How to Optimize for Pinterest SEO

How to Optimize for Pinterest SEO

Pinterest is the second fastest growing social media platform out there. It’s a favorite destination for users looking for helpful articles, DIY inspiration, recipes, and fitness tips! The platform makes it easy to browse thousands of brands to find the content users want to explore and save. But, beyond a fun social media channel, Pinterest is a powerful marketing tool for bloggers like you. 

We’ve discussed social media marketing in the past and how it’s an important part of growing your blog to your biggest brand goals. Pinterest should be part of your marketing plan, just like Facebook and Instagram. 

In order to benefit from Pinterest posting, you’ll need to consider search engine optimization (SEO) on your page. Pinterest is like a search engine in itself. So, to generate traffic from the site, you’ll need to optimize! 

Now, the world of SEO is complicated, to say the least. So, we’re here to give you all the information you need to make optimizing your Pinterest page successful! Below we’re sharing all the best Pinterest SEO tips to help you launch your blog to the next level. Check it out!

What is Pinterest SEO?

How to Optimize for Pinterest SEO

What is Pinterest SEO

When you search on Pinterest, Pinterest provides thousands of thumbnails with related content. Think about a search engine results page like Google, but it’s very visual and more focused on your niche. This makes it a favorite place for users to locate important and relevant content on their hobbies and lifestyle.

Pinterest SEO ensures that your “pin” populates when a user searches for something related to your brand or topic. Then, the reader can interact with your content and follow you! Pinterest optimization allows you to easily reach new readers and thus, drive new traffic to your website. 

Plus, Pinterest has the longest post lifespan of any platform at three months. Which means, when you post something, it remains in top circulation for a quarter of the year! For reference, the lifespan of a post on Twitter is less than 30 minutes and on Facebook, it’s only a few hours. So, Pinterest has a clear advantage for bloggers like you looking to grow fast! 

When you craft the perfect blog post and are looking for a lucrative marketing strategy, make sure Pinterest is part of the plan. To help you get going, we’ve created this guide to Pinterest SEO below:

How does Pinterest SEO work?

How Does Pinterest SEO Work

When Pinterest marketing, it’s important to understand how the platform’s algorithms will determine whether or not your content is worthwhile. Here are the factors Pinterest takes into consideration before delivering your content to more readers:

  • Website Quality: Pinterest will determine whether your website is quality (or not) based on how much time pinners spend browsing your site after following a link to your page.
  • Post Quality: Like other social media platforms, the Pinterest algorithm will measure user engagement with your content. 
  • Your Activity: Pinterest likes to see you regularly post, share (pin) popular posts, and interact on the platform with other users. 
  • Relevance: Lastly, Pinterest will consider how often your pins relate to popular searches. 

If aspects of these concepts sound familiar, it’s because they represent the three pillars of SEO. These are trust, authority, and relevance. You can read more about the three key ranking principles in our post, here

How to Use SEO on Pinterest

Now that you understand how important it is to market your content on Pinterest, let’s discuss how to get started! Step one of any SEO strategy is to create content that is valuable and meaningful. But for the sake of this post, we’re going to assume you’ve already done that. (Because you’re a boss lady blogger who loves her readers!) So, here’s what to do with your high-quality content once it’s written: 

Create a business account. 

In order to optimize your Pinterest profile, you’ll need to make sure you have a Pinterest business account. If you’ve already made your account and it’s a personal one, don’t worry. You can change it! But, in order to gain access to the analytics and Pinterest’s SEO boosts, you’ll need a business account. 

Claim your website. 

Next, claim your website on Pinterest. This will give you full analytics on conversion and traffic to your website from Pinterest. This will also add credibility to your Pinterest page, because you will display as a verified brand. 

Use keywords and hashtags. 

Even if you only know a little about SEO, you probably know that keywords are a big part of optimization! When users search content, the words they’re using to describe what they want are keywords. If your content has the same keywords as their search, your posts will pop up for the reader. 

In order to know what words to use, you need to do some keyword research. You can do keyword research for free using Google’s Keyword Planner. But, paid platforms like Moz’s Keyword Explorer will give you more comprehensive results. 

Besides keywords, hashtags are another way Pinterest grabs relevant content for its users. You can find helpful hashtags by browsing content similar to yours, or by using a tool like Tagboard. Once you have your keywords and hashtags, craft your pin descriptions and title around them. This way, your content will be optimized and ready to be pulled when someone searches for it! 

