3 Pinterest SEO Strategies for More Traffic + Clicks

Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on three game-changing Pinterest SEO strategies that can skyrocket the clicks & traffic to your online business. Are you ready to see those pins climb the search ranks and score those click-worthy moments? I know you do. So let’s pin with purpose. I’m gonna share some advanced strategies today, so make sure you stick around.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have been increasingly getting frustrated with social media and how it works for you if you’re an online entrepreneur like me and you have a small online business without a big team or budget. For me, to be honest, I’ve forever struggled with Instagram from the get-go. The sheer amount of time it takes to produce content on there, for then about 5% of actual followers to see that post or reel – to the insignificant number of people who take the time to check out your link in bio to go find a post or product – am I the only one?

Why does this have to be so hard?

My traffic and clicks from social media barely make my Google Analytics budge. You want to know the backbone of my online traffic and income?

Search engines.

Social Media Vs. Search Engines for Traffic

99% of the income I make from selling digital products, ebooks, ads, and coaching – it all comes from search engines. And yup, if you’ve been following me for a while, a big chunk is coming straight from Pinterest. Now, maybe you’re new here, so let me quickly talk about Pinterest, “the search engine,” and not the “social media,” before I go into some hands-on advanced SEO techniques – you’re going to love this, so stay with me.

I have 25K followers on Pinterest with literally not caring about followers – and here’s a secret – if I had 500 subscribers, maybe 1,000 on Pinterest – I could get the same results in terms of clicks and traffic as what I get today with 25K. The clicks and traffic you get from Pinterest do not come down to how many followers you have.

Vanity metrics do not matter on Pinterest. Why? Because Pinterest is a search engine and social media on the side at best. Followers and likes don’t matter if you show up at the top of search results. If people search and find your pin, they don’t even go and check out your profile; they immediately click off Pinterest and land on your website, where you are in control. You can serve them with valuable content and talk about your products and services.

If you’re feeling lost and overwhelmed promoting your online business on social media – I get it. I feel the same. The thing is, I have found something that actually works – something that combines the power of a search engine and the virality of social media – yup, Pinterest.

When you upload a pin, and this pin ranks in the search results, it shows up every single time someone types in that keyword I’m ranking for. So, no matter what the algorithm thinks this person is interested in besides that topic – if they type in that keyword, my pin is going to be there. And if it’s at the top, it’s going to bring me clicks and traffic to my website.

If I have several pins that rank for multiple keywords at the same time, I can literally reach highly targeted people and get them to my website, skyrocketing my clicks and income, all while bypassing having to worry about how many likes my pin got or scrolling for 2 hours for the next viral audio.

I hope you see how powerful leveraging Pinterest as a search engine is and how it completely blows regular social media marketing out of the park. Pinterest is the place to grow the clicks, traffic, and income of your online business. Please believe me – I wouldn’t talk about it all the time if I didn’t believe in it so much and if I hadn’t seen it work for me. Like everything I’m talking about, here is exactly what I’m doing in my business.

How to Use Pinterest as a Search Engine?

So, let’s talk about how to use Pinterest as a search engine and get massive traffic to your site, increase clicks like never before, and grow your business in a healthy, sustainable way using Pinterest. Specifically, 3 ways to use Pinterest SEO strategies (Search engine optimization) for even more explosive traffic and clicks.

How Search on Pinterest Works + the Smart Feed?

So, like on Google, you can use the search bar to find specific content on Pinterest. When someone types in a keyword, a list of pins shows up in this feed. This Smart Feed shows pins based on an internal ranking system, so the pins you see here aren’t random. This internal ranking system, just like on Google or YouTube, ensures that the most important pins show up first. From there, users can click on the titles or the image, which will take them to an underlying URL that leads them to your website, blog, or offer. Whatever is ranking here at the top will get the most traffic and clicks.

Now, the really cool thing is – you can not only have one pin ranking on this search feed for different keywords but dozens of pins at the same time. This means that whenever someone searches a keyword, one of your pins could show up, and when they click the pin to go to your website, you’re growing the traffic to your site. It’s absolutely possible to get dozens of people – even hundreds of people – to your site from Pinterest every single day if you’re applying my pinning strategies.

PS. If you like this so far, I’ve got a little gift for you! I created a totally free 20-part Pinterest SEO Checklist + Assessment you can download using the link below. This checklist helps you with all your SEO to-dos and lets you identify everything you’re already doing, as well as the things you might still be missing out on. So grab your Pinterest SEO Checklist + Assessment with the link here!

How to Rank #1 on Pinterest – 3 Pinterest SEO Strategies

So now that you know how the smart feed works. How do you actually get your pins to rank #1. Let me give you 3 Pinterest SEO strategies I use to skyrocket my clicks and traffic. And make sure to stick around for #2 because I’ve never heard anyone talk about this online. So, first up.

1. Pinterest Keywords

Keywords are the backbone of any search engine. They’re simply the words or phrases people type into a search engine. There are:

Short Tail Keywords – which are 1-2 words like “Cleaning Tips”
Long Tail Keywords – “which are 2-5 or more words like “Bathroom Floor Mold Cleaning Ideas”

The search volume (so how many people are looking for that keyword on Pinterest) is usually a lot bigger for short tail keywords, but they are also more competitive and less specific. So what I usually do is I make a list of keywords that I think people who could be interested in my content and products type into Pinterest. Then, I sprinkle those short and long-tail keywords all throughout my Pinterest Pins and Profile. The most important place to put your keywords is your pin Title and your pin description. So, for example, I added a short tail keyword to my pin title and then more long tail keywords and keyword variations to my pin description.

