without being online 24/7.
How to Create a Pin on Mobile 📱
The Pinterest app on iOS and Android supports Pin creation, though with slightly fewer formatting controls than the desktop version.
Tap the + icon at the bottom of the screen and select Pin from the options. You can upload directly from your camera roll, take a new photo, or choose a video. From there, the flow mirrors the desktop steps: add a link, write a title and description, and save to a board.
One notable difference: Idea Pins are more fully featured in the mobile app, offering camera integration, music, stickers, and page-by-page editing tools that aren't as accessible on desktop.
Key Variables That Affect Your Results
Not every Pin performs the same way, even with identical content. Several factors influence how a Pin is distributed and discovered:
| Variable | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Image quality and ratio | Low-res or incorrectly sized images get cropped or deprioritized in feeds |
| Account type | Business accounts get access to analytics, scheduling, and product tagging |
| Description keywords | Pinterest's algorithm indexes descriptions to surface content in search |
| Board relevance | Saving a Pin to a well-named, relevant board reinforces its topic signals |
| Posting consistency | Regular publishing signals an active account to the distribution algorithm |
| Destination URL quality | Pins linked to slow-loading or broken pages may underperform |
Personal vs. Business Accounts
The Pin creation process is nearly identical for both account types, but business accounts unlock features that meaningfully change how Pins can be used:
- Access to Pinterest Analytics to see which Pins drive saves, clicks, and impressions
- Scheduling tools for planning content in advance
- Rich Pins, which pull metadata automatically from your website (requires domain verification)
- Promoted Pins (paid advertising) for boosting reach beyond organic distribution
If you're creating Pins for a brand, blog, or business purpose, the account type you're working with determines which of these tools are available to you.
What the Process Looks Like Across Different Use Cases
Someone pinning a single recipe photo for a personal board has a very different workflow than a small business owner building a product catalog. A content creator publishing Idea Pins daily is working with tools that a casual user might never open. Even within the same account, the "right" way to create a Pin shifts depending on whether you're prioritizing traffic, saves, brand visibility, or audience building.
The technical steps are consistent — upload, describe, link, publish. But which format to choose, how to write descriptions that actually surface in search, whether to prioritize video over static images, and how often to post are questions where your specific goals and audience determine the answer more than any universal rule.