I am asking this in the business forum because I think it is relevant to any business with an online presence.

I do not have a business, but I do enjoy making cakes for my family and friends and posting photos on my cake blog. I recently received a message from someone asking about one of my cakes (it's the Sister Missionary Shirt Cake in my photos). In the email I received, she mentioned that a photo of my cake was making the rounds on Pinterest. I was surprised and excited to hear that people liked the cake and were sharing it. But, when I went to check it out for myself, I was disappointed.

I did find where people had pinned it, but none of the pins link back to my site. Some link to Google and many have broken links. Not one of the pins links back to my blog. I guess I'm disappointed that I could be getting more traffic to my blog, but the Pinterest photos are not linked to it in any way.

I guess I have two main questions:

1. Is there a way to fix the broken links so they reach my blog?

2. Does Pinterest have an image search like Google has? You know, where you upload an image and search that way instead of searching with key words?

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

1. No.  But you can post a comment on the photo that someone pinned like "thank you for pinning and liking my cake!  You can check out more at www.__________.com"

2.  No.  You can search for a name, but there is no GIS feature that I know of in Pinterest - just use GIS and Pinterest boards come up.

This is the downfall of Pinterest - unless you make sure your info is watermarked on each and every photo there is no way to make sure they link back to you.  Even photos you post here - if someone pins it, it links back to Cake Central, NOT you or your website.

Thank you for replying, FromScratchSF. I did try commenting on the photos with a link to my blog, and was only allowed to comment on one of the photos. The next comment I tried to make was not allowed and I received this message:

I tried a couple of hours later and I'm still not allowed to comment.

Oh, well. I guess I should start water-marking photos again. I wasn't really concerned about it before, but I would like people to know where the photos came from and link back to me.

Thanks again for the info, FromScratchSF.
 

AI had never heard of CC until I saw a cake on pinterest linked to cc now im addicted to here lol

AIt links to CC and references your username. Its likely you'll find your photos all over the internet with no link back so just watermark your images. I pin my own stuff onto pinterest and like the pins of my work too.

ACan you ask to remove it and repin it yourself?

@ kazita - LOL! I don't remember how I first stumbled on CC, but you're right. It is very addictive. :)

@ SugaredSaffron - Thanks for sharing your tips on using Pinterest. I will try them.

@ julzs71 - I don't think I'm going to ask them to remove the ones that have already been pinned. I just think it'd be more of a hassle than it's worth to me. I'm going to start the process of deleting my photos, watermarking them, and re-posting them to my blog, though. Live and learn, I guess. LOL!

I watermark everything and also comment on my photos on pinterest if they've made it through that without a link. There's no way to make sure every link works on Pinterest...When you sign up to use it you agree that you have a right to the photos that you're pinning, so if someone sued them for copyright infringement they're not responsible, you are. I know of one blogger who's in the process of being sued because she used a photographer's pictures in a blog post, and even though she linked it back to his website he sued her. Linking back to the original source doesn't give you permission to use someone's photos...More than you probably wanted to know but I thought it was interesting that someone would sue over it even with a link back. The photographers I know HATE pinterest.

If someone's site has a "pin it" button on it that implies that they're fine with you pinning their pictures. If you're pinning someone else's stuff you can also add their URL to the description of the photo, and I think that travels with the picture (but I could be wrong about that)

Watermarking is probably your best way to combat it.  It's a fine balance... Look for a way to incorporate your watermark that is non-intrusive and doesn't detract from the photo yet still provides a signal to people where the photo came from.
 

AI watermark everything...there are programs that can remove watermarks, but I doubt that people who are pinning would take the time. It's the only way to at least try to keep a record with the photo of where it came from.

Thank you all so much for your replies.