How and Why To Convert Your Pinterest Account to a Business Account

If you have a personal Pinterest account but you use it for your business, you may want to consider upgrading to a business account.  Though upgrading is not required, doing so comes with several benefits.

Business accounts are free, and the conversion of a personal account to a business one is fairly simple. If you'd like to convert your personal Pinterest account to a business account, simply go here.

Fill out the form that asks what your business type is (choose professional if you're a blogger), the business contact name and e-mail address as well as profile information.  Then agree to the terms of service.  Click the "convert" button.

Verifying your website is option, but if you do,  you can get analytics data straight from Pinterest.  There are two ways to verify your website:  by HTML file upload and with HTML meta tags.  (If you're unsure how to do this, Pinterest offers a page that explains how.)  Once you verify your website, you're free to remove the file or tags.  Remember, you're only allowed one website for your business Pinterest page.

In addition, to these features, when you sign up for a business account, Pinterest sends you six "getting started" e-mails over the course of six days.  These tips range from letting you know what you can learn with Pinterest's analytics to explaining why you should create rich pins to draw in more customers.

We all know that Pinterest can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool.  Update your account to a business account, and you may be able to market that power even more.

One caveat, however.  Some detractors have speculated that some time in the future Pinterest may begin charging for business accounts.  Pinterest has never stated this, but some worry that once Pinterest has users convert to business accounts, they'll begin to charge for them.

Have you converted your Pinterest account to a business account?  If not, would you consider doing so?