Struggling with Pinterest marketing?
You’re not alone!
There is so much outdated and inaccurate information online, and finding your way through the clutter is a skill in itself!
If you’re not seeing the success you want on Pinterest, in most cases, it comes down to the basics:
Pinterest algorithm does not understand your content and, therefore, cannot serve it to the right audience.
It’s not just content optimization, but of course, quality matters a lot.
You can get a huge amount of impressions, but if nobody clicks or saves your content, that will hurt your account and the algorithm will reduce distribution of your content.
In this article with Pinterest marketing tips, I wanted to focus on one area that most people struggle with, and that’s keyword research and using Pinterest keywords in the right way.
Below, you will find my cheat sheet for keywords on Pinterest, together with an explanation of the points.
Don’t forget to also check out the end of the article to get access to my free Pinterest mini-course!
No Time to Read? Save it for Later.
No time to read now? Add these images to your Pinterest board and you can find it later!


Pinterest Marketing Tips: Cheat Sheet for Keywords
I know what you think – obviously, you need to use keywords, right?
But I bet you haven’t been using the right ones, and in the right places.
Here are just a few places from where the algorithm picks up and detects keywords:
- pin title and pin description (this one is obvious)
- text in the image (in your overlay)
- board name and description to which you save the pin
- meta description of the article you’re linking to
- file name for the pin image
- URL of the landing page you are linking to
So, how many have you missed?
In my cheat sheet below, you will find the best tips for keywords on Pinterest, and also check the explanation below the graphic.

1. Where to Find Keywords
Only use the Pinterest search bar to research keywords for your profile, no need for any tools, paid ads keywords or trends keywords.
Why not?
Because the order in which the keyword suggestions are displayed in the search bar matters a lot – they indicate search volume.
The keywords you can find in paid ads are mostly very broad, with very rough (and often inflated) search volumes, to attract advertisers to the platform.
I often see experts recommending using Pinterest trends to find keywords, but you should know that those will only work for you if you already have a well-optimized profile targeting your main keywords.
Pinterest trend keywords also tend to be short lived seasonal ones, and you won’t be able to rank for them unless you share the content at least 3 – 6 months before the spike in searches.
So go ahead, and deep dive into the Pinterest search bar.
What should you search for?
- identify all keywords for your main site topic
- identify all keywords for all your topical clusters or main categories you cover on your site or blog
2. Best Keywords for Boards
Now that you mapped out keywords for each of your categories, but also the main keywords for your blog, it’s time to put them to good use.
You shouldn’t just stuff keywords into your pin titles and descriptions.
Shorter and broader keywords should be used mostly for your board names and board descriptions. Ideally 2 – 3 words long, max.
How many boards do you need?
Find the answers in this article, but generally, I recommend around 5 boards for each topical cluster or category on your website.
3. Best Keywords for Pins
Longer keywords, with 3 or more words, would make great pin titles and can be used in pin descriptions, together with the shorter keywords.
Finding these long tail keywords in your research is also a great way to uncover topics that you can write specially for Pinterest, and increase your chances to rank with them fast.
There are a lot of underserved topics on Pinterest which do not have an exact match in the search results, and these are goldmines for traffic opportunities.
Don’t miss out on them!
Don’t just stuff lots of keywords in your Pin description thought!
Make sure each description is unique and original, with a clear call to action ‘save this to your board’.
If you need help crafting a lot of well optimized titles and descriptions for your Pins, I created a free AI tool that automates the process completely.
You can get access to it if you take my free Pinterest mini course linked below!
4. Keyword Intent on Pinterest
The last thing we need to consider is intent.
Each keyword has its own intent, just like in organic search.
If someone searches for ‘London aesthetic’, they just want to look at some pretty photos to get a sense of the place.
On the other hand, a keyword like ‘Summer in London Travel Tips’ is a keyword that will more likely get people to click through to your website to read a guide.
Keep this in mind and focus mostly on keywords with click intent.
I hope it all makes sense, but if you have any questions, please leave a comment below, and I will be happy to help!
FREE Pinterest Mini Course
If you want to learn more about success on Pinterest, I created a free simple mini course that will teach you everything you need to know about the platform.
The course is available as a PDF guide divided into five sections covering all the essentials about Pinterest marketing, plus a bonus – my free tool for creating SEO optimized titles & descriptions.
Love it? PIN it!
Save these pins to your Pinterest board so you can find them later! While you’re there, don’t be shy and follow my own profile too!

