The Art of Search

Hi, Erika here.

The other day I was doing an assignment researching paper/card stock and I was looking for how-to guides for choosing the perfect stock for your needs. It seems silly, but type “paper stock” in your Google search bar and tell me what you find. While, yes, I found a lot of information on paper stock, I also found a lot of information from investors telling me that buying stock in toilet paper was a smart choice and that “people will always need it.” You’re rolling your eyes and thinking, “Ok, I got plenty of results about actual paper stock too,” but I wanted visuals to demonstrate the images in my head. You might say Google has images, but for some reason all I could think about was Pinterest. I knew that by using Pinterest, not only would I be likely to find bloggers with real experience, but bloggers with an interest to share not only their thoughts, but images too. This raises the question, have you thought about using Pinterest for some of your search engine needs?

The board I used to tell my hairdresser what “look” I wanted.

I will start this by saying—I am Google addict. Not even the Bing vs. Google test could sway my opinion (I was not in the 2:1 group that chose Bing over Google). However, the last time I went to my hairdresser, I opened up my hair board from Pinterest to show her the “look” I was aiming for and she loved it. Previously, we would look at all these photos I had saved from Google into my phone and it would take forever because I would have to go through my pictures, opening and closing each image. With Pinterest all I have to do is scroll. Pinterest certainly won’t work as a searching tool for most business-related topics, but for visual and creative areas, like wedding planning and designing, not only is it more functional, but it is more visually appealing.

My best friends Grace and Jordan have been using Pinterest instead of Google religiously when it comes to planning a wedding (Grace), and working as a designer (Jordan), as they are always looking for inspiration. Pinterest allows Grace to create living “inspiration boards” for her wedding planning needs. Grace said that she went from showing up to with folders full of crumpled paper to opening up her laptop and sharing her wedding boards. “I found hundreds of ideas, not just for the dress, but for flowers, drinks, photos, things that I wouldn’t have ever thought of myself or found in a magazine or by searching Google.” Jordan agrees that as a designer, “Pinterest is an exponential database of images and resources that keep you in an infinite loop of information. That’s why it’s so addictive; it’s organized chaos.”

The result of a Pinterest image search.

The result of a Google image search.

When it comes to recipes, Pinterest also seems to have a functionality advantage. Google doesn’t present images and recipes together. You have to click the image to possibly get to a recipe and if you don’t like that recipe or it’s not what you’re looking for, then you have to back your way out of the item you’ve clicked to get back to where you started. On Pinterest the description is featured under the image and if you want a better look, you click the image and it appears almost as a popover—to keep looking you simply click anywhere else on the screen and never lose your place. So what’s my advice for when to you use Pinterest instead of Google? I’ve listed three easy TIPs to help you decide:

• Use Pinterest if you’re looking for buyers—people are over 50 percent more likely to buy from Pinterest than Google search.
• Use Pinterest to explore gift ideas and/or inspiration.
• Use Google when searching for in-depth information on a product or service.

Here at NMC, we use our Wednesday Witty Wisdom to help you think about things differently. I had honestly never realized how much I was using Pinterest over Google until writing this article and I hope that this helps you to expand your search options, particularly with photos, with the use of Pinterest.

Happy searching!