A couple of months ago we had a prospective client on a discovery call tell us that even though she is posting consistently on Pinterest, linking to relevant blog pages from her website, and spending hours upon hours creating ‘eye-catching’ pins she’s getting NO RESULTS from Pinterest?
She asked us, ‘How on earth are all these bloggers and businesses generating 1M+ sessions in traffic from Pinterest?’
I was honestly super relieved that we had a chance to talk before the stress Googling began, things like “Should I run Pinterest ads”, and “Is Pinterest dead?” (god forbid!).
Here’s the thing (just as we told our new client now) – before we jump to any conclusions – there are about 5 rudimentary things we should try to nix or fix before we give up on this super rewarding platform.
Before we get into our 5 what-to-do’s (or not to), let’s first do a temperature check of what success on Pinterest could actually look like.
What real (very very attainable) Pinterest success can do for your business:
- Double (or even triple) your organic website traffic
- Formidable email list subscriber growth
- Monetization from ad networks
- Increased inquiries from 100% aligned clients and projects
- And even increased social media followers
Pinterest can really help get those website session numbers UP and that consequently results in more email subscribers, increased inquiries, increased monetization, and whatever else you want to bring attention to. If you publish blogs consistently, but ignore Pinterest, and leave it up to the Google gods to show it to the right people – you’re essentially just leaving money on the table.
Let’s get that Pinterest engine underneath maxed up to capacity.
The 5 Secrets to Organic Pinterest Marketing Success and How to Implement Them
How to do Pinterest SEO + Keyword Research
Every time we do a website audit with a Pinterest DIYer – we almost always notice that it’s a visibility issue. I’m sure you’ve heard this before but I’ll say it again for good measure – Pinterest is a search engine first. So just as you would write a Keyword-researched title for your blog posts to appeal to Google, your Pins must also be keyword-researched to be shown to pinners.
The best part? There’s nothing better than Pinterest’s own in-house search bar to find the best keywords to include in your Pin title and description. For more advanced practitioners (as my yoga teacher says) the most targeted keyword research happens in the Pinterest ad’s manager (check the screengrabs below for a sneak peek of what this looks like).
Use these prompts from guided search. This is where the magic happens – what Pinterest users are actually searching for!
Within the ads manager you can see the exact search volumes for certain keywords
What should I link my pins to?
Confused audiences don’t click. If they don’t know where to go, or what to do to get the information or product, or freebie you’ve described on your pin – they’re going to click out.
While it is super sad that the average online attention span is about 8 seconds, you have to work the system to make the system work 🤷🏼♀️. Make it super easy for them to see exactly what you want them to do.
You want them to download your lead magnet? – ask them.
The recipe is on your website? – tell them.
You want them to get on your list? – ask them.
More often than not, what you have to offer is super valuable and desirable to your audience, but they won’t know to get it, or where to get it if you don’t very specifically give them the information they seek.
How to create click-worthy content, and would you click on your own pin?
Pinterest has its own rules when it comes to high-performing, pin-worthy content. What works on social media and the metaverse is not necessarily going to work on Pinterest – and it’s not just the 1200 px x 1800 px aspect ratio.
Honestly, Pinterest is one of the most forgiving platforms that supports almost all kinds of repurposing of images and text. That said, not every type of content is destined for Pinterest, and to understand what would work for you, you have to understand your own Pinterest audience. More likely than not, your Pinterest audience is (one or all of) three things:
- Looking for relevant information or inspiration
- Unaware of your brand and what you offer
- Ready to take action according to how aligned your CTA sounds
If the pins you’re uploading don’t stop a scroll or offer valuable + relevant information with a direct CTA, chances are it’s going to load up a bunch of impressions with no pin clicks and then obviously no click-backs to your website.
The best way to see what content is working in your niche is to run a search within Pinterest for your relevant keywords and see what pins show up first – that’s going to be a pretty good indication of the kind of pin designs that are working best in your niche.
What kind of pins does Pinterest prefer in 2026?
Now THIS might possibly be the most important, most hot takey-est bit of how to find success on Pinterest. The platform officially came out and said it in 2020 (kinda old news now), but it still holds in 2024. You can’t repin 15 of your pins and 15 of other creators’ pins to boards and call it a day. It just doesn’t work anymore.
You have to create fresh pins – these are new graphics or videos that your Pinterest has never seen before. Go ahead and create as many pins as you like for a single given URL, as long as the pin image and text are different.
So this isn’t really about having a new blog post or new URL to publish every day (kudos if you’re able to do that though), but it is about having a new image each time you publish and that doesn’t include duplicate pins with the same URL. While you can still repin your pins, here’s how you should go about it now:
- Do not repin more than 5-6 pins a day
- Wait a minimum of 2-3 days to repin your pin to another board
- You can repin the same pin to up to 10 relevant subject boards (no more than this)
- Never immediately repin a pin you’ve just published
Landing page protocol and fulfilling your reader’s needs
You’ve got your clickable CTA, you’ve got fresh content, and you’ve done extensive SEO research – now onto the final mile – your landing page. Pinterest loves content that makes the user experience a literal breeze – as a creator on Pinterest they want you to make the experience of a pinner end-to-end convenient. If you’ve enticed your audience to click through from the pin and into your website – you have to deliver what you promised or you’re going to have a bunch of people who vow to never ever ever click on your content again (and we want fans, not haters). Here’s what to avoid
- Slow page speed
- Hurriedly written blog posts with little to no helpful content
- Mile-long descriptions for your recipe blogs
- No images to break up your blog posts (a cardinal sin in the year 2024 – especially if you’re a food/travel/fashion blogger)
- Unnecessarily complicated questionnaires
- (and the worst of them all) BROKEN LINKS
Ensure that you’re making it worthwhile and easy for your audience to navigate through your content and Pinterest is sure to favor your pins in its ever-changing algorithm.
Making Pinterest your #1 Traffic Source
… is easy. IF you follow all these 5 tips and maintain consistency. Essentially, there’s only one guiding-light factor you should know and that’s to keep the experience of your ideal reader or client in mind. Just considering this one factor will automatically make you more likely to hit all five of these tips (or more) in your pinning strategy.
Making Pinterest your number 1 traffic source is easy. IF you follow all these 5 tips and maintain consistency. Essentially, there’s only one guiding-light factor you should know and that’s to keep the experience of your ideal reader or client in mind. Just considering this one factor will automatically make you more likely to hit all five of these tips (or more) in your pinning strategy.
How to Make Pinterest Your Traffic Source: Conclusion
If you’re ready to start or improve your Pinterest marketing, we’d love to help you. We offer Pinterest management, Pinterest audits, and Pinterest Set-up in a Week, so you can get expert help no matter your goals and budget.
Explore our offers, or reach out to chat about working together.