Because Pinterest is a visual search engine, the Pinterest search box is one of its most utilized features. With over two billion searches per month, brands are eager to gain visibility in the search results of their target Pinterest audience. To appear in Pinterest search results, you need to optimize your Pinterest for Business profile and all of its content with the keywords that will get you that coveted higher search ranking.

What is Pinterest SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the practice of increasing traffic to your website by optimizing your content to rank higher in search engine results. For the longest time, this sounded prohibitively techy to me, but SEO doesn’t need to be scary. It turns out that SEO isn’t just for technological geniuses. Anyone can learn SEO strategies and implement them as part of their own creative process. It’s totally doable, even for those of us who didn’t major in computer stuff!

When people discuss SEO, they are often referring to the strategies used specifically to rank higher in Google’s search results. But Pinterest is a search engine too, and if you’re using Pinterest for Business then it’s probably one of the top search engines already driving traffic to your website. Many bloggers report getting more traffic from Pinterest than Google,! With this in mind, it’s definitely worth the time to optimize your content for Pinterest in addition to Google and other search engines.

Since Pinterest uses its own algorithm and other factors to determine where your content will rank in its search results, a successful approach to Pinterest SEO will be different from how you would optimize content for other search engines such as Google. Even seasoned SEO experts may experience a learning curve when establishing an effective SEO strategy for Pinterest. They will find themselves asking a lot of the same questions the rest of us have about Pinterest SEO:

• If I already optimized my content for search, shouldn’t it automatically do well on Pinterest too?
• Where is the best place to find keywords for Pinterest?
• Is there a way to tell which keywords will give us the best chance for ranking in search?
• Is it more beneficial to focus on short tail or long tail keyword phrases?

I hope to answer all of these questions and more for you in this comprehensive guide to Pinterest SEO.

Before we get started, I’ve compiled these tips with the Pinterest for Businessuser in mind. If you hope to rank in search, you must be using a Pinterest for Business account and have it set up in the way I recommended here. For those new to Pinterest for Business, take a moment to read through the steps for proper account set-up before you proceed any farther. If your Pinterest for Business account is already established, read on for my essential Pinterest SEO strategies!

1. Know your Pinterest audience.

The ultimate goal of SEO is to attract the type of person you want to find your content. If you’re not sure which keywords to use, think about your target audience and their needs. Brainstorm a list of terms they might be actively searching. When you understand the intent of your audience, you can better predict how they will search for the information they need. To learn how to think more like your audience, read this.

People use Pinterest and Google to conduct two significantly different types of searches. Google is typically used to find an answer to a specific question. People search Pinterest, on the other hand, for discovery, inspiration, and guidance as they plan to take action. Knowing this, Pinterest for Business users should create their content with three goals in mind:

• inspiring people with their content
• provid Pinners with action steps to take in the next phase of their decision-making process
• making their content easy for people to discover on Pinterest

Once you understand the intent of your Pinterest audience, you can start to answer very specific questions such as,

• Why are they searching for this information?
• What do they hope to do with this information?
• How can my content help them achieve this goal?

The answers you come up with will guide you in the creation of a very specific list of keywords that you can refine using Pinterest’s own Guided Search feature.

2. Use Pinterest’s Guided Search feature to select your keywords.

Once you have a feel for your audience, their intent, and the keywords they might be searching, you can take that information and use it to find the best long tail keyword phrases to rank in search. Why focus on long tail keywording? If you’re already familiar with SEO in general, the benefits of using long tail keywords on Pinterest are similar to the advantages of going long for other search engines.

Basically, long tail keywords are keyword phrases of 3-5 words in length. There is less competition to rank for long tail keywords because they’re not as popular as the shorter “head” terms. “Head” terms, or short tail keywords, are the more commonly used words seen in search queries. They are usually 1-2 words in length. Because people search these terms more often than the long tail keywords, they attract more traffic. It’s easy for your content to disappear in all of those search results! Using long tail keywords helps you to target the exact audience you want to engage with your content. It also gives you the best chance of getting found by the right people.

To illustrate how to use Pinterest’s Guided Search feature for this purpose, I’ll use the head term “chicken recipe” as an example. Because this phrase only contains two words, it’s a short tail keyword. We’ll need to further refine it so that we can better target our audience with a long tail keyword.

To start, I typed the phrase “chicken recipe” into the Pinterest search box. In addition to countless results for chicken recipes, I could also see a row of colorful tiles under the search box, each one containing an additional keyword related to my search. I counted 80 of these related keywords for this particular search, so we know that Pinterest is absolutely flooded with chicken recipes! We will definitely need to get more specific with our keywording if we hope to rank in this popular niche.

To further refine my keyword, I clicked on one of the colorful tiles to narrow my focus (as shown below).

I chose “healthy,” because I know that’s what my target audience will want. This provides me with a new list of search results and a new row of keywords in the colorful tiles.

