Pinterest SEO: How to Write Keyword Rich Pin Descriptions

Pinterest is a search engine, just like Google and if you want to do well on Pinterest, then you gotta start thinking of Pinterest SEO.

That means keywords are in play. The goal is to get your pins to rank highly on Pinterest feeds when somebody searches for a keyword in the Pinterest search bar.

Unlike Google, Pinterest is muuuuch much simpler. 😉

There are only a handful of SEO strategies involved here to get your pins found on Pinterest and they are not difficult at all. The first thing we’ll look at today is create SEO-rich pin descriptions with just 3 simple keyword research strategies.

Related: 10 Ways to Drive Massive Pinterest Traffic to Your Blog

How to optimize pin descriptions for Pinterest SEO?

To optimize your pin descriptions, use as many relevant keywords as possible. Sprinkle as many keywords related to your primary topic in your pin description within the 500 character limit.

Finding the right keywords to insert in your pin description is the crucial part. Most people just copy the first few lines from their article and paste it in their pin description. Sometimes I even see empty pin descriptions. What a waste!!

A good pin description helps get your pins found by users and also rank highly on Pinterest feeds. In the following sections, I will show you how to find hundreds of keywords you can use to optimize for Pinterest SEO. Let’s dive in!

1. Use Pinterest’s Auto-Suggest Feature to Find Seed Keywords

Pinterest has a very powerful auto-suggest feature, where it suggests the top related keywords to your initial word/phrase.

For example, if we type in “blogging”, Pinterest automatically suggests a list of keywords related to that topic.

These auto-suggested keywords are pretty broad keywords, also known as seed or head keywords.

Now, you want to copy those auto-suggested keywords in a notepad, lets say 5-10 keywords:

• blogging
• blogging for beginners
• blogging tips
• blogging for money 
• blogging ideas

2. Use Pinterest’s Guided Search Function to Find Long-Tail Keywords

Next, we will use Pinterest’s guided search function to beef up our keyword list and find long-tail keywords to use in our pin descriptions.

According to Pinterest, their guided search function is to “steer your search in the right direction“. What that means is Pinterest will expand your discovery by giving you more ideas based on your initial search.

The colored tiles you see under the search bar is the guided search function.

You can get here by pressing enter on your initial search and Pinterest will display these colored tiles to further expand your search. Clicking on any of these tiles will append that tile to your initial keyword.

So if we click on ‘for beginners’, Pinterest will append that to ‘blogging’. Creating the long-tail keyword ‘blogging for beginners’. That is how we form keyword ideas with the guided search function.

Now, you can copy each of these colored titles to your primary keyword and beef up your keyword list:

• blogging for beginners
• blogging ideas
• blogging for money
• blogging inspiration
• blogging to follow
• blogging lifestyle 
• blogging starting a
• blogging tips

Collect 10-15 of these long-tail keywords and paste them in your notepad.

3. Secret Tip: Use Pinterest Keyword Planner to Find High Search Volume Keywords

Finally, Pinterest Keyword Planner. I had only recently started using Pinterest Ads and absolutely love the new interface already. But that’s for another blog post.

The amazing thing about Pinterest Keyword Planner is its keyword search volume data.

Keyword search volume is important to understand search demand. How many people are searching for this keyword every month?

The higher the search volume, the higher the traffic potential.

Simply put, if you are found for a keyword that has 500k-1M monthly searches like “blogging life”, then the estimated traffic to your site from Pinterest will be HUGE.

Alright, so we have the search volume data of our keywords and now we have to copy the best ones in our notepad.

Take 10-15 keywords in the 10k-100k range and anything above that.

We are in good shape, friends.

Final Step: Consolidate your Pinterest Keyword List

We have used 3 different methods to find keywords that are relevant and have high search volume on Pinterest.

The result: a list of high value keywords that will get our pins found on Pinterest.

Throw all the keywords you’ve collected in your notepad into your pin description. And there you go, a keyword-rich pin description that is optimized for Pinterest SEO.

Oh, but make sure you keep within the 500 character limit.

In summary, here are the 4 steps:

Step 1: Find Seed Keywords on Pinterest

Pinterest has a very powerful auto-suggest feature, where it suggests the top related keywords to your initial word/phrase.

Step 2: Use Pinterest’s Guided Search Function to Find Long-Tail Keywords

Use Pinterest’s guided search function to beef up our keyword list and find long-tail keywords to use in our pin descriptions. According to Pinterest, their guided search function is to “steer your search in the right direction“.

Step 3: Use Pinterest Keyword Planner to Find High Search Volume Keywords

The amazing thing about Pinterest Keyword Planner is its keyword search volume data.

Step 4: Optimize your pin description with keywords

Optimize your pin descriptions by using as many relevant keywords as possible. Sprinkle as many keywords related to your primary topic in your pin description within the 500-character limit.