If you’re wondering how to optimize your Pinterest profile to actually drive traffic and bookings, you’re in the right place.
Pinterest is more than a place to plan your next vacation or get dinner inspo. For business owners (especially those in the wedding industry), Pinterest is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have at your disposal.
But if your account isn’t optimized, you’re missing out on potential saves, clicks, and ultimately, clients. Think about it this way – your Pinterest account is like a home. You wouldn’t start decorating the walls until the foundation was solid, right? It’s the same with Pinterest. Optimizing your Pinterest profile first ensures your content has the best chance of being discovered, saved, and clicked on by your ideal clients.
If you’ve ever researched how to market yourself on Pinterest, you’ve likely seen the term keywords come up. That’s because Pinterest is a visual search engine, not a social media platform (that’s a common myth about Pinterest).
Just like with blogging, Pinterest relies heavily on keywords. They’re what help your pins get seen and connect users with the content they’re searching for. But how do you find keywords on Pinterest? I’m glad you asked! 🙂
💡 Pro Tip: Keyword popularity can shift season to season. It won’t harm your rankings, but keep an eye on trending keywords using the Pinterest Trends Tool.
Before diving into Pinterest optimization, you’ll want to choose your primary keywords. Here’s how:
For example, if you’re an elopement photographer in Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii, you’ll want a keyword list for each location, but only choose one location/service as your primary.
Hashtags are back on Pinterest! Hashtags are found and used just like keywords, however, they should only be placed in your pin descriptions. Use 3-10 hashtags at the end of a description, but strong keyword sentences are more important.
Pinterest gives your account an invisible confidence score (basically a trust score).
This score measures how relevant and strong your content is and helps Pinterest decide how often and where to show your pins.
To improve your confidence score:
When it comes to optimizing your Pinterest account, focus on these three areas:
Let’s break each of these down with some easy-to-follow Pinterest optimization tips!
The first step in how to optimize your Pinterest profile is making sure your profile is searchable and clearly aligned with your brand. Your Pinterest profile is the foundation of your account so you’ll want to optimize this first before publishing a single pin.
Pinterest boards are one of the most important (and often overlooked) places to optimize your Pinterest account. Your boards tell both Pinterest and your audience what your content is about, and if they aren’t set up correctly, they can actually hurt your account’s performance. Since Pinterest scans your boards to better understand and categorize your content, optimizing them properly is essential if you want your pins to reach the right people.
💡 Pro Tip: Create a board just for your branded content. This board is ideal for pinning rich pins from your blog!
💡 Pro Tip: It’s better to have fewer, highly active boards than a lot of boards you never use. The more a board is interacted with, the more Pinterest will prioritize it and the more it will get shown to others (aka the circle of Pinterest) 🙂
Your pins are the final piece of the puzzle. Every single pin needs to be optimized correctly to have the highest chance of reaching the right audience.
💡 Pro Tip: Use consistent branding (colors & fonts) across all pins for a professional look
💡 Pro Tip: Start your description with a question to grab attention
💡 Pro Tip: This is why blogging + Pinterest go hand-in-hand!
Optimizing your Pinterest profile takes a little work upfront, but once it’s set up, it keeps working behind the scenes for you—driving clicks, saves, and client inquiries while you focus on what you do best. See for yourself what the results could look like!
Mastering how to optimize your Pinterest profile comes down to focusing on these three essential areas:
When these three pieces work together, Pinterest becomes a powerful engine to drive steady traffic to your site.
If you’re spending time on Pinterest but not seeing results, chances are your foundation needs a little fine-tuning.
Instead of guessing what’s wrong (or sinking even more hours into trial and error), let me take it off your plate. With a Pinterest Audit, I’ll take a look under the hood, fix what’s holding you back, and provide you with clear, actionable steps to move forward (aka a strategy that actually works).
A Pinterest business account unlocks valuable tools that help you grow your visibility and reach your ideal clients more effectively. With a business account, you get access to Pinterest Analytics (so you can track what’s working), the ability to run ads, and Rich Pins that automatically update important details like pricing and availability. You can also claim your website, which builds trust with your audience and tells Pinterest to prioritize your content. Click here to learn more about the benefits of using a Pinterest for business account.
The best way to find Pinterest keywords is by using Pinterest’s built in guided search feature. Simply search for a term in the search bar on the Pinterest home page and see a list of results appear. Those are the most commonly search terms (aka keywords) on Pinterest.
Yes, but sparingly and only in your pin descriptions. While hashtags can help categorize content, Pinterest primarily relies on keywords for search functionality. Focus on incorporating relevant keywords into your pin profile, descriptions and titles for better visibility.
When it comes to optimizing your Pinterest profile for SEO, ensure your username and bio include relevant keywords related to your niche. Use a consistent profile picture and username across platforms to maintain a professional look (and make it easier for people to find you), claim your website, and enable rich pins.
Use clear, descriptive titles that include relevant keywords. In the board descriptions, write concise summaries that incorporate additional keywords naturally, helping Pinterest understand the content and improving searchability.
Consistency is key. Aim to pin new content regularly (aka daily), to keep your profile active and engaging. Utilizing scheduling tools (like Pinterest’s built-in scheduler) can help maintain a steady posting rhythm without requiring you to spend time in your account every day.
Rich pins provide more context about an idea by showing extra information directly on the pin. They can include details like product availability, pricing, or article headlines, making your pins more informative and increasing engagement.
It’s generally better to focus on creating high-quality, engaging content rather than deleting pins. However, if certain pins are outdated or no longer align with your brand, you can delete them to keep your profile relevant.
According to Pinterest, “people are 7x more likely to purchase a product that they previously saved on Pinterest.” Even if they don’t take action right away, saving a pin is a strong signal that they’re considering your service or content. Prioritize saves and outbound clicks when evaluating performance, as these are high indicators of interest.
A fellow traveler, experience enthusiast, and marketing expert. I love partnering with wedding and elopement professionals to help them reach their dream clients!
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