Pinterest keywords: should you use them?

If you would have asked me about Pinterest keywords a few months ago honestly I wouldn’t have any idea what you are talking about. But as I’ve started investing time and energy into coming up with a Pinterest strategy, I’ve understood how important Pinterest SEO is. 

Once I’ve learned about keywords, both for Google and for Pinterest, I’ve never written a blog post again before checking if there’s an audience for it. 

What’s the point of wasting so much time and energy to write something that nobody will ever read? 

Obviously, most of us want to provide value with our blogs. Specifically, we want to reach the people that most need the information we can share with them. 

And through the use of keywords, we can do just that. 

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What are Pinterest keywords?

Simply put, keywords are specific words people (me and you as well) use to search for something. 

This is applicable to Google, but also to Pinterest. 

Pinterest, unlike Instagram or Facebook,  is a search engine, not only a social media channel.

Think about how you use Pinterest in contrast with the other social media channels. We usually go there to look for a specific topic. 

It’s true we sometimes get sucked in and end up spending hours on Pinterest, but that’s the fun of it. And that’s what we want to benefit from, as content creators. 

Check out this ultimate list of blogging gifts you’ll actually need!

Short tail vs long tail Pinterest keywords

A short tail keyword is usually one specific word or a group of up to 2 words. 

Needless to say, as with short tail keywords on Google, ranking for such a word might prove to be difficult. 

By adding more words to it, and being more specific, you will create a longtail keyword. Aim for these kinds of topics to write about, and you’ll find it easier to reach your audience. 

Example:

Short tail: France

Long tail: small villages in France

Why Pinterest keywords are important and you should use them?

As I’ve said before, Pinterest is a search engine and it works like one.

Just like you do with Google, sending out messages about the topics the article tackles will help Pinterest put your pin in a certain category. And show it to the interested audience. 

In other words, you want to use keywords in Pinterest in order to help the engine link you to your audience. 

How to use keywords on Pinterest?

Search the keywords people usually look for

I couldn’t say this too many times: what’s the point of writing an article nobody will read?

Of course, as you will go for very specific long-tail keywords, the number of people looking for the topic will decrease. However, that’s not always a bad thing. 

Reaching the people who are interested in and looking for the information you can provide is always a good thing. No matter if they are 10 or 1000. 

But how can you see what people look for?

A simple search in Pinterest

Yes, you’ve read it correctly. As simple as that. 

Type into the Pinterest search bar your target keyword and see what other suggestions you get. 

Whenever I have something in mind I want to write about, I head over to Pinterest and start with a short tail keyword. 

If, as per the example above, plenty of suggestions show up, that means people are looking for this. And I get all kinds of new ideas on what else to write or how in-depth to go with my article. 

However, the downside of this is you don’t get any volumes behind the searches. 

Pinterest Ads

When you want to get also an estimated search volume for the keywords you have on your shortlist, the Ads tab is where you’ll want to go. 

You won’t have to create an ad, I just go in whenever I want to see if this is a popular search or not. Of course, I would always go for more popular topics, but also the smaller ones could be great as well. 

If you input a word and you don’t get anything, that means the topic is not popular on Pinterest. But you might want to look into Google and see if you could rank there. 

Pinterest Analytics

That’s where I go to look for the Pin designs that do well, but also for the topics that appeal most to my audience.

Maybe this should be your first stop before you create a list of potential blog posts you might want to write. As soon as you have a list, go through the search option and ads option as well. 

When you want to dig deeper, go to Analytics –> Audience Insights and try to get some valuable information out of the graph above. 

What is your audience interested in? What areas you should discuss more and provide them with valuable answers to their questions? 

Pinterest Trends

Pinterest Trends has been recently launched and only the US has received early access. 

Nevertheless, if you have a VPN you can easily access it and start playing. 

The tool is very similar to Google Trends and will show you what topics are trending at a particular point in time, let’s say the past 12 months, 3 months, or 1 month. 

I would then take the information and use it to plan my content throughout the year. 

TIP: The Simple Pin Media have a great and valuable free Pinterest Planner they update every year that can be also used to understand monthly trends on Pinterest. And plan for content. 

Extra TIP

When you establish your niche, you’ll want to go through the whole process and research a few keywords you will want to use over and over again. 

I have an excel file where I keep an overview of the keywords I would use and go back to whenever I create a new pin. 

