Pinterest for a Business: Account, Claimed Website, Rich Pins and Ads

A business account

Pinterest's page on getting a business account says it is free and gives you analytics on your Pins and the ability to run ads, plus access to the Business Hub. Business accounts are also where you create Idea ads, video ads, carousels, collections ads and product catalogs. You can create a new business account or convert a personal one:

• New account: the email must not already be used on another Pinterest account. At the time of writing, a new business account can only be created on a desktop device.
• Converting a personal account: your Pins and followers stay the same, and you can switch back at any time. Business accounts are public, so a private personal account must be made public first. Pinterest notes it is no longer possible to link a personal account to a business account.

If an employee or agency sets up a business account to reach your ad account, Pinterest recommends they use their professional email and their own name, not the business name, so the owner can see who has access. The same principle applies on every platform: the business should own the account, and staff and agencies should get their own access. Our guide on what you should own when your website is built covers this for the rest of your online accounts.

Claiming your website

Claiming tells Pinterest your domain belongs to your account. Pinterest's Claim your website page says that whenever an image from your claimed site is saved, your profile picture appears alongside the Pin, the Pin links to your profile and people see the option to follow you. You also get insight into how often your content is shared.

You must own the domain, subdomain or subpath and be able to edit its source code, which is why most social accounts and marketplace shops (Etsy, eBay, Amazon) cannot be claimed. A website can only be claimed by one Pinterest account. There are four ways to verify:

• HTML tag: paste a personalised tag into the <head> of your home page.
• HTML file: upload a file from Pinterest to the root folder of your web server. A file in a subfolder will not be found.
• DNS TXT record: add a record at your domain host. Our guide to domain names and DNS explains where these records live.
• Google Merchant Center: connect your Merchant Center account, currently available only for some accounts.

The claim is made under Settings, Link to Pinterest, Claim next to Websites. Pinterest says you can remove the HTML tag or file once the site is claimed.

Rich Pins: tags that sync your site

Pinterest's rich Pins page describes them as Pins that automatically sync information from your site and update when the page changes. There are three types:

• Article rich Pins add the headline, description and author of a blog post or article. Pinterest does not count listicles or pages with mostly images and little text as articles.
• Product rich Pins show up-to-date price, availability, title and description. Pinterest only shows this if the product is in stock, the price is accurate, the data was updated recently and you meet its merchant guidelines. People must be able to buy the product on your site.
• Recipe rich Pins add serving size, cook time, ratings and ingredients.

You enable them with markup in each page's <head>: Open Graph or Schema.org for articles and products, Schema.org or h-recipe for recipes. For an article, Pinterest's required Open Graph fields are og:title, og:description and og:type set to article. For a product they are og:title, og:type set to product, product:price:amount and product:price:currency. Many sites already output Open Graph tags for link previews on other networks; our guide to Open Graph tags and social previews covers them, and structured data basics covers Schema.org markup.

Once the tags are in place, new Pins from those pages appear as rich Pins and existing Pins linking to them update too. Pinterest says syncing can take up to 24 hours. To switch rich Pin data off for one page, add <meta name="pinterest-rich-pin" content="false" /> to it. Note that only product Pins created from a catalog (an uploaded product data source) can be promoted as shopping ads; rich Pin tags alone are not enough for that.

The Pinterest tag and event codes

Pinterest's Install the Pinterest tag page describes the tag as code on your website that tracks visitors and the actions they take after seeing your Pinterest ad. With it you can track and optimise conversions, measure campaigns, build audiences for targeting, become a verified merchant and access conversion insights. You need a business account and an advertiser account first. You can install it through an integration partner, by emailing instructions to your developer, or manually. Pinterest says it can take up to 24 hours to show in Ads Manager.

The tag has two parts, according to Pinterest's event codes page. The base code goes on every page. Event codes go only on the pages where a specific action happens, and are needed for conversion campaigns, dynamic retargeting, conversion insights and the Verified Merchant Program. Standard events include:

• Lead and Signup, the usual events for a service business;
• AddToCart, InitiateCheckout, AddPaymentInfo and Checkout for a shop;
• PageVisit, ViewCategory, Search and WatchVideo for browsing behaviour;
• custom events for actions unique to your business.