Once again, I tightened my focus by clicking on the tile with the word “easy” in it, because easy recipes seem to resonate best with my audience.

This action leaves me with a list of even more focused search results. There is also a new row of related keywords in the tiles.

This time, I select the word “quick” from the related keywords.

This time, something interesting happened when the search results were returned: There are no more colorful tiles suggesting related keywords!

It appears that I’ve refined my search as far as the Guided Search feature will go. This process has left me with an expertly targeted, five-word long tail keyword. Instead of “chicken recipes,” I can now keyword for the phrase “healthy chicken recipes that are quick and easy.” This will help me to target the audience that is looking for that exact topic.

3. Add keywords to your business name.

Now that you know how to find the perfect keywords for any situation on Pinterest, you can optimize every corner of your profile for search. Your business name is a great (although often overlooked) place to keyword and make your brand easier to find. Keep in mind that the name you use in your Pinterest URL needs to be 3-15 characters long. If your business name is available and fits within the character limitations, grab it. If not, it’s really no big deal. Simply choose something similar that is closely related, easy to spell, and easy to remember. Mine is PinfluentialVA. If you have a long business name, find a way to shorten or abbreviate it, while keeping it recognizable to your audience.

To keyword your business name, visit the “Edit Profile” section of your account and edit the “Business Name” field. After entering your business name and a divider (like a verti-bar), you should still have some extra room left to add a handful of words describing what you do. With your target audience in mind, select a few very specific and strategic keywords describing your business.

4. Optimize your profile’s “About” section.

Did you know that your “About” section can show up in searches? You have a 200-character limit, so choose your keywords carefully and use this limited space wisely.

Let visitors to your profile know who you are, what you do, and why they should follow you. Tell them how you will serve them with your content, products or services. You can definitely recycle the same keywords you used in your business name. Show your personality, inject a little humor, or link to your best lead magnet. If you’re targeting a local audience, you can also include your location to help with local search.

5. Name your boards with SEO in mind.

Board titles on Pinterest are like the sub-categories of your Pinterest for Business profile. Some Pinners use the drop-down menu next to the search bar to narrow their search results for boards only. When they find a board that contains useful, relevant content, they can opt to follow just that one board rather than your entire profile. This is a great way to attract new followers, so you definitely want to get your boards to rank in search.

Not only will a well-named board rank higher in search, but it will also draw people into discovering more of your content. With this in mind, try to name your boards using keywords that will set the expectation for what other Pinners can expect to find on that board. By setting clear expectations, you’ll attract the audience that is most likely to engage with your content.

Engagement is such an important factor in getting your Pins seen in search and distributed in feeds. If people aren’t engaging with your Pins, they will stop appearing in feeds and search results. This is yet another reason why it’s so important to know your audience, consider their intent, and target them with the right keywords.

6. Use keywords and hashtags in your board descriptions.

Pinterest allows you to add a short description to each of your boards. This is a significant opportunity to optimize your content for search! With a 500-character limit, there is plenty of room to write an engaging, keyword-rich board description. Use this space to describe your board with 1-2 sentences written in natural language. Try to avoid keyword-stuffing, and just use your keywords in the most creative, organic way possible. Think like your audience and use the keywords that will draw them into taking a closer look at your content.

The use of hashtags has been officially endorsed by Pinterest since August of 2017. Board descriptions are a great place to incorporate this Pinterest-approved tactic. People are searching for and clicking on hashtags, so you should definitely be using them to help your audience find your boards. You can sprinkle your hashtags throughout your board descriptions by adding them directly to your sentences or you can also place them all together at the end of your board description. Don’t go overboard with too many hashtags here. I would recommend using 3-5 hashtags, including one branded hashtag.

7. Optimize your Pin descriptions with keywords and hashtags.

While Pinterest hasn’t told us much about how their visual search tool works, we do know that Pinterest can “see” our images. Although the Pinterest algorithm does use information gathered from an image to learn what the Pin is about, it’s not the determining factor. When it comes to Pinterest SEO, the Pin description is still king.

Although Pinterest allows a Pin description of 500 characters, there is no advantage to filling all of that space. In fact, some studies have suggested that Pins with shorter descriptions (between 200-300 characters) get the most engagement. Keep this in mind when writing your Pin descriptions and try to keep them as concise as possible.

To optimize a Pin description for search, think like your avatar and write as if you’re speaking directly to them. Use language that’s both relatable and compelling to write 1-2 sentences that include your focus keywords. I recommend putting your keywords near the beginning of your Pin descriptions whenever possible.

Finally, pique the interest of your audience with a call to action to click through to your website. You can add hashtags at the end of your Pin descriptions or weave them throughout (much like in the board descriptions).

To easily enter your Pin descriptions and manage other Pinterest-related aspects of your content, try using a plugin like Social Warfare.

