Pinterest SEO in 2021: A Proven Step-by-Step Guide

Whether you’re an e-commerce company or a content publisher, the best way to think of Pinterest is as a visual search engine. And, as with any other search engine, there are a set of Pinterest SEO best practices that help your content get discovered. 

For the vast majority of websites, Facebook posts, Tweets and LinkedIn shares from 2017 don’t drive meaningful traffic in 2021.

While these social media mentions might have helped build your audience at the time, their lifespans are short. After all, how often do you see something pop up in these feeds that’s older than 24 hours?

Pinterest is different. 

Case in point: My brand, the financial education company The Ways To Wealth, has Pins from 2017 that still drive visitors to this day.

While it’s often lumped into the category of social media channels, people use Pinterest for a different reason and in a different way than other social platforms. 

In fact, Pinterest describes itself as a:

“…a visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more.”

In this post, you’ll learn how Pinterest functions as a search engine. From there, I’ll go through a step-by-step approach to creating Pins that will drive traffic over and over again.

How Does Pinterest SEO Work?

There are two big factors that help your evergreen content get to the top of Google’s search results: high-quality content that answers the searcher’s query, and high-quality links from other websites.

But what factors does Pinterest reward?

While Pinterest is indeed a search platform, it’s not another version of Google Images.

Here’s the biggest difference: with each Pin you create, your goal is to have positive engagement. This positive engagement can come in many different forms, such as a saved Pins, comments or a click-through to your website.

Ideally, your Pin will produce all of the above. 

Here’s why: saves, comments and click-throughs show that a Pin is relevant to the searcher’s query. And, just like Google, the more relevant your content is, the more Pinterest will show it — not only to people who are searching, but in their feeds as well. 

Pinterest users love saving pins with helpful information on them, because they can go back and reference them later. For example, this Pin that sent traffic to an article on hobbies that make money generated over 44,000 impressions, 480 saves and 202 clicks. 

Keep in mind, this is just one instance of the Pin; I can continue to pin this to other relevant boards — both my own and group boards.

This is why you’ll actually find it mentioned twice among my top Pins from the last 90 days:

Here’s the kicker: that Pin was first created in 2017, but the stats I shared with you are from 2021. 

In other words, it’s four years later and still seeing meaningful traffic. 

Here’s a step-by-step process for creating Pins that drive traffic year after year.

Step #1: Keyword Research

The best data you’ll get about what’s popular on Pinterest comes from Pinterest itself. 

There are two options for gathering data, and I recommend using both. 

First is the Pinterest Trends tool. 

Pinterest highly encourages and rewards creators who Pin about trending topics. This includes newer topics, where content isn’t saturated.

Pinterest also rewards content relating to seasonal trends, like when a cooking blog with a U.S.-based audience pins Thanksgiving recipes in early November.

The Pinterest Trends tool can help you find both types of opportunities. 

The second place to find keyword data for Pinterest is when you’re creating an ad. 

You don’t even have to buy the ad; Pinterest will still show you the data regardless of whether or not you complete the process. 

For example, say I’m looking to promote content on different side hustles. Inside the Pinterest ad campaign manager, I can see which keywords drive the most traffic. 

I can then go back to the trends tool and compare the monthly search volume of different keywords. For example, there’s more demand for side hustle content than there is for content about making money from home. 

Step #2: Pin Design

Once you understand what keywords you’re looking to rank for, the next step is analyzing what Pinterest is currently ranking for those terms. 

From there, you can move on to actually creating the Pin.

Just as a Google SERP might have multiple content types — video, images, recipes and text — so will a Pinterest SERP.

In other words, how you design your Pin will depend on what a user wants to see.

Using “side hustle” as our primary keyword, and typing this into Pinterest, it’s clear to see what users want here is a blog post with a long list of ideas. 

But, different queries, deserve different Pin types. 

For example, here’s what the search results look like for the term “seasonal produce guide.”

Here, users are looking for a graphic to save (or even print) that tells them what produce is in season.

Another insightful example is for the search term “engagement rings”.

Here, the main thing people want is images that show different types of designs. 

The big takeaway is that Pinterest will tell you what users want when it comes to Pin designs for your keyword. 

Your goal then is to create something that resembles, yet stands out among, the existing content. 

Step #3: Creating your Headline

When you go and create a Pin, whether that’s inside of Pinterest or through a post schedule app like HootSuite, Pinterest has you “add your title.”

I’ve found that the best practice here is to treat this very similarly to a title you’d write for any other search engine. Mainly, use your primary keyword and make sure it’s engaging; there’s no need to stuff keywords.

If you’re looking to rank for a competitive keyword term, consider including long-tail keywords that people are searching for. 

Using our engagement ring example, long tail keywords include:

  • Round Cut
  • Rose Cut
  • Emerald Cut

Tip: You can use the Pinterest ad manager to see what the most popular longer tail keywords are, as we discussed earlier in the article. 

Step #4: Write Your Description

Next up, write your Pin description. It’s here where Pinterest has you, “tell everyone what your Pin is about.

Before just writing a short-sentence or two, it’s important to first consider how Pinterest works.

Users type in a search query or see a Pin in their feed. From there, when they click on your Pin, they’re most likely clicking the Pin to expand the image. 

It’s only here that they see the full title and description. 

That means your description has two purposes:

  1. Provide Pinterest with more insight into what your article is about.
  2. Encourage users to visit your website. 

In other words, the description box isn’t for keyword stuffing. This is the copy that has to encourage the user to click over to your website. 

You can have up to 500 characters in your description. Although, only about 50 characters appear at first, which is why it’s important to have a call to action early.

As far as keywords, inside the Pinterest ads manager, you’ll find what keywords Pinterest associates with your primary keyword. 

For example, with side hustles, other relevant keywords include:

  • side hustle ideas
  • make side money
  • side hustle tips

Another place worth checking for long tail keywords is the Pinterest search bar. The platform’s auto suggest feature has tons of useful keyword ideas:

A few that stick out here are:

  • Home
  • Extra cash

To summarize, what you’re looking to do with your description is:

  • Write for humans. The sentence structure should be clear and concise. There’s no need for keyword stuffing. 
  • Have a call to action in the first 50 characters. 
  • Include both short-tail and long-tail keywords from your keyword research.

With those keyword ideas in mind, here’s what a sample description would look like for a post on side hustle ideas:

Check out our list of 30 of the best side hustle ideas to help you make extra cash. There are hundreds of potential ways to make side money. And unlike the more traditional methods, these local and work at home side hustles almost always let you set your own schedule and work as much (or as little) as you want. Plus, get our best side hustle tips for getting started. 

Step #5: Choosing Your Board

The final aspect of Pinterest SEO is making sure you add your newly designed and SEO-optimized Pin to a very relevant board. Choosing a relevant board is another signal to Pinterest as to what your content is about. 

As a publisher of financial content, I wouldn’t want to post an article about money making apps to a board about getting out of debt. I want to add each Pin to the board that’s most relevant. In this scenario, I might look for a board I created on side hustle ideas or ways to make money. 

If you don’t have a relevant board, take the time to create one. You want to send as many signals to Pinterest as possible regarding what your content is about. 

Final Thoughts on Pinterest SEO

Following Pinterest SEO best practices is another way to bring in long-term, evergreen traffic to your site. More so, it can easily compound, as the more high-quality and relevant Pins you create, the more chances you have of appearing on Pinterest.

    R.J. Weiss is the founder and CEO of TheWaysToWealth.com, a personal finance blog focused on all things money management. He's spent the last 10+ years writing about personal finance and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, MSN Money, and other publications. You can follow The Ways To Wealth on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.

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