How to Find Your Perfect Pinterest Hashtags and Keywords
Pinterest is one of the most powerful tools you can use to grow your blog and online business. But in order for Pinterest to drive huge amounts of new traffic to your website, you have to understand how it works.
Pinterest is a social media platform AND a search engine.
Just like social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, Pinterest uses hashtags to help users find relevant content. When you search for a hashtag on Pinterest, the results appear in chronological order, with the latest posts pushed to the top of the page.
Like a search engine, Pinterest also relies on keywords to sort content. When you search for a keyword, the results deemed most relevant by Pinterest’s algorithm appear at the top of the page. There are a number of factors that influence a pin’s rank in the search results. Using keywords is one of them.
If you want your content to be seen on Pinterest, using hashtags AND keywords in your pin description is a must.
But how do you find keywords and hashtags to use? And how do you know if the ones you choose are the best option for boosting your rank and visibility?
How to Find Your Perfect Pinterest Hashtags
There are two ways you can go about finding relevant hashtags to use in your pin descriptions.
Method #1: Use the Search Bar
Let’s say your pin links to a blog post about yoga. Start typing an obvious hashtag into the search bar. In this example, I’ll use #yoga. Pretty basic, right?
Notice how I get a drop down with related hashtags: #yogagirl, #yogainspiration, etc. These are popular hashtags people routinely search for on Pinterest. Any of these would be good options to include in your pin description.
Method #2: Use the Description Box
The only problem with method #1 is that it doesn’t tell you exactly how popular each hashtag is. How many people are actually using the #yogagirl hashtag anyway?
To find out, use the built-in hashtag finder in the pin description box. Start typing a hashtag and a drop down menu will appear to suggest related hashtags. This menu tells you exactly how many people are using each hashtag.
Unlike Instagram, Pinterest has been using hashtags for a relatively short time and most hashtags haven’t yet become oversaturated. That’s why I recommend using the most popular hashtags relevant to your pin.
How to Find Your Perfect Pinterest Keywords
Just like hashtags, there are two ways you can find Pinterest keywords.
Method #1: Use the Search Bar
You can use the search bar to find keywords just like you would hashtags. Just leave off the hashtag symbol when you do your search.
Again, the shortcoming of this method is that it doesn’t tell you how popular each keyword really is. This is where method #2 comes in.
Method #2: Use Pinterest Ads
Pinterest has an amazing ad platform you can use to help target your pins without paying a dime.
To use this method, you’ll need a Pinterest business account. If you have a personal account, you can convert it into a business account here.
To find your keywords, follow these steps:
In your Pinterest dashboard, go to Ads > Overview in the top left hand corner.
You’ll see a few different campaigns you can choose from. It doesn’t matter which one you pick. Just click Promote.
Select a campaign goal. Again, it doesn’t matter which one you choose.
Name your campaign, then scroll down and click Set up ad group.
Scroll down to Add keywords.
On the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a search bar. Type in a relevant keyword, just like you would in Pinterest’s main search bar. When you’re done, you’ll see a bunch of related keyword suggestions along with the number of searches each keyword receives every month.
Remember, this isn’t Google. It’s a LOT easier to rank on Pinterest than it is on Google, so you want to target the MOST popular keywords. In fact, target as many keywords as you can. Ranking for multiple related keywords is better than ranking for just one.
I’ve noticed that sometimes I find keywords using method #1 that I can’t find using method #2 and vice versa, so use both to make sure you don’t miss out on any great keywords.
Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Drop me a note in the comments below!