8. Be mindful of your image names and alt text.

Although most of the tips I’ve offered here are designed to get your Pins ranking higher in Pinterest’s search results, you certainly want your content to do well on Google and other search engines too. While descriptive image names are not important to the Pinterest algorithm, it’s still good SEO practice to name your images with identifying information rather than gibberish like IMG_1234.jpg. It’s also a lot easier to keep your photos organized if they have names that make sense to you! Even though Pinterest isn’t too interested in your image names and alt text, it’s still important for SEO to describe your images well.

Unlike Pinterest, which can “read” visual cues and gain information from them, other search engines depend on the alt text to tell them what a photo is about. People used to stuff their alt text with keywords and use it as a Pin description, but that’s not recommended. Pinterest will only pull a Pin description from your alt text as a last resort, if it can’t find this information anywhere else. If you’re using Social Warfare’s Pin description box, you don’t need to worry about that, and you can use the alt text for its intended purpose.

When writing alt text, try to verbalize your image as if describing it to someone who can’t see it. Be as specific as you can, while limiting your description to 125 characters or less. Judicious use of keywords is encouraged. If Google suspects you of keyword stuffing, your content may be categorized as spam.

9. Make sure your Pins link to keyword-rich content on your website.

I’ve written before that great Pins lead to great content, so make sure that your Pins link back to content that your audience will find truly valuable. When writing content, focus on connecting with your audience first and SEO second. Don’t disregard the opportunity to include keywords in your content, but don’t overuse them either. You can’t connect with your audience by writing in the style of a keyword-stuffing bot. My personal creative process is to write first and optimize second. I use the Yoast SEO plugin to help me know when I’ve got the right keyword density for optimal results.

10. Make sure that external search engines can find your Pinterest profile.

Remember that moment in the Christmas Vacation movie when Clark Griswold drags his family out into the snow for the big reveal of his light display? He decorated every inch of his house with Christmas lights, only to find that none of them lit up after all that work. He tried everything to troubleshoot, checking countless lightbulbs and looking for wiring issues. As it turns out, there was just one switch he forgot to flip.

Now that you’ve taken all that time to properly optimize your content for Pinterest search, it’s more likely to rank higher in the results of external search engines too… assuming it can be found!

Take a moment to check your Pinterest for Business account settings. When you click on Privacy & Data, you will see that you can hide your profile from other search engines such as Google. This is definitely not something you want to do when you’re trying to amplify your content! Make sure that this box is left unchecked to keep this setting disabled. It’s a tiny, often-overlooked detail that can make a huge difference in your traffic. If you find that the box was checked, flip that switch and watch your traffic light up, Griswold-style!

11. Watch your analytics

With Google, Pinterest, and Tailwind all offering their own analytic tools, there will be no shortage of data to let you know whether your Pinterest SEO efforts are working. Keep track of your impressions, saves and clicks, and learn what those metrics mean for your business. Every Pinterest for Business profile is different, so learning what is normal for your account is the key.

For example, if you notice that a particular Pin is getting a lower number of impressions, clicks and saves than usual (for your profile), then it’s possible you haven’t keyworded it well enough for the algorithm to know how to show it in feeds and search results. Try updating the Pin description with different keywords and save it to your most relevant boards. Those would be the ones with similar keywords in their descriptions. Do this before making any changes to your image and see if it helps your Pin receive wider distribution.

If you’re getting plenty of impressions but not enough clicks, then SEO is probably not your problem. Pinterest is showing your Pin and it’s getting seen by plenty of other Pinners, so it’s safe to assume that you have the Pin keyworded properly. The problem is that people are not engaging with it. There may be something about your image preventing it from achieving click-worthy status. In this case, try creating a new image or two and doing some A/B testing to see if a different image brings you more engagement.

If you find that you’re receiving relatively low impressions but more clicks and saves than expected, leave that Pin alone! It’s getting great engagement, and Pins with strong engagement will earn more distribution from Pinterest over time. The algorithm will see that other Pinners are finding your content to be valuable, and it will begin recommending your Pin to others and giving it a boost in search.

Conclusion

To Pinterest for Business users, the importance of Pinterest SEO can’t be overstated. While Pinterest does use visual cues to help determine the subject matter of your Pin, SEO still carries the most weight. For this reason, keywording your Pin descriptions, board descriptions, and original content is of the utmost importance. Because Pinterest also appears in Google’s own search results, it’s important to remember that these keywords can also drive traffic to your Pins (and ultimately your website) from outside search engines.

Pinterest SEO is not a way to work the system. It’s one of the most valuable strategies you can use to ensure that your content can be found by your target audience. Although it can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, it’s something you can definitely do to increase engagement with your Pins and bring more traffic to your website. If you want help with your Pinterest SEO, that is one of the services I offer as a Pinterest VA. Reach out to me with your questions or schedule a free discovery call at any time! I would love to hear from you.

Are you currently using any of these SEO strategies, or is it time to step up your Pinterest SEO game? Let me know in the comments below!

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