Are you using Pinterest for your business but STILL struggling to get traffic to your website? Are your pins just NOT getting clicked on? It might just be because you’re not optimized properly. And when your profile isn’t optimized, your audience can’t find you. So today, I’m diving into how you can use Pinterest SEO to get FOUND on Pinterest!

How to get FOUND on Pinterest with Pinterest SEO

Wanna watch and learn? Click here or below for the full video!

What is Pinterest SEO?

If you found me on Pinterest, and are remotely interested in Pinterest marketing, my guess is that you’ve heard the term, Pinterest SEO. Maybe you’ve heard SEO but not necessarily with Pinterest? 

SEO or search engine optimization, is a term we hear a lot when it comes to our website – are we search engine optimized meaning, are we using the right keywords in order to rank on google or other search engines?

But when you pair SEO with Pinterest, it seems to take on a different meaning, but not really. You see, since Pinterest is essentially a search engine, a visual one, your Pinterest profile, pins, images, boards…even your website, must be optimized appropriately in order to show up in Pinterest search results – just the same as your website may show up on google.

But outside of using keywords on your pins, how do you REALLY optimize your Pinterest profile? It’s a question I get a lot actually, so much so that I created a course all about optimization.

That program is called The Pinterest Boost Blueprint and you can check out that program by clicking on the link. But I also wanted to break it down a bit also.

How to Optimize Your Pinterest Profile

“If you’re not optimized, you’re not found!” A quote by yours truly and I’m here to say that it is 1000% true. Profile optimization on Pinterest is the ultimate foundation of your success on Pinterest. 

When your account is optimized appropriately, then your ideal client can find you, and Pinterest can generate leads into your funnel on auto-pilot. FOR FREE. 

So let’s talk about all the areas that you need to focus on when it comes to optimizing. 

Pinterest Keyword Research

When I start working with a new client inside my Pinterest marketing agency, the first place I start is with keyword research. Once I have the keywords for their content, products or topics, then I can jump into optimization. If you’re curious how to get started with keyword research, go ahead and check out this post for 3 ways to do keyword research on Pinterest.

Pinterest Profile Info

The first place to start with your optimization is your profile info. When I say profile info, I’m referring to 

1) your profile photo 

2) your profile name and 

3) your profile description.

For your profile photo, I suggest using the same photo that you use across other platforms like Instagram and Facebook. This not only helps users identify you and your brand, it also helps to build brand awareness. If you’ve built a following on Instagram, and then they see your same photo over on Pinterest, they may be more likely to click because they recognize you, you’re not someone new – or at least your image isn’t.

Next up is your profile name. Let me ask you a question here. Did you know that your profile name is searchable? Meaning, Pinterest picks up keywords IN your profile name when people search for something? 

For this reason, I highly suggest not only using your name (if you are your brand) or your business name, but also what you do. Maybe you’re a fitness coach, a gift box seller or wedding flower provider. Whatever it is, use additional descriptive keywords here to further your profile optimization.

Now directly below your profile name, you’ll find your profile description, kind of like your bio are on Instagram. This area is ALSO searchable! Once again, you want to be using relevant keywords to your content, products or overall business so that you can show up in the right search results. Now, this isn’t a place to keyword stuff. Your profile description should be written in paragraph form, make it sound natural. If you’re a service provider your description might start with 

“ I help business owners get more traffic, leads and sales with Pinterest Ads and organic Pinterest strategies.” Or, as a formula, “ I help (keyword) with (keyword and keyword) so they can (keyword and keyword). 

You might wanna write that down:)

Pinterest Boards Optimization

Once we have the profile info taken care of, it’s time to move to your boards! When it comes to your boards, think more business and less personal. You want your boards to reflect the topics you write about or the products and services you sell. 

Ideally you’ll want to have a few boards that are applicable to your pins meaning you can save each pin to multiple boards. The boards you pin to should be the MOST relevant boards for that pin and per Pinterest best practices, never more than 10 boards. It’s better to pin to a few, very relevant boards than multiple. 

If you want to learn more about what boards you should have (or shouldn’t have) check out this post on “Creating the right boards to explode your Pinterest traffic”

When we talk about board optimization, we’re referring to your board titles and board descriptions. BOTH are searchable!

And y’all, I see SO MANY people forgetting about the board description! This is another area Pinterest is allowing us to use keywords and SEO to help get our pins reach even further. Because when you use the description box to tell Pinterest (and users) what the board is about, and then you save pins to that board with the same keywords and relevant content, that’s when the magic happens! 

Optimize your Pinterest Pins

Now that we have our profile info and our boards optimized, it’s time to talk about our pins. When you think of Pinterest SEO and keywords, your pins are likely what you think about. But now, after watching this video, you know there’s a bit more to it than just using keywords on your pins. But still, I want to cover the pins because Pinterest is looking at more than you think!

There are 4 main things that Pinterest is looking at when it comes to your pins:

1. Your pin title
2. Your pin description
3. Your pin image text
4. And the actual image you use if you’re using more than just text

For your pin title

You have 100 characters for your pin title. Your pin title should clearly define the topic of your article, product or ultimately the URL you are linking to. The goal here is to make sure pinners know what they can expect when they click on your pin. Use the TOP TWO most relevant keywords for that piece of content.

For your pin description  

You have 500 characters. Your pin descriptions should be in paragraph form and use additional keywords that target your overall topic. The keywords should be specific to your pin image and reflect the title and what the image is linking to. No keyword stuffing!

Let’s talk about the text on your pin

It should be consistent with the text used in your pin title and description. It should also reflect the URL, content or product you’re sending the pinner to.

Lastly is the pin image 

Pinterest can actually see, so to speak, the image you’re using in your pin. For example, if you’re writing about the top beaches in Florida, but the image you’re using is of a living room, chances are that pin is going to rank lower than if you had used an image of a beach. See how that works?

OK, I know we covered A LOT in this post, but I hope this gives you some tangible takeaways, things you can implement on your profile today in order to start seeing more traction and more traffic from Pinterest. 

As I mentioned before, I have an entire program, all about proper Pinterest optimization called The Pinterest Boost Blueprint. If you’re keen to learn more about this process, and get started with a step-by-step approach, this program will be super beneficial in helping you get set up the RIGHT way when it comes to optimization. Go ahead and check it out because remember, when you’re optimized, you’re FOUND.

That’s it, I’ll see you next time. Happy pinning!

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