How to Use Pinterest Boards to Organise Your Art and Get Found by Brands

I have been on Pinterest since the early days of my surface pattern design business. I was pinning my watercolour patterns, saving them to boards, showing up consistently. I was also pitching brands directly, and that was working. I have licensed over 100 patterns with brands including RJR Fabrics, Studio Oh, Alice and Ames, Sand and Fog, and Hawthorne Supply Co. Pitching got me there.

But pitching takes time. And as a mum of two working within school hours, time is not something I have a whole heap of.

The shift happened when I stopped treating Pinterest like a place to casually share my work and started treating it like a search engine. I renamed boards from things like "Florals" and "My Designs" to "Floral Surface Pattern Designs" and "Watercolour Patterns for Fabric and Stationery." I wrote actual descriptions using the words that art directors and brands would type into the search bar. I learned how Pinterest SEO actually works and applied it properly.

That was when the enquiries started coming to me. Brands I had never pitched began reaching out because they had found my work through Pinterest search. I have even had brands that I pitched and never heard back from find me on Pinterest later and enquire about licensing. It did not replace pitching entirely, but it meant I could spend less time chasing and more time creating. And it all started with something as simple as how my boards were set up.

I now teach other surface pattern designers how to use Pinterest strategically through my Pinterest Workshop, and boards are always one of the first things we fix. (Check out last weeks blog post on How to Set Up Your Pinterest Profile as an Artist)

In this post, I am going to walk you through exactly how to set up your Pinterest boards so that your individual pins get found by the right people, including art directors, brand owners, and product developers who are actively searching for designs like yours.

Why Do Pinterest Boards Matter for SEO?

Pinterest boards directly influence how your pins rank in search results because Pinterest uses board names and descriptions to understand and categorise your content.

Think of it this way. If you pin a beautiful botanical watercolour pattern to a board called "My Art," Pinterest has very little context about what that pin is. But if that same pin lives on a board called "Botanical Surface Pattern Designs," Pinterest now knows exactly what it is looking at and can serve that pin to someone searching for botanical patterns.

Your boards are not a portfolio. They are an SEO tool. Each board helps Pinterest understand your content so your individual pins can be discovered in search. This is the same principle behind how Google uses page titles and category structures to understand websites. Pinterest just does it visually.

Interested in creating a portfolio? You'll like this blog post of mine.

How Should You Name Your Pinterest Boards as a Surface Pattern Designer?

Name your boards using the specific words and phrases your ideal audience would type into the Pinterest search bar, not creative or aesthetic labels.

Here is an example of the difference. Instead of naming a board "Florals," you could name it "Floral Seamless patterns" or "Botanical Print Designs for Licensing." These names tell Pinterest exactly what is inside that board and match the kinds of searches that brands and art directors are running.

When I first renamed my boards, I started by opening Pinterest and typing the beginnings of search terms related to my work. Pinterest's auto-suggest showed me exactly what people were searching for. That became my board naming guide.

A few principles to follow:

• Use words your ideal audience would search for. If you design for children's products, "Fun Kids Prints" is far more useful than "Cute Stuff."

• Be specific about your niche. "Watercolour Floral Patterns" is stronger than just "Watercolour Art" because it tells Pinterest your content is about patterns, not paintings or tutorials.

• Keep it natural. You do not need to stuff five keywords into one board name. One clear, descriptive phrase is enough.

• Avoid emojis, symbols, or purely aesthetic names. Pinterest cannot read those the way it reads words.

What Should You Write in Your Board Descriptions?

Write 2 to 3 sentences that describe what the board contains, using keyword variations that your audience would search for. Pinterest gives you 500 characters, and you should use them.

A good board description tells Pinterest (and anyone who lands on your profile) exactly what they will find inside that board. Write it in plain language, include a few keyword variations, and keep it conversational.

For example, a board called "Tropical Surface Pattern Designs" could have a description like:

Tropical and exotic surface pattern designs featuring palm leaves, monstera, hibiscus, and bold botanical prints. Designed for fabric, wallpaper, stationery, and home decor licensing. Original watercolour and hand-painted artwork by Ashleigh Fish.

That description includes the design style (tropical, botanical), the product applications (fabric, wallpaper, stationery, home decor), the industry context (licensing), and the medium (watercolour, hand-painted). All of those are terms that someone might search for on Pinterest. And because AI search tools like ChatGPT and Google AI Overview pull information from descriptive, specific content, having this kind of detail on your profile also increases the chances of your Pinterest content being cited when someone asks an AI tool about surface pattern design or art licensing.

How Many Boards Should You Have?

Between 10 and 20 active, well-described boards is a strong range for most surface pattern designers. Quality matters more than quantity.

