Pinterest is a website that allows people to discover and plan based on visual images. They search, save, and share ideas about everything from recipes and DIY projects to travel and fashion. With more than 450 million active users, Pinterest has proven itself to be an excellent resource for creators, bloggers, and businesses looking to drive traffic and engagement. But first, you must know how to target the right keywords to maximize your Pinterest impact.
We’ll be looking at finding popular keywords on Pinterest and then diving into how to effectively use them as part of a viral strategy. Understanding the research behind Pinterest keywords, optimizing your content, and smartly making use of Pinterest’s unique features will boost your visibility and attract new audiences.
Why Pinterest Keywords Matter
Keywords are also important on Pinterest. Whenever people type a term into the Pinterest search bar, the algorithm returns with a few relevant pins, boards, and profiles. With popular search terms, you increase the visibility of your content, gain more followers, and drive more traffic to your website.
With Pinterest keywords, you can:
- Increase the Discoverability of Your Pins: As stated, keywords drive where your pins will appear in search results, and this is an important way to ensure your content reaches the right people.
- Boost Engagement: Popular keywords will link your pins to users who may be actively searching for similar content, which will increase those clicks, saves, and shares.
- Drive Website Traffic: For businesses, bloggers, and influencers, Pinterest can be an important source of driving website traffic, as each pin can link directly to your website.
Let’s now dive into the step-by-step strategies for discovering and utilizing these powerful keywords on Pinterest.
Step 1: Leverage Pinterest’s Search Suggestions
One of the ways you can come across popular keywords is by utilizing Pinterest’s in-app search feature.
Go to the Search Bar on Pinterest: There, simply type in the keyword relevant to your content. So, if you fall into the fitness niche, you would type “workout routines.”
Check out the Suggested Keywords: As you are typing, Pinterest will present suggestions below the search bar. These are mostly high-volume keywords with what other users of the platform are searching for.
Consider Other Related Keywords: As you hit return, you will see a set of keyword tags (typically in colored boxes) that come up below the search bar. These tags also provide even more specific keywords related to your search term, where you can further niche down and find an audience interested in specific aspects of your content.
For instance, if you are using the keyword “healthy recipes,” you may get suggestions such as “low-carb,” “easy,” and “meal prep.” You can insert these keywords in your content to attract a better-targeted audience.
Step 2: Use Pinterest Trends
Pinterest Trends is a free resource that shares insights into what’s trending on Pinterest. Currently, the tool exists in selected regions: the US, Canada, and the UK. Still, Pinterest Trends is to expand its geographical availability soon. Here’s how you can use it well:
Go to Pinterest Trends: You can find Pinterest Trends at trends.pinterest.com.
- Type in Your Niche Keywords: Enter search terms relevant to your niche to see their search volume over time and understand if they are trending up or down.
- Compare Keywords: Pinterest Trends gives you the option to compare up to four keywords at a time. It is really useful to find out which terms are more popular and when to use them for peak.
- For example, if your niche is home decor, you could compare terms such as “boho decor,” “minimalist home,” and “farmhouse style” to see which one has the most interest and therefore write content accordingly.
- Identify Seasonal Trends: Many Pinterest searches are seasonal (“holiday crafts” or “summer recipes”). Identify these trends and plan and prepare your content ahead of time so that when those subjects spike, you’re ready with wonderful, relevant content.
Step 3: Use Pinterest Analytics
If you have a Pinterest Business account, then you can access Pinterest Analytics, where you get an understanding of how your content is performing. Here is how to use Pinterest Analytics to find top-performing keywords:
To do that, go to Analytics > Overview: In your Pinterest Business account, go to the Analytics and click “Overview.”
Check your top pins: Look at which pieces of content are doing best, and review the top performers. The keywords and phrases used in those pin descriptions may sometimes be a great way to determine what kinds of terms your audience responds well to.
Analyzing Audience Insights Audience Insights is a section in which demographic and interest data for your followers as well as other engaged users will be found. Inside the “Interests” tab, you will find the categories that your audience has the most interest These may then become new content ideas or keywords to target.
All this data will be useful to understand which keywords are bringing in the greatest amount of traffic and engagement and then on those terms, you can double down.
Step 4: Investigating Competitor Keywords
Looking at what the competition or similar accounts are doing on Pinterest is a great source of keyword inspiration.
Search for Competitor Profiles: Find popular and engaged accounts in your niche. Check out their most popular pins, boards, and keywords.
Give attention to the words they use in pin descriptions, board names, and board descriptions.