Here’s a pin Title Formula you could use:

Post Title (including 1-2 specific – most important keyword)

So, let’s say your business is about helping small business establish their brand online. If you’ve created a free piece of content, then your pin title could be:

How to Establish a Powerful Personal Brand: A Step-by-Step Guide

The main keyword here is “personal brand”. So you’re indicating to the algorithm ok, this piece of content and pin is about that. And when people type that into the search bar, we should show that pin because it’s super relevant.

And then, for your description, I like to use my pin description formula, which goes like this:

Hook (to grab their attention) + Value (exactly what they are going to get) + Transformation (how this will get them from point A to B) + Call to Action + List of Keywords

So your description could read:

Want to Stand Out in a Crowded Market? Discover the ultimate guide on how to sculpt a magnetic personal brand that captures your essence and connects you with your target audience! Dive into a step-by-step journey that takes you from being just another face in the crowd to a recognized and influential figure in your niche. Click the pin to Unleash Your Brand’s Power Now!

Long tail keywords and keyword variations here are:

Sculpt a Magnetic personal brand
Connect with Target Audience
Brand Power
Influential figure

Literally adding keywords strategically to your pins can massively increase your chances to rank #1 in search and boost your clicks.

2. Pinterest Search Intent

Alright, let’s delve into the powerful SEO strategy #2 that virtually no one talks about:

Keyword “Intent”

What does this mean? Well, it’s not enough to simply add keywords to your content and expect to rank and receive a ton of clicks. The game-changing aspect is understanding why people search for something on Pinterest and the psychology and mindset of the person typing the search query. There are many different reasons people search for things on Pinterest. For example, to:

Find new inspiration
Plan an event
Learn something
Discover a new product to buy

There are various mindsets and intentions behind each search. Now, particularly when your goal is to increase traffic to your website and sell more digital products or coaching, you don’t want your pins to merely inspire people. You want people to click on the pin, take action, check out your content, and make a purchase. So, targeting keywords that attract people with an inspirational mindset might get you numerous views and saves on Pinterest, but it won’t result in many clicks.

This is the reason people aren’t getting clicks on their pins.

You’re posting a quote pin – and expect people to click over to your site. But here’s the thing.
People who save quote pins – they are looking for inspiration for something they can come back to and look at wherever they feel down or need a pick me up. But the inspirational quote is the end of their journey. They’ve got what they wanted – there’s no incentive for them to click on that pin. While quote pins on Pinterest can be massively successful, they aren’t as effective if you’re a business owner aiming to increase your traffic and use SEO to boost your clicks.

Here’s a better approach:

This is the gold…In your SEO keyword strategy, I always aim to attract people with a learning mindset. Pinterest serves as an extensive educational resource, offering DIY tutorials, how-to guides, and expert advice across various topics. I want to use my free educational content to attract my future customers or clients through my pins. Examples of what people search for could be:

“watercolor painting techniques,” or
“gardening tips,” or
“yoga moves for beginners”

Why do keywords like these work for generating clicks? Because the pin is not the end of the journey; it’s the beginning. It’s their first step toward a solution to their problem, like “learning how to paint with watercolors” – a problem that my content and products can solve. So, the key to Pinterest SEO is leveraging and using keywords throughout your profile, but not just any keywords – highly specific keywords that attract people with a learning intent. I genuinely hope you’re deriving a great deal of value from this. I’m not holding back; this is the material that distinguishes between getting one or two clicks and getting dozens or even hundreds of clicks per pin you create.

3. Pinterest Trends + Seasons

Alright, moving on to our final Pinterest SEO Strategy #3, which is leveraging trends and seasons. Now, I know I mentioned that you can forget about trending social media topics if you’re leveraging Pinterest as a social media platform, but here’s the thing: Trends on social media might not be predictable, but they are on Pinterest. Hear me out. Pinterest is highly seasonal, which means that throughout the year, certain topics tend to trend during specific times, such as “Going back to School” after summer or “Mindsets and Habits” in January.

This predictability is extremely useful, and you can utilize this knowledge to create your own content strategy. You can create content specifically for those trending topics, so when they start to trend, your pins are already on Pinterest and ranking in searches when the search volume reaches its peak. So, it’s important to take note of when these trends typically begin to gain traction on Pinterest. Since Pinterest is the platform people use for planning, the actual planning process occurs well before the event, occasion, or season actually takes place.

Searches for “New Year’s Eve” begin in December, but they start to rise as early as October.
Searches for “Black Friday” start in November but begin to increase in June.

Now, if you were to create a pin in early December targeting New Year’s Eve, you would be too late to be picked up by the algorithm and rank in searches. People are already deep into their planning, and your pin requires time to be processed in the algorithm in order to rank for trending and seasonal topics. The key to capitalizing on seasons and trends is to prepare and save your pins 3-4 months in advance before the search volume starts to surge.

Yes, you read that right – 3-4 months in advance.

This timeline allows the algorithm ample time to analyze your pins and position them in the search feed so that when people search for a keyword, your pins are primed to receive a significant number of clicks. This is yet another incredibly effective advanced SEO strategy that you can apply to drastically boost your clicks and drive more traffic.

Now, I hope you see how all of the tactics I’ve shared today are focused on actual working Pinterest SEO strategies, you can apply every single time you work on your Pinterest. They’re completely unrelated to how many followers you have or the latest trending audio. Can you see how using strategies like these can eliminate the overwhelm and actually free up your mental space and your time? You can plan and create content in advance based on strategies that work.

I truly hope this makes as much sense to you as it does to me – and that collectively, we stop trying to force social media to work when all it really does is keep us engaged all the time. And there’s a powerful search engine available – like Pinterest – that actually works and is just waiting for you to leverage it for your business. Let me know in the comments if you liked this post and if you have any questions. I’m always here for you – and I know you can do this!

xx Katie