Don't worry if you have yet to do so. Pinterest is progressively rolling out its new verification feature. This is great news for those of us who may use Pinterest to help grow our business and increase traffic to our websites and such.
Why is Pinterest verification good news? Well, up until recently your domain name (if you have one) was hidden behind a boring planet earth icon in the "About" section on your Pinterest page. That really wasn't helping if you're the type of person who wants to brand yourself and/or your business, grow your audience, and even attract more leads, readers, and customers to your website.
Pinterest has surely been making a few good moves since its inception. It's allowed for several people to expand their businesses. They recently laid out their new Pinterest layout and Analytics feature. Yay, bigger pins!
The Pinterest verification feature allows other pinners to learn more about the people and businesses they’re following. In other words, verification will let you display your full website URL on your Pinterest profile. Users will also see a red checkmark next to your domain in search results and on your profile.
Here's how you can go about verifying your Pinterest profile.
If you don't have a Pinterest account but would like to join as a business, you can do so here. If you already have an account and would like to convert your profile into a business account, go here or follow the instructions below.
Verify Your Pinterest Account
Log in to your Pinterest account as you usually do using Facebook, Twitter, or your email account. Navigate to your profile name in the upper right-hand corner and select the “Settings” option in the drop-down menu. Your Pinterest homepage may still have the old-face layout since I'm using the new layout in this tutorial but I did catch earlier screenshots of my old layout just for you. NOTE: You can only verify top-level domains (www.yoursite.com) and not sub-domains (www.yoursite.otherwebsite.com).
You will then be taken to your "Settings" page where you can change and/or update any of your profile settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the "Website" field where you may have already added your URL. There should be a Verify Website button to the right of that box.
If you're using the new layout, you can verify by clicking the pencil icon on your profile page.
After clicking "Verify Website", a new page will appear with the following instructions below. Keep this page open during the verification process. Be sure to go in the order listed.
Download the HTML file and save it somewhere you can easily access it on your desktop. Make note of the unique ID (pinterest-xxxxx.html). "X" being the replacement of random letters and numbers.
Upload The File To Your Server Take the file from your desktop to the server associated with the domain you are using on Pinterest. It's easier than it may look as you're reading this. Since my Pinterest domain is hosted with GoDaddy and linked to my lifestyle blog on Blogger, all I had to do was "Edit HTML" and insert the file in my Blogger dashboard. For those not using the method I did, you're only moving the verification file from your computer's desktop to your website on your hosting account via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). If this sounds too foreign to you, then I recommend you hand this job over to your web developer or contact your domain hosting registrar. In some cases, users may experience difficulty with the verification process. Pinterest is aware of this so as a final resort, you can contact Pinterest support directly. If you happen to be a bit more tech-savvy and love DIY projects, then check out Filezilla. It's a free FTP solution you can use to verify your website. Just download the appropriate version of the software (PC or Mac) and follow the step-by-step instructions. Be sure to transfer the file to your main (top-level) domain folder otherwise Pinterest won’t be able to find it. NOTE: If you have an e-commerce business site that is hosted on platforms like Etsy, Shopify, or eBay, unfortunately you won’t be able to verify your website on Pinterest because these sites don’t allow you to upload HTML files to their servers.
Verify Your Website
Once you've succeeded in uploading the HTML file, head back to the "Verify Website" page on your Pinterest account and click the link that says “Click here to complete the process” or "Complete Verification" if using new Pinterest layout.Pinterest will then automatically go to check your website for the HTML file they gave you and verify your site. If you did it correctly, for the old layout, you will see a red circle with a check in your settings page confirming that your website has been successfully verified. It will also be on your profile page. For new layouts, you will see a grey check next to your site address, which will then be visible on your profile page.  
You're done! Pinterest allowing you to verify your site will increase your online visibility and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as bring more traffic to your sites and encourage more engagement/interactivity from other users.
Did you find this tutorial helpful? Be sure to leave your comments and questions below. Share with your friends! :)
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