One detail from Pinterest matters for lead forms: if an event should only count after a click or a form submission, the event code must run only as a result of that action, not on page load. Manual setup also asks whether to turn on automatic enhanced match. Like any advertising tag, the Pinterest tag usually needs consent where cookie rules apply; see our cookie consent guide. If you already manage tags through Google Tag Manager, it can hold the Pinterest tag too (Tag Manager basics).

The Conversions API

The Conversions API sends conversion events from your server to Pinterest's, not from the visitor's browser. Pinterest's getting started page says you need a business account and an access token, generated under Conversions, Set up API, and shared securely with your developer. Its main recommendations:

• Run both: send the same events through the Conversions API as through the tag.
• Deduplicate: when you send events both ways, set the deduplication parameters so a sale is not counted twice.
• Send in close to real time, under an hour, so results show sooner and bids stay current.
• Include other channels: web, app and offline events can all go through the API. Without developer resources, offline events can be uploaded as a file in Ads Manager instead.
• Limited data processing: a flag Pinterest offers for complying with state privacy laws.

This is the same model as Meta's Pixel plus Conversions API, described in our Facebook and Instagram ads guide, so a site already set up for one is easier to set up for the other.

Ad formats

Pinterest's ad specs page lists the formats, all created from a business account:

• Standard image ads: one image, .png or .jpeg, with a recommended 2:3 ratio (1000 x 1500 pixels). Taller images may be cut off in feeds.
• Video ads: standard width (Pin-sized) or max. width (across the whole mobile feed, paid only). .mp4, .mov or .m4v, 4 seconds to 15 minutes, with 6 to 15 seconds recommended.
• Carousel ads: images to swipe through, 2 to 5 per carousel outside Sales campaigns.
• Shopping ads: one product image or video at a time, built from your catalog.
• Collections ads: one main image or video above three smaller images, on mobile.
• Idea, Showcase and Quiz ads: multi-page and interactive formats for richer stories.

Titles take up to 100 characters, but Pinterest notes only the first 40 may show in feeds. Descriptions take up to 800 characters; they do not appear in the feed but Pinterest uses them to decide relevance, so write them. Pinterest also says uploaded images are converted to 8-bit RGB JPEG, and recommends PNG in sRGB to avoid losing quality. Tag every destination URL with UTM parameters so Pinterest traffic shows up separately in your analytics (UTM tracking links).

A setup checklist

• A business account owned by the business, with staff and agencies using their own logins.
• The domain claimed, ideally with a DNS TXT record.
• Open Graph or Schema.org tags on article and product pages, so Pins sync as rich Pins.
• A catalog uploaded if you want shopping ads.
• The Pinterest tag base code on every page, event codes on the conversion pages, and consent handled.
• The Conversions API sending the same events, with deduplication set.
• Images at 2:3, and UTM parameters on every ad link.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Pinterest business account?

To run ads and see Pin analytics, yes. Pinterest says a business account is free, and you can convert a personal account without losing Pins or followers. Claiming a website does not strictly require one, but Pinterest recommends it.

Can I claim a shop on Etsy or Amazon?

Usually not. Pinterest says you must own the domain and be able to edit its source code, so most social accounts and marketplace shops such as Etsy, eBay and Amazon cannot be claimed. A website can only be claimed by one Pinterest account.

How do I turn on Rich Pins?

Add Open Graph or Schema.org markup to the head of your article and product pages, or Schema.org or h-recipe markup for recipes. New and existing Pins linking to those pages then show as rich Pins; Pinterest says syncing can take up to 24 hours.

Do I need both the Pinterest tag and the Conversions API?

Pinterest recommends running both and sending the same events through each, with deduplication set so conversions are not counted twice. The API sends events from your server, and can also carry app and offline events.

Which image size works best for Pinterest ads?

Pinterest recommends a 2:3 aspect ratio, such as 1000 x 1500 pixels, for standard image ads. Images taller than 2:3 might get cut off in feeds.

Want your site's tags, product data and tracking ready for Pinterest? See our website development service and all our services, or email [email protected].