Upload attractive, optimized images. 

Pin quality is really important to Pinterest. Just like Google doesn’t want users to search and find only mediocre, low quality, sketchy websites, Pinterest doesn’t want users to search and find miles of grainy images with illegible text. It doesn’t just reflect poorly on the brand; it reflects poorly on Pinterest itself!

So, in order to fully optimize your post, you need an attractive image that is the right size. Most Pinterest users are scrolling on their phone, and Pinterest has a signature style of long, skinny images. The ideal ratio of a Pinterest image is ‌4:5 or 2:3. The bare minimum width is 600 pixels. However, Pinterest clearly states that the ideal Pin size is 1000 x 1500px and an aspect ratio of 2:3 for standard pins. 

But, we’ll discuss more on the content and style of the images a little later. Let’s get back to using SEO on Pinterest for now.

Add the Pinterest tag and save button to your website. 

Next, you’ll want to add the Pinterest tag and save button to your website. You’ll be getting a lot of new traffic from Pinterest. And, adding this tag to your site will allow Pinterest insights to pull data and give you the best performance analytics possible. You can find installation directions here

You’ll also want to add Pinterest’s save button to your site. A little icon will show up in the corner of all your posts and products after installing. Then, users can pin directly from your website. No copy and pasting the URL required! For more information on adding the save button to your site, click here

These two tools will allow your website and your Pinterest page to work together! They’ll communicate with one another and drive traffic in both directions. 

Map progress on analytics. 

Pinterest analytics come with your business account. You’ll get insights into your audience, pin performance, overall standing, and more! To continually optimize your content, pay close attention to the information the analytics page provides. It tells you what works and what doesn’t – so listen to it!

Pinterest SEO best practices

Pinterest SEO Best Practices

Using search engine optimization on Pinterest is that simple! Actually achieving a high ranking? That’s a little harder. In light of this, we’ve got a list of SEO best practices that will drive your pins to the top of Pinterest’s search results pages! 

Create and maintain organized boards. 

First up, create organized Pinterest boards that categorize your content. For instance, if your blog is on gardening, maybe you have a board for posts related to apartment gardening tips and another one for posts reviewing gardening gear. Or, if you are a lifestyle blogger, perhaps you have a board for fashion and another for life hacks. 

Keeping these boards organized and maintained will help Pinterest understand what search categories your pins fall under. Plus, when users find one post of yours that they like, they’ll travel to the board and browse your other content too. It’s a great way to stay optimized and gain repeat readers! 

Use guided search to see what your audience is looking for. 

When blogging, it’s important to regularly check in with your audience. If you do, you’ll always know what to write next, because you’ll be up-to-date on the trends. A good way to keep up with your niche is to use Pinterest’s guided search function. 

To do this, type in a word related to your niche in the search bar, and you’ll see predictive text that shows the top most searched phrases! These search terms will show you exactly what your audience is looking for. This makes doing a quick search on Pinterest one of the fastest and easiest ways to hear from your community. 

Make long images with text overlays and bright colors. 

Remember, Pinterest is a mostly visual search engine. So, your photos must be sharp for both the audience and the Pinterest algorithm to take notice! Above, we discussed the size and shape of the image, but there’s a little more to it. 

Keep your images vibrant and exciting. They should grab readers’ attention right away. Then, add your text. The text on the photo should clearly state the content. (Almost all Pinterest pins have text overlays, so this is a super important addition.) And remember to keep the text short and clear! This way, when users’ attention is drawn to your pin, the text motivates them to stay and travel the hyperlink.

If you’re looking for more Pinterest image advice, check out our past post on Pinterest tips here.

Write interesting, keyword-rich titles.

Your images grab the reader’s attention initially. But to get them to travel to your site and not just look at your pretty image, you’ve got to have a good title. Plus, a well-crafted title will drive you up the results pages and make it easier for you to reach your audience. 

 A good title for Pinterest is concise, but specific. Here are a few tips for optimized titles:

  • Under 100 Characters: Your title can be up to 100 characters long. So make sure you stay within that window. But also remember that only the first 30 characters will display on the results page as users browse. So, keep the important parts at the beginning. 
  • Use Keywords: Don’t force it, but try to naturally include keywords in your title. This will help move you up the results page when a reader searches. 
  • Use Title Case: Rather than writing in sentences, keep your titles in case. If you’re wondering what words should be capitalized, you can find handy tools like this one to help you sort it out. 

