How to Make Pinterest Board Covers in 2017 {and Why You Need Them!} -

You’ve chosen a color scheme for your kitchen, for the outfit you’re wearing today, and hopefully, for your business. Why? Because you know that when things look put together they are more attractive and appealing. But have you done the same for your Pinterest business account?

After you’ve clarified your purpose by writing a clear profile description, the next step to having a Brilliant Pinterest account, gaining new followers, and driving traffic to your shop or site is to clean up the appearance of your Pinterest account with board covers.

Board covers allow you to put your signature style (branding) right on the front of every board, giving your account a cohesive feel and look that’s attractive to someone who stops by.

We recently added board covers to our Pinterest account and the difference is fantastic! Here’s what Brilliant Business Moms on Pinterest looked like before board covers (keep in mind that Pinterest automatically showcases the latest pin on that board unless you tell it otherwise; some of our latest pins aren't ours, so they aren't Brilliant Business Moms colors or style!):

And here's how it looks after we made custom board covers for each board we own:

You can clearly see an incredible difference! Cohesive board covers give off the feminine, classy feel of Brilliant Business Moms without saying a word.

We learned something interesting in the process of making our board covers: What it appears you can do is not necessarily what you actually can do. So we developed a workaround and we're happy to share it with you

So let’s look at a simple, effective way to add gorgeous, styled board covers to your Pinterest profile.

Right now, Pinterest says their board cover size is 800 x 800 pixels. That means you could create a square image, turn it into a pin, and set it as your board cover. If you added text to your square image it would show up on that board cover as well. But, that also means that your little square pin is what will show up in other people’s feeds and that’s no good—we don’t want to be square when it comes to Pinterest!

For example, we love the adorable board covers over at Mama Needs Some Coffee. Aren't they so much fun?

But, what we don't love is the tiny, square pin that shows up in the feed.

To fix this, instead of using a square pin as your board cover, use your favorite design tool like Canva, PicMonkey, or Photoshop to create a tall image that is both a branded board cover and a beautiful pin.

Here's how:

Create an image at least 800 pixels wide and as tall as you would like. You can use stock photos, product photos, or even lifestyle photos that are in your colors and style. Make sure the middle section of your image is attractive.
Add an overlay or a text box with the title of your board. The reason we put our titles at the top of our vertical pins is because right now, even though it seems like you can tell Pinterest where to crop your image for your board cover, you can’t. It just gets cropped in the middle every time. By putting our text at the top, if someone sees this pin they can tell what it's about, but the board cover doesn’t end up with any funky cropped text. There's just a gorgeous image.
Save your completed image to your computer and head over to Pinterest.
Choose the board this pin will become the cover for and click the red plus sign to add a new pin.
Upload your image and here’s the trick: set the URL of the pin to the URL of the board itself. That way as this pin circulates, when someone clicks on it Pinterest will send them straight to your board.
Then add a great description of your board, and of course, choose the right board for this board cover.
Now your vertical pin, with the board title at the top, is saved to the correct board.
There's only one step left! Edit that board by clicking the pencil on top, and then click “Change” where you see the word Cover. When your pretty new pin shows up, click “Save Changes.” Again, this is where it looks like you can choose how to crop your pin, but you can't; it always defaults to the middle of the pin.

And that's it! It's a simple process that makes a huge difference in the appearance of your entire account!

If you are using Pinterest for your business (and if you aren’t, you should be), let me share this little tidbit with you:

Very few people have taken the time to make board covers!

It’s actually hard to find examples of pinners who have! This is such a simple way to set your profile apart and make it stand out. Sometimes all you get is someone’s 2-second glance to convince them they want to follow you on Pinterest and board covers are what will make the difference.

Here's what I mean: Both of these pinners market crafts for kids, but at first glance, which one would you follow?

If you're clicking through pinners, searching for crafts for your kids, Create in the Chaos is the clear winner. It's crisp, it's unified, and it's visually appealing.

And because potential customers head to Pinterest for the images—it truly is a visual search engine—appearances are paramount.

Board covers are a fabulous way to make your business account feel clean, clear, and cohesive, even to someone who just stops by. Take the time to make your Pinterest profile reflect your business, and you'll gain more loyal followers and future customers.

(Pssst! You might also love these posts on using Pinterest for your business!)