​Hope you’re doing well! A few weeks ago, I was in the middle of a client account clean up, when ​I noticed a few particular Pinterest keyword mistakes this client made in the past.
Although most people feel they should upload their content to Pinterest quickly for the sake of having it up on the platform, building an authentic and strong Pinterest account takes time, consistency and work. You’re almost better off not uploading anything on Pinterest until you are 100% ready to either outsource the work to a Pinterest expert, or commit to growing your own Pinterest account every single day.
It really pains me to see perfectly curated and shot images that are uploaded to Pinterest without the proper SEO and strategy. There is nothing worse than NOT giving your content its best shot at ranking in the algorithm when you invested so much into producing that quality content to begin with.
That being said, today, I am going to outline the most common keyword mistakes I see on Pinterest. This is our last instalment of the “Pinterest Marketing Mistakes” series, so let’s dive in.
Not doing Keyword Research
Doing keyword research for your business will help your Pinterest SEO. You should collect all of the keywords related to your niche, and add them throughout your profile and pins. This is how you tell Pinterest where to easily index and rank your content. Without the proper keywords, Pinterest will have a hard time finding your ideal target audience. Learn all about how to create a Pinterest strategy for your business and how to do keyword research by visiting the guide here.
Not Setting up your Profile SEO
If you haven’t taken 2 – 3 hours of your time to sit down and setup the SEO on your account properly, then you’re not going to give your content its best chance of ranking in the algorithm. The better the keyword implementation on your profile and pins, the easier it is for Pinterest to index your pins, and the faster it is for you to get website traffic.
When setting up your profile, you want to add the right longtail keywords in your display name, profile description, profile cover, board titles, and board descriptions. That way, when you come to publish your pins, your content can rank more easily. If you want my board description template, feel free to download it here. This template will allow you to plug and play your keywords, while following the Pinterest Best Practices.
Keep in mind that you should publish pins with high quality keyword rich descriptions. Of course, avoid keyword stuffing and adding hashtags since the hashtag feed does not work effectively on Pinterest.
Expecting Pinterest to be a Social Media
People assume that when they publish a pin, it should gain traction in the algorithm right away, just like an Instagram post would. Pinterest works the opposite way, as it is a search engine. Once the Pin gets indexed by the platform, it has a chance to pick up steam and get engagement. This is why Pinterest experts like myself say that Pinterest is a long game and that it takes 6 months of consistent quality pinning to start seeing results with Pinterest.
Being General with Keywords
Using keywords that are too broad will kill your rankings. Pinterest indexes your content partly based on your pin’s relevancy score. If the image + title + pin description and board are all relevant and specific, then Pinterest will have a much easier time ranking your pins for a specific search term.
For example, if you write a blog post on How to Create Healthy Skincare Habits in your 30s, then the image should showcase skincare, and that pin should be published to the “Skincare For Women” board.
What was one mistake you were making, that you didn’t know about? I would love to know 🙂
Adrianna
PS: Visit our YouTube channel for more Pinterest Marketing Tips!
