You may know Pinterest as a social media tool that is driven by posting content to boards and pinning it. I want to set things straight and tell you that Pinterest is NOT a social media platform. You may not realize that Pinterest is a powerful search based platform with an incredibly powerful keyword tool. As a result, keywords on Pinterest are incredibly important.

How Keywords on Pinterest Are Used

It is important for you to know how Pinterest is using keywords so that you can use them more effectively. Pinterest uses a keyword tool called a smart feed, which ranks a pin based on how closely it matches the term that was searched. An example of this is you have a cherry pie recipe but you do not put a description of the image you pin so when someone searches cherry pie recipe, yours will not be a search result. It is important that you are using keywords (examples are included in this blog) to explain who you are and what you are pinning. Remember that Google gives Pinterest pins in their search results, so if you are ranking well with your keywords on Pinterest, you will rank highly with Google.

How You Should Use Keywords on Pinterest

Your goal should be to show up in search results. The best way to do this is to use keywords. If you do not use keywords on Pinterest, your intended audience will not be able to find you.

Where You Should Use Keywords on Pinterest

Using keywords is incredibly important to people finding your pins. What is even more important is your placement of keywords. Use keywords in your profile. This is the first place you attract the attention of your audience. Place strong keywords in your profile. Your pin descriptions should have at least two to three rich keywords. You should also consider using hashtags in your descriptions. Your board descriptions should have many keywords that are a combination of broad categories and some more specific to your board. Change your image file names so they are keywords, instead of arbitrary titles. For examples, change file name image56.jpeg to cherrypie.jpg. Pinterest will use this as a pin about cherry pie.

Hashtags are a much debated form of keywords and way to get search results. Pinterest recommends using hashtags in your pin description. If Pinterest says hashtags are a good idea, you should probably listen. Using three to five hashtags for your pin is a great idea. You could use #cherrypie or #cherry. Lastly, promoted pins need keywords. Keywords are the best way to get the attention of your audience when using promoted pins.

What Are the Best Keywords on Pinterest?

The best way to start is to think about the items on your board. What words would your audience use to describe or look for what you are promoting? Use the keyword tool, and search the words on your list. Other keywords will pop up and you should add them to your list of keywords. Study the pins that come up when you search those words and find other keywords that come up.

You want to use keywords that are broad, and generally refer to your brand. You also want to narrow those keywords down to a specific item, or items. Use a comma to separate your keywords.

Keep in mind that you are writing for your audience and you want to keep them engaged. Use keywords and descriptions that will entice people to look at your board. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to find keywords that are often used in your particular area.

What Shouldn’t You Do With Keywords on Pinterest?

Keywords are an amazing tool for you to use. There are some things that you should not do when using keywords on Pinterest.

• Do not forget to use descriptions for all of your images. Do not leave them as image5.jpg, or IMG_05. These image names are not useful to you.
• Do not be overly specific. Use keywords that will provide value and are easily recognized in your area.
• Do not over use keywords. They are important, but it is possible to go overboard and sound like you are spam.

These simple techniques should help your boards and pins come up in Pinterest search engine.

Are there any that you would like to add to the list?
Let me know in the comments!