Identify Patterns and Gaps: As you scroll through competitor content, watch for the keywords they recursively use. Those probably are popular search terms. And pay attention to gaps—keywords that they’re not targeting that you might be able to zero in on and fill a niche.
Step 5: Leverage Third-Party Pinterest Keyword Research Tools
Several third-party tools can make Pinterest keyword research easier and more precise:
Pinterest Keyword Tool: Keyword Tool (keywordtool.io/pinterest) is one of the websites that can give you the list with the use of a single keyword search term. If you have several keywords ready, you can also find trending Pinterest keywords using this tool without making individual searches.
Tailwind: Tailwind is one of the many Pinterest scheduling tools that provide a “suggested hashtag” feature, which assists in finding the right keywords. Tailwind analytics will also show you the pins performing and the associated keywords.
Google Trends: While Google Trends is not Pinterest-specific, it does give a broader view of trends. You can cross reference any term you find in Pinterest Trends on Google Trends to get an idea of cross-platform popularity.
These tools save you time by being able to locate high-traffic keywords driving engagement on Pinterest.
Step 6: Optimize Your Pins with Keywords
Now that you have the popular keywords, you must strategically put them in your Pinterest content. Here’s how you could go about maximizing it.
Using keywords within pin descriptions: Use keywords naturally within the description of every pin. Understand that you want a compelling description with keywords used to explain the nature of content shared and encourage clicks.
Adding Keywords to Pin Titles: While you’re creating a pin, you will have a title different from the description. Remember to add your primary keyword in this title; this is helpful when it comes to more visibility on search.
Optimization of Board Names and Descriptions: Even though boards are where your pins live, board names and descriptions also count towards ranking. Use relevant keywords in naming your boards. Explain what each board covers in their descriptions.
Use Keywords in Your Profile Bio: You could also gain more visibility in the search due to the bio in your profile. Put one or two targeted keywords within your bio so that Pinterest can understand what niche you are operating in. This will help improve its discoverability.
Use Hashtags Narrowly: It is not as crucial here as in Instagram, but you can still use some relevant ones to increase the reach of your content. Only use niche-specific hashtags that are most closely associated with keywords.
Step 7: Create a Content Strategy Using Seasonal Keywords
Pinterest activity is very much season-specific. Certain keywords are trending only during given times of the year. That’s how you construct a seasonal content strategy:
Identify seasonal trends: Use Pinterest Trends or Google Trends to see when certain topics rise in popularity. For example, “fall decor” might be popular from late summer into November, whereas “holiday recipes” might spike in November and December.
Plan your content ahead of time: Pinterest suggests posting at least 45 days before an event or season. Create a calendar of seasonal keywords, and then start pinning related content well in advance.
Repurpose Content Yearly: Seasonal keywords commonly tend every year. Once you pin for a particular season, you can repurpose and update that content the following year to maintain relevancy and keep it active.
Step 8: Monitor and Adapt Your Strategy
Keywords change, and a keyword that performed well in one season and not the following season will lose its swing. Keep track of and adjust your strategy according to the performance.
Analyze Pinterest Analytics regularly: Keep track of the engagement metrics: impressions, clicks, and saves. Monitor which keywords have maximum engagement and include more such terms in future strategies.
Experiment with New Keywords: Try new keywords to reach various audience groups. Seasonal trends or the launch of new products may also help find new keywords.
Refresh Old Pins and Boards: Pins and boards do not age, but updating older pins with more current popular keywords can breathe new life into them.
Putting It All Together: Example Pinterest Keyword Strategy
Let’s say you have a fitness blog, and you are targeting traffic from Pinterest. In this case, you could:
Research the kind of terms like “home workouts”, “HIIT exercises”, and “yoga for beginners”.
Apply Pinterest Trends to know when the applied keywords peak (for example, “home workouts” may spike in January due to New Year’s resolutions.
Create seasonal boards such as “Holiday Workout Challenge” or “Summer Body Workouts” and add pins accordingly.
Use keyword-rich descriptions for your boards and optimize the boards according to those.
Follow the result using Pinterest Analytics to improve your approach.
Conclusion
Most searched keywords on Pinterest require research, strategy, and optimization; thus, you can get the most trafficked keywords using search suggestions, trends, analytics, and third-party tools of Pinterest to determine the high-traffic keywords that align with your content and drive engagement. Regularly update your strategies according to performance and continue experimenting with new keywords to stay on top of trends.
So, a good keyword strategy helps increase the chances that your pins will go viral and attract more people to your website in achieving Pinterest goals.