A board with 5 well-optimised pins and a keyword-rich description will do more for you than a board with 50 randomly saved pins and a blank description. Empty or barely-used boards send weak signals to Pinterest about your content.

Here is a starting framework you could adapt:

• One board per major design style you create (e.g., "Watercolour Floral Patterns," "Geometric Print Designs," "Whimsical Kids Prints")

• One board for your blog content if you write about surface pattern design, Pinterest, or art licensing

• One board per product application if it is relevant to your work (e.g., "Women’s Fashion Fabric" "Coastal Bedroom Wallpaper")

• One board for your portfolio or website content where every pin links directly back to your site

The key is that every board has a clear purpose and a name that tells Pinterest what it contains.

Should You Pin Other People's Content to Your Boards?

Yes, but keep it on-topic and keep the balance weighted toward your own content. Roughly 70 to 80 percent your own pins and 20 to 30 percent curated content from others is a good ratio.

Pinning relevant content from other creators can actually help Pinterest understand your boards better. If your "Botanical Surface Pattern Designs" board has a mix of your own botanical patterns alongside botanical inspiration from other designers, Pinterest gets even more signals about what that board is about.

The thing to watch out for is off-topic pins. One random recipe pin on your pattern design board sends confusing signals to Pinterest about what that board is actually about. I learned this the hard way when I realised I had a few home renovation pins mixed into one of my pattern boards from years ago. Cleaning those up made a noticeable difference.

How Often Should You Update Your Boards?

Add fresh pins to your boards consistently, whether that is weekly or fortnightly. Pinterest rewards regular activity over sporadic bursts. (See my How often should I pin on Pinterest as an artist and surface pattern designer blog post).

You do not need to pin 30 things a day. A simple routine that works well is to batch-create your pins once a week or once a fortnight, then schedule them to go out across your boards over the following days. Tools like Tailwind make this straightforward.

When you publish a new blog post or collection, create a few pin variations and add them to the most relevant boards. When you finish a new pattern, pin it with a strong title and description to the boards where it fits best. That steady drip of fresh content keeps your boards active without eating into your creative time.

A Quick Board Audit You Can Do in 15 Minutes

Open your Pinterest profile and look at your boards with fresh eyes. For each one, ask yourself these four questions:

Does the name include a word someone would actually search for? If your board is called "Pretty Things" or "My Work," it is time for a rename.

Is the description filled in? If it is blank, you are leaving SEO value on the table. Write two or three sentences that describe what is inside the board, using words your ideal audience would search for.

Are all the pins on-topic? If a board is a mix of your patterns, someone else's recipes, and a few motivational quotes, it is sending mixed signals. Clean it up or move off-topic pins to a different board.

Is your most important board near the top of your profile? You can drag and drop your boards into any order. Put the ones most relevant to your work and your audience front and centre.

This audit takes about 15 minutes and can make a real difference to how Pinterest categorises and surfaces your content. If you are reading this during a quiet school holiday afternoon, this would be a great use of that time.

Your Boards Are the Foundation

Getting your boards right is one of those things that takes a small amount of time upfront but pays off for months and years. Every pin you create from this point forward will benefit from living on a well-named, well-described board.

If you are just getting started with Pinterest as a surface pattern designer, or you have been pinning for a while but not seeing the traffic you expected, your boards are the first place to look.

I have a free Pinterest guide that walks you through the full setup process, from your profile to your boards to your first pins. You can grab it here.

And if you want to go deeper into building a Pinterest strategy that actually brings brands and art directors to your work, my Pinterest Workshop covers everything from board setup and keywords to pin design and scheduling. You can find all the details here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Pinterest board names affect how my individual pins rank in search?

Yes. Pinterest uses your board name as one of the signals to understand what a pin is about. A pin saved to a board with a clear, keyword-rich name is more likely to appear in relevant search results than the same pin saved to a board with a vague or creative name. Your board name gives Pinterest context that helps it match your pin to the right searches.

Should I delete old Pinterest boards that are off-topic or irrelevant to my business?

It depends on the board. If it is clearly unrelated to your work (personal recipe collections, holiday planning boards from years ago), you can either archive it or set it to "secret" so it is hidden from your profile but still accessible to you. Keeping off-topic boards visible can dilute the signals Pinterest uses to understand what your account is about, so tidying them up is worth the few minutes it takes.

Can I rename an existing Pinterest board without losing my pins or SEO?

Yes. Renaming a board does not delete your pins. Pinterest will re-index the board with the new name, and your pins will start being categorised under the updated keywords. It is one of the quickest wins you can make, and I would recommend updating the board description at the same time to match the new name.

P.S - Pin me for later xx