Explore your niche. 

Just like you should regularly communicate with your audience and check guided search results, you should also explore your niche. By browsing other boards and pins on your topic, you’ll have a better grasp on what’s trending and what is most successful on Pinterest. 

This can also provide opportunities for you to collaborate and link build as you interact with others in your niche! You’ll develop credibility and comradery among the community and in turn, this will make them want to link to you. Then, you can return the favor and link back to them! It’s an all-around win!

Follow and collaborate with other Pinners. 

As you’re exploring your niche and finding new bloggers you respect, follow them and regularly engage with their content. Then, collaborate by creating a shared board or ghost blogging on each other’s sites! This way, you both get exposure to new readers in your niche. 

Post on group boards. 

Pinterest has a unique feature where users can create a board on a specific topic and allow others to add their own pins to it. These can be super lucrative when managed by popular profiles, because you can connect immediately to other readers in your niche! 

Make sure to check the rules and guidelines for the board. If you have content that fits, add it to the board and wait for approval. You’ll definitely see traffic from this handy source! 

Post 5 times a day at the right times. 

To truly optimize your content on Pinterest, you must post five times a day. We know that sounds like a lot, but you can repurpose every blog and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter post for Pinterest with just a few tweaks! Posting often is vital to staying at the top of the results pages and that’s the ultimate goal here.  

Additionally, you need to post at the right time. The best time to upload your pin is between 8 pm and 11 pm and between 2 am and 4 am. This is because a lot of your audience is working a regular 9-5 job. So, they’ll be scrolling Pinterest late at night or early in the morning. Don’t miss these windows and remember to post frequently to fully optimize your Pinterest page! 

InfluencerSEO Strategize and Optimize Packages

Pinterest SEO Services that Create Results

Search engine optimization is not every blogger’s favorite part about their business. If you’re a creative type or someone who isn’t yet blogging full time, then taking time to search engine optimize everything can be super overwhelming! Here at InfluencerSEO, we get it. So, we’ve got two packages just for you. 

First, we have the InfluencerSEO Pinterest Optimize Package that is designed for the blogger that wants the task of pinning their website content in an SEO-friendly way completely taken off their plate. In this package, we do the following each month: 

  • Pin all of your new blog posts
  • Pin all of your new Instagram images 
  • Create 8 custom Pinterest-friendly graphics based on your blog post content

At the end of each week, we’ll send you a report giving you helpful insights on your pins and website growth. With this, we’ll include a list of all of our posts on your page. 

For bloggers that want to get serious about their Pinterest strategy, we have the InfluencerSEO Pinterest Strategize Package. In this package, we do the following each month: 

  • Pin all the images in your new blog posts
  • Create 15-30 custom Pinterest-friendly graphics based on your blog post content
  • Develop four custom Pinterest idea pins
  • Pin your Instagram photos and reels
  • Create 8 custom graphics for top performing old content
  • Assist with overall strategy regarding older content for recirculation

Just like in the Optimize package, we’ll send you a weekly report detailing your results and your list of posted pins. But, we’ll also include a plan for updating and recirculating old content. We’ll work for you to take your content and launch it to new heights. InfluencerSEO has you covered! 

Social media marketing on Pinterest with a strong SEO strategy will increase website traffic, build your followers, and catapult you to your wildest blogging goals!

Maybe writing your blog posts comes naturally, but everyone knows search engine optimization doesn’t happen organically. SEO takes time and focus. Though, it’s well-worth the effort to get you closer to all your business goals. Better SEO and social media marketing means more traffic to your site, which turns to more profit for you. The sooner your blog is monetized, the sooner you can make it your full-time job! 

Take time to consider whether you’re ready to embark on this SEO grind yourself, or if an optimization package is best for you. If you’re interested in our packages, we’ve got a comprehensive list of all of our services, here

But, if you’re ready to take on this challenge yourself, check out our blog for hundreds more SEO tips and best practices. Our tips combined with your dedication will have your Pinterest pins ranking high in no time. Until next time, good luck – we’ll see you at the top of the results pages! 

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