Connect Pinterest to RSS – Auto-Publish Pins Using a RSS Feed
Pinterest has another new feature that lets users connect a website RSS feed and auto-post to a Pinterest board. Once Pinterest is connected your website’s RSS feed, all new posts will be automatically saved to a preselected Pinterest board of your choosing. You can connect an unlimited number of RSS feeds too. This is good news for those who are using Pinterest for business as this is an excellent way to distribute content.
Using RSS feeds to distribute content saves time and possibly money for brands and businesses, not only on social media but on other channels too. In the past, I had to subscribe to a third-party app to auto save my blog posts to Pinterest. It was difficult to set up and disconnected often. After getting fed up with that app, I tried a WordPress plugin but it never worked.
People use RSS feeds to stay up to date with website content. RSS feed reader apps are used to import, parse, and organize feeds from many websites so a person can glance at headlines and choose what they want to read. RSS readers can also be used to retrieve and redistribute posts to other social media accounts.
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How Do I Find My Website’s RSS Feed?
All WordPress websites have an RSS feed contain8ng the site’s posts. Just add “/feed/” after the root URL. I use the RSS feed from my website. You can see the RSS feed on the website https://www.pintalk.net/feed/, to populate my weekly email newsletter. When I decided to start an email list a few years ago, I wanted to send it out weekly. I was so busy creating content for my website and YouTube, I could never get to the email. Now I use click here.
When you add content to your website or update your RSS feed that content will be saved to your Pinterest boards as Pins within 24 hours. You can use as many RSS feeds as you want, as long as they are from the URL attached to your business Pinterest. Each feed can publish Pins to a different board.
What is an RSS Feed?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, called RSS for short. An RSS feed is a public computer generated and computer readable, standardized XML file of a website’s content. It is commonly used for news websites, but any website can benefit by generating an RSS feed. Apps can uptake RSS feeds and distribute them or use it to generate another readable form of the information contained in the XML file. For example, I use my RSS feed to generate my weekly tutorial email.
RSS feeds are also known as web syndication.
What Are the Technical Specs for Pinterest Auto Publishing with an RSS Feed?
Pinterest auto publishing supports RSS 2.* and RSS 1.* (RDF) formats. Atom feeds are not supported at this time. WordPress websites automatically generate an RSS feed of all posts. But if you are programming an RSS feed and need the standards, then refer to W3.org for the proper syntax https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html Auto published Pinterest Pins will be taken from the < image >, < enclosure >, and < media:content > tags under each < item > tag in your XML file. The Pin title and description will be taken from the < title > and < description > tags under each
Note: You must have a Pinterest business account to connect an RSS feed. If you don’t have one and need help, then follow my blog post on how to set up a free Pinterest business account. The option to auto publish from a website will only be visible if you have claimed your website on Pinterest.
According to Pinterest, auto publishing using RSS can take up to 24 hours for your Pins to be saved to the board that you specified. Future Pins will be saved on a schedule, but it is not clear what that schedule it. So, if you need something posted right away or at a certain time, then you will have to post it manually or use another scheduling tool.
How to Connect a Website RSS Feed to Pinterest
Connecting your website’s RSS feed is easy. Remember you must log onto Pinterest from a web browser as this feature is not available on the mobile app.
- Log into Pinterest Desktop version in a Web Browser
- Click in the three dots in the upper right corner of Pinterest
- Select Settings
- Select Claim from the menu on the left
- Under “Auto-publish”, click Connect RSS Feed
- Paste your RSS feed URL into the field
- Choose the board you want to publish to or create a new board
- Click Save
Note: When you select a secret board, your Pins won’t be seen by other Pinners. You can edit the connection and change the feed URL and board choice at any time.
It is possible to connect more than one RSS feed. However, you can only have one website connected (claimed) to your Pinterest business account. All WordPress websites automatically have an RSS feed. Just add /feed/ after the root website URL. Remember to use high quality images for your website posts.
While you are in the neighborhood, go ahead and connect your YouTube, Instagram, and Etsy accounts too.