The Complete Guide to Pinterest Rich Pins

Rich Pins are one of Pinterest's most powerful features for content creators and businesses. According to Pinterest's Rich Pins documentation, they provide additional context and information directly on your pins, making them more informative and engaging. Here's everything you need to know about Pinterest Rich Pins.

What Are Rich Pins?

Rich Pins automatically sync information from your website to Pinterest, providing more context about your content. Unlike regular pins, Rich Pins include additional metadata that makes them more useful and discoverable.

Types of Rich Pins

Article Rich Pins

Best for blog posts, news articles, and tutorials. They show article title, author name, published date, article description, and author profile link. Benefits include higher click-through rates, better SEO, more professional appearance, and increased credibility. This makes them essential for bloggers using Pinterest.

Product Rich Pins

Best for e-commerce stores and online retailers. They show real-time pricing, availability status, product description, and where to buy link. Benefits include driving direct sales, showing current pricing, reducing abandoned carts, and increasing conversions. Perfect for e-commerce Pinterest strategies.

Recipe Rich Pins

Best for food blogs, recipe websites, and cooking content. They show ingredients list, cooking time, serving size, ratings, and nutritional information. Benefits include higher engagement, better user experience, more saves, and increased traffic.

How to Set Up Rich Pins

Add Metadata to Your Website

Rich Pins require specific metadata in your website's HTML. Article Rich Pins need Open Graph tags and article schema markup. Product Rich Pins need product schema markup plus price and availability information. Recipe Rich Pins need recipe schema markup with ingredients and instructions.

Validate Your Rich Pins

Use Pinterest's Rich Pins Validator to check if your metadata is correct. Go to Pinterest's Rich Pins Validator, enter a URL from your website, fix any errors that appear, and re-validate until approved.

Apply for Rich Pins

Once validated, click "Apply now" in the validator, wait for Pinterest's approval (usually 24-48 hours), and start creating Rich Pins.

Best Practices for Rich Pins

Keep Metadata Updated

Rich Pins pull information from your website, so keep your metadata current. Update prices regularly, keep availability accurate, refresh article descriptions, and maintain accurate information.

Use High-Quality Images

Rich Pins still need compelling visuals. Use high-resolution images, create vertical pins with 2:3 ratio, include text overlays when helpful, and maintain brand consistency. For design tips, see our guide on creating viral Pinterest pins.

Write Compelling Descriptions

Even with Rich Pins, descriptions matter. Include relevant keywords, write clear engaging copy, add call-to-actions, and optimize for search. This is part of a solid Pinterest SEO strategy.

Test Different Formats

Experiment with different image styles, various description lengths, different call-to-actions, and various posting times.

Measuring Rich Pin Performance

Key metrics to track include click-through rate (how many users click through), saves (engagement with Rich Pins), traffic (website visits from Rich Pins), and conversions (sales or goal completions).

Using SortPins for Analysis

SortPins helps you analyze Rich Pin performance by revealing hidden engagement metrics, comparing Rich Pin versus regular pin performance, identifying top-performing Rich Pins, and tracking performance over time.

Common Rich Pin Mistakes

Incorrect metadata is a common problem. Use Pinterest's validator and fix all errors. Not updating information leads to outdated prices or availability—keep metadata synchronized with your website. Poor image quality hurts performance—use high-resolution optimized images. Ignoring analytics means not tracking Rich Pin performance—use analytics tools to measure and optimize. Rich Pins vs. Regular Pins Advantages of Rich Pins include more information displayed, higher click-through rates, better user experience, increased credibility, and automatic updates from website. Regular Pins work better for quick inspiration pins, non-article content, personal boards, and experimental content.

Advanced Rich Pin Strategies

Test different images, descriptions, posting times, and content types. Update Rich Pins for seasonal products, holiday content, time-sensitive offers, and trending topics. Promote Rich Pins on other social media platforms, email newsletters, website blog posts, and marketing campaigns.

Troubleshooting Rich Pins

If Rich Pins aren't showing, common causes include metadata errors, not yet approved, website changes that broke metadata, or Pinterest cache issues. Solutions include re-validating your pins, checking metadata accuracy, clearing Pinterest cache, and contacting Pinterest support if needed. If information isn't updating, common causes include website metadata not updated, Pinterest cache, or validation issues. Solutions include updating website metadata, re-validating pins, waiting for cache to clear, and using Pinterest's debugger.

Conclusion

Rich Pins are a powerful tool for increasing engagement and driving traffic from Pinterest. By setting them up correctly, following best practices, and tracking performance, you can significantly improve your Pinterest marketing results. Remember to keep your metadata updated, use high-quality images, and analyze performance regularly. Tools like SortPins can help you track Rich Pin performance and make data-driven optimization decisions. For more Pinterest strategies, check out our complete marketing tips guide.