Pinterest is by far the greatest tool out there for bloggers to research and learn, and to also get their own content out there for all to see. The awesome thing about Pinterest is that you can customize your profile to showcase your branding, so that others can easily identify your work when they see it. By customizing your Pinterest profile to reflect your branding, you’re not just becoming more recognizable, but you’re creating a space that’s inviting and has a sense of order. Today, we’re going to talk about creating custom Pinterest board covers.
WHY SHOULD YOU CREATE CUSTOM PINTEREST BOARD COVERS?
- Creating custom Pinterest board covers helps to amplify your branding. When you include your colors and fonts that you use on your blog and other social media platforms, you become more recognizable to those who’ve seen your work previously.
- When you don’t have custom Pinterest board covers, your profile can look too busy and even messy. By simply creating images for your board covers you can create an atmosphere that’s calm, cool, and collected. Viewers are more likely to stick around and follow you if your profile is organized and easy to navigate.
After customizing my Pinterest boards over a year ago for the first time, I saw my profile grow quite steadily after. Plus, I must say, I felt more organized and proud of my Pinterest profile as a whole. To know that just changing your Pinterest board cover photos can do that much for you and your viewers, you’d be crazy if you didn’t customize yours! š Don’t worry, friends! Today, I’m going to walk you through how to customize your own by using the free online design tool, Canva!
I have been using Canva since I first started Coffee With Summer 2 1/2 years ago, and to be honest, I prefer using it over Photoshop for design purposes. It’s simple and easy, and best of all, free! Seriously, bloggers, you’ve got to use Canva. And no, I’m not being paid to say that, I just really love it and know you will too.
[bctt tweet=”How To Easily Design Your Pinterest Board Cover Photos In Canva! ” username=”SummerTelban”]
HOW TO DESIGN YOUR CUSTOM PINTEREST BOARD COVERS IN CANVA:
- Canva has many presets designs with proper dimensions all ready to go for you, but one thing they don’t have are the dimensions for Pinterest board covers. No worries, though. You have the option to use custom dimensions, which can be found at the top right-hand corner of the website.
- Once you click to use custom dimensions, plug in these dimensions: 564px X 564px. These are the current dimensions for Pinterest board covers! Since Pinterest currently has a slideshow at the top of your profile, it’s important to use these dimensions and nothing smaller, as anything smaller in size would be pixelated in the slideshow portion of your profile.
- Click “Design!” and it’ll open to a new window for you to start creating.
- On the left side of your screen, you’ll notice a ton of different options for layouts, elements, backgrounds, and more. Feel free to experiment with your design, but what I go to first is the “background” section. Here I choose the background I want for my board cover.
- After choosing my background, I then changed the background color to one of my brand’s colors. If you don’t want a simple background and you’d prefer to have a picture as your background, there’s the option to upload your own photo right below the “background” section.
- Once you’re satisfied with your background, you can then add the title of your board with the “text” option. It’s really important to include board titles in your cover images as it’s easier for viewers to find what they’re looking for right away. It also gives viewers a chance to quickly and easily glance at what kind of content you pin, making them decide faster if you’re someone that they’d like to follow.
- One of the great things about naming your boards in Canva is that you’re able to customize the size, color, and fonts that you use. Note: If you have a special font that’s not available through Canva, you can sign up for Canva For Work to directly upload your own fonts. It’s free for the first month!
- Once you’re satisfied with your design, change the file name and download it as a PNG.
WOOHOO! You made it through the first big step of branding your Pinterest board covers! Now it’s time to show you how to properly upload your new covers to Pinterest. Hang on tight, friends!
[bctt tweet=”How To Upload Your Custom Pinterest Board Covers To Pinterest” username=”SummerTelban”]
HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR CUSTOM COVERS TO PINTEREST:
- Log in to your Pinterest account. Once you’re logged in, click on the “+” sign up near your settings buttons. Click on “Upload an image” and choose which cover you want to upload.
- Once you’ve chosen an image to upload, you’ll notice you have the option to include a Destination URL for the image. For this, I recommend just inserting your website. Then click “Continue.”
- Here, you’ll be given the option to include a description of your image. I recommend simply writing a sentence about the general theme of the board. Then, choose the board you want to pin the image to.
- After successfully uploading your board cover photo, go back to your profile and then click the “Edit” option on the board you just uploaded the board cover to. Here you’ll see the option to change the cover of your board. Click “Change” and you’ll be brought to the most recent photo that was pinned to that board (which should be the board cover photo.) Click “Save changes” and voila!
- Go through and repeat all steps until every board cover photo is changed. You’ll be pleased with the end product, I promise!
[bctt tweet=”Creating custom Pinterest board cover photos is a great way to amplify your brand!” username=”SummerTelban”]
SPECIAL NOTES TO MAKE THIS PROCESS GO SMOOTH:
- Simplicity is the best way to go for Pinterest board covers. If your design is too cluttered, it’ll create a sense of chaos, not clarity. You want images that are bold and stick out immediately, not images that you have to study to figure out what they say.
- When you first upload an image to Pinterest and save it as your new board cover, you may experience that the image doesn’t show up right away. From what I have gathered so far, this is completely normal. It has happened to me each time I have changed my board cover photos and it’s happened to other bloggers, as well. Simply refresh the page a few times. If that doesn’t work, I typically ask a couple blog friends to check it out to see if everything’s showing up for them.
- Set aside a good hour of your time to knock this out, especially if you have more than 10 board covers to change. It is time-consuming, but the end product is so worth it.
[bctt tweet=”How To Create Branded Pinterest Board Covers” username=”SummerTelban”]
Have you taken the time to brand your Pinterest board covers? If not, are you going to? Do you use Canva? What are some easy tips you have for designing your own Pinterest board covers? Do you have any questions? Leave them below in the comments!
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