How-To: Pin Descriptions

I was going to have this on Bites of Craziness, but it was hugely long. So I decided to do it into a real post.

Just so you know, the pin description above isn't the best. Anyways, let's get to the deets.

So, why would you want to know how to have good pin descriptions? Because it directs traffic.What looks cooler this

Brown Butter Apple Pie by sallysbakingad... - so easy, and delicious, warm & buttery! #recipe #dessert  

or

Brown Butter Apple Pie

I think the first. Knowing how to do this is helpful when adding descriptions to your own images on your site, and also get's people to repin things on your boards, and really let them know you have great stuff and they should follow you. Anyways, the most important thing in this is . . .

1. Keeping it short and simple. No one wants a huge description that takes up the whole thing, they'll just skip it and won't repin. You want to cut corners wherever you can, using & signs and not using every word.

What's in a pin? Let's do a little dissection here.
Titleofthing by whoevermadeit.com - putasupercooldecscriptionhere #hashtag #hashtag
You put the title, who it's from, a cool description, and hashtags.

You can cut down on the title too by putting hashtags there. Instead of doing Apple Pie #dessert #pie, do Apple #Pie by person - yummy #dessert. This way you cut down on numbers. 

With who it's from, put the website, like crazyforcrust.com. This will cut down on size, because it will show up as crazyforcrus... plus it adds a link to the site, which is critical with pinterest's new design. The only time you wouldn't do this is if the site is longer than the name, or different than the name. An example is my site. The name is Occasional Indulgences Handbook, but the site is beccabrownies.com , so you would just put my site name. Another thing, use the word 'by' instead of 'from'. Instead of Apple Pie from Cookies & Cups, put Apple Pie by Cookies & Cups, because every little bit helps! Another thing, you'll often find it say www.somethingswanky.com, but you can just do somethingswanky.com, and it will still have the link, and it isn't as long.

The description is the most important part, it's what really sells the people on the recipe. You can either describe what's in it, or why it's so great.
Saying, 'carrots in a creamy ranch sauce' is nice, but 'this is so easy, and so good, my whole family was asking for more!' will really convince the person they want it.
 Cut down on things by putting & signs, just like in other places, and delete unnecessary stuff. No one needs to know about the thing caramelizing ten times.

Hashtags are really important, but sometimes can take up too much space. Having hashtags make it so anyone who clicks on the link can go to other recipes that sound the same. So if Dorothy from Crazy for Crust put a hashtag for #bread and I put that on my pin for Banana Split Bread, then anyone who clicked on her hashtag could go to mine, letting more people look at my stuff, and more people look at hers!
But hashtags can sometimes be too long. You only want two hashtags, and you want them broad. Instead of #cinnamon #slushie, you want #dessert #recipe.

The most important thing is shortness, so if your pin is too long, get rid of the hashtags, and if necessary get rid of the site. Your description shouldn't be more than 2 sentences, 1 is actually best. Because as nice as the standard pin outline (title, website, description, hashtags) if it's too long, no one wants it. 

By following these tips, your descriptions will look a lot better, people will repin things, and you'll get more followers! It's not too hard, the key points are
*keep it short
*tell them why THEY want this recipe
*have a title, who it's from, description, and hashtags

Anyways, happy pinning!