How to Optimize Your Pinterest for SEO

Within the past several years, Pinterest has continued to grow as both a social network and search engine. What many businesses fail to know is that Pinterest features its own unique search engine known as Guided Search. With over 150 million monthly active users, it seems almost silly not to be using this platform as a business. In order to create a successful online Pinterest profile and to help your website’s SEO, here is what you need to know about Guided Search and the steps on how to optimize your profile and pins.

Guided Search

As already mentioned above, Guided Search is Pinterest’s own search function. It is a visual search engine, and its purpose is to help users discover new inspiration and ideas. What makes Guided Search different from searching on Google is that Google focuses primarily on answering a user’s question. Typically, people go to Google to search for specific things such as “breakfast restaurants near me” or “best iPhone cases.” Guided Search focuses more on exploration. So, if you search for “Michigan travel” it is going to show additional popular keywords and ideas that relate to traveling in Michigan. As you can see in the example below, it is listing at least 8 different keywords relating to Michigan travel that people search for on Pinterest such as road trips, with kids, destinations, etc. As soon as you click on one of these options, it will automatically change the pins and give you more ideas to choose from.

What can Pinterest do for my Business?

Nearly every demographic is using Pinterest. No matter what type of business you have you are sure to find something related to it on Pinterest. Whether you are an insurance business, dentist, clothing store, or a wedding venue, there is niche on Pinterest for your target audience. According to Pinterest, “93% of Pinners use Pinterest to plan or make purchases” and “52% have seen something on Pinterest and made a purchase online.” Pinterest is also a referral traffic source, so if your goal is to increase traffic to your website than Pinterest can help. Pinterest profiles can also show up in Google Search, so a successfully optimized profile is just another way to get your business to show up in Google results.

How to Optimize your Pinterest Profile

Once you have created your business profile on Pinterest, you will want to optimize your profile. Here are the steps:

  • Make sure that your business name is in the account name and in your username. This will be your profile’s URL.
  • Include a strong description about your business and include keywords that users would search for within the description.
  • In settings, make sure that you fill out all the necessary information such as business type, country, location, website, and include a picture for your business.
  • Verify your website in settings. A verified profile helps increase your authority on Pinterest, which can help your pins be prioritized in the search results.
  • Add the Pinterest follow button to your website, as well as the “Pin It” button so website users can pin pictures from your website directly to their boards.
  • Make sure your profile is not set to private and that it is accessible to search engines in Settings.

Optimize your Pinterest Boards

Similar to optimizing content on your website, you will want to create a unique keyword rich description for each of your Pinterest boards. Think about what your customers will search for and how it relates to the pins under each board. For example, if you are a party planning company and have a Pinterest board for “Summer Parties” keywords you could include are ideas, food, decorations, games, and themes. Also, make sure that your board name includes a keyword that users search for as well.

How to Optimize Your Pins

Before getting into how to optimize your pins, make sure that the pictures you pin are of high quality and are attention grabbing. Most likely people aren’t going to repin a picture that is blurry. Upload pins that are in focus, well-composed, and do not include a lot of text on the image.

Again, you want to focus on the descriptions of your pins. Provide a unique and specific description and include keywords relating to the pin. Make sure the description flows, isn’t overstuffed with keywords, and avoid hashtags; they aren’t clickable anymore.

You can also include Rich Pins on Pinterest. Rich Pins include extra information right on the pin such as the price of the product, recipe cook time, product availability, etc. Rich pins are typically more effective than regular pins, but they are currently only available in 6 types: app, movie, recipe, article, product, and place. Rich pins also require more work on your actual website such as editing meta tags.

Pinterest Keyword Research

The most helpful keyword research method for Pinterest is going to the Pinterest Search Bar and typing in a word that relates to your pin and business. It is similar to Google in the way that it gives an idea of how people search for products and ideas. For example, here is how I found the keywords above for “Summer Parties.”

As you can see, Pinterest is not only a social media platform anymore. Guided Search has turned it into its own world of SEO and each day more businesses join to get in on the hype. However, something to remember is that a successfully optimized Pinterest profile doesn’t happen overnight. Similar to having your website being ranked well on Google, it takes time and consistent work. Results won’t happen right away, but by taking the steps above and pinning consistently, you’ll be on the right track to a successfully optimized Pinterest profile.

Abbey Hadar

Abbey is a Search Analyst at Netvantage Marketing, an online marketing company that specialized in SEO, PPC, and social media. At Netvantage, Abbey assists with social media outreach, web optimization, and content creation.

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