No matter if my post is about Italy, Germany, or productivity, I’ll find plenty of keywords just waiting for me to use them on Pinterest.

And, of course, you can use anything to save your keywords in: a word document, an excel file, a more complex tool, a piece of paper, your phone notes. 

SEO proof your Pinterest profile  

Use descriptive keywords in your name & profile description

You can only use a limited number of characters in your profile name (30 characters), but make sure to include at least one keyword that best describes your niche. 

I have “travel” in mine because that’s my main focus. However, I sprinkled in the “live beautifully” part because that’s what I love writing about as well. 

No matter if I talk about blogging, productivity, zen moments, books I read, or delicious food from around the world. 

When it comes to the profile description, you’ll have more flexibility with that. And I’m talking about the 160 characters you will have at hand.

Try to come up with more specific keywords you usually target and add them in your description. 

Board names & description

The board names are as important as the profile name and description are. 

You will want to create a few boards and use relevant keywords for their names, for Pinterest to know what’s saved in there. 

Once I create a new board I always save a few relevant pins in there, in order to send some triggers to Pinterest and make the algorithm understand what kind of content people will find there. 

I often asked myself if I should save my content or other people’s content in there. I guess a mix of the 2 is fine, but after listening to The Simple Pin Podcasts I understood that I don’t have to save anything else than my pins. 

Of course, that can be pretty hard to do when you only have so much content. Thus, mix things up, and make sure you create only boards you have content for. 

Another thing to have in mind is you should always add a board description, where you will, of course, use keywords relevant to the content of that board.

Add also a Category and choose from the drop-down list from “What kind of board is it?”. The more hints we send to Pinterest, the better. 

Pin title

Every new pin you add should have a keyword in its title. 

Make sure the title is not misleading and that whatever you advertise is actually in the article when they click on to your site. 

And the pin should go in the most relevant board first, preferably the keyword in the title and the one in the Board’s name will match or be pretty close to each other. 

You might also want to check out my exact Pinterest for bloggers strategy.

Pin description

Another place where you will want to add 3-4 keywords, including the one you already used in the pin title, is the pin description. 

Don’t just add words, try to write a description and make people understand what will they get by clicking on your pin. Make a coherent description by sprinkling in 3-4 keywords. 

Should you use hashtags?

You could add up to 4-5 hashtags related to the topic. However, if I think of the way I use Pinterest, I never use hashtags to search for something. But maybe that’s just me and it’s better to have some than lose on some potential exposure. 

The Pins and pictures on your site

You want the pictures and the pins to work for you when people save them directly from your site. 

That’s why you’ll want to:

• use keywords in the file name – don’t save the pictures with random names such as Picture1. Give the file a descriptive name, something that would include a keyword linked to the post.
• use keywords and a description in the Alt Text field – this is the text Pinterest will use as a pin description
• the pin should have the title of the post as an overlay text – it doesn’t have to be word or word, but all in all it should send a very similar message
• post URL – it helps to have the keywords you target

Other useful tips

Rich Pins

By enabling rich pins you’ll get more value from your Pinterest account. 

That’s because a rich pin offers more information about the article and what you will get by clicking on it. 

In Pinterest words: “You can identify Rich Pins by the extra information above and below the image on close-up, and the bold title in grid.”

Here is an example, notice how you get the ingredients and a snipped from the blog?

See how you can enable Rich Pins for your account here. 

Use the right pin size

When you build a pin you must make sure to follow the guidelines with regards to the size as well. 

These might change from time to time, but as a general norm, a 600px x 900px is an appropriate size. That, or any 2×3 size that would not be too big and fit on the screen.

Have a pinning strategy

You should follow a few steps and be consistent in order to make the best out of Pinterest. 

Using a scheduler took like Tailwind is always helpful and clears up more of your time to focus on other things, like writing valuable blog posts. Try Tailwind here!

Also, I encourage you to use Tailwind Tribes and take full advantage of the huge potential they bring. Tribes is Free for anyone to get started, even if they aren’t using Tailwind already!

You can check it out here!

And when you’re determined to explode your traffic with Tribes, I encourage you to invest in the Explosive Traffic With Tribes training. It has an affordable price and it has helped me drive more traffic to my blog. 

FOUND THIS USEFUL? PIN IT!

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