325 | How to Find Pinterest Keywords That Actually Work (Step by Step)

If your content isn’t showing up on Pinterest, keywords are probably why. The good news is that Pinterest actually makes keyword research easier than almost any other platform. You just have to know where to look.

In this episode, I’m walking you through exactly how to find Pinterest keywords, the 7 places you need to put them, how to avoid the keyword stuffing trap, and why local and global keywords both matter for service providers. Plus, how often you should refresh your keyword research so your content keeps compounding.

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Transcript

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If your content isn't showing up on Pinterest, keywords are probably why. And the good news is that Pinterest actually makes keyword research easier than almost any other platform. You just have to know where to look. Welcome back to Marketing Strategy Academy Podcast, where we help female entrepreneurs go from marketing overwhelm to an easy streamlined strategy and system that includes Pinterest and repurposing content to grow their businesses when they have very little time. I'm your host, Jen Basquez. Let's jump right into it. Today we are going deep on the skill that makes everything else on Pinterest actually work. Keywords. Without the right keywords, your pens exist, but nobody can find them. With the right keywords, your content shows up in front of exactly the right people. With the right keywords, your content shows up in front of exactly the right people consistently over time. But real quick, before we go further, I have a free resource library called the Visibility Vault, and it has Pinterest tools, marketing tools, master class, keyword resources, and marketing templates that you can grab right now. Over 25 different tools, all free at learn.genvasquez.com slash resources. So go grab those and follow along with this video. Okay, back to keywords. So why keywords matter on Pinterest? Pinterest is a search engine, and like any search engine, it relies on keywords to understand what your content is about and who to show it to. So when someone types how to get more clients as a photographer into Pinterest, the platform scans billions of pieces of content and decides which ones match that search. If your content doesn't include that language, then you are invisible for all of that search. If it does, you have a chance to show up and to keep showing up for months and oftentimes for years. Where to find keywords, the Pinterest search bar. The fastest and most reliable way to find Pinterest keywords is in the Pinterest search bar itself. Here's how to do it. Go to Pinterest, click the search bar, type in a broad topic related to your business. Before you even hit enter, Pinterest will start suggesting completions. So it'll have like a menu will pop up underneath, just like it does in Google, and it'll give you all of these suggestions. And those suggestions are real searches that real people are typing right now. And they're typically in order of search volume. So an example, type brand photography, and you might see brand photography ideas for small business, brand photography tips, brand photography poses, brand photography flat lay. Those are your keywords. Now hit enter and you're gonna see colored tiles or bubbles appear right underneath the search bar. And those are Pinterest's guided search categories. Not everyone in the world has them, but you should be able to find them if you're in the United States. And they show you exactly how people are narrowing their searches, screenshot all of them or write them down. This is free keyword research built right as my cat is hanging out. Or write them down on my free keyword builder. This is free keyword research built right into the platform. Secondary research, look at performing pins. Find a pin in your niche that is performing well. High saves, good engagement, really a lot of outbound clicks is what I would look at. Read the title and the description carefully. What words are they using? What phrases keep showing up? This is not about copying. It's about understanding what language is already working out there so that you can use the same language authentically in your own content. So where do you put your keywords? Finding keywords is only half of it. Placement is what activates them. So you want these keywords in your display name. Keywords in your name helps Pinterest understand what you're about from the jump. Your bio, write it using the language your ideal client would search, not your job description. Their search terms are gonna be a win for you every time. Board titles. Every board title is indexed. Name boards the way your ideal client would actually search for it, typing into that search bar into Pinterest. Not the way you would label a folder. Board descriptions. Two to three sentences per board using your keywords naturally, like human read paragraphs. Written like a real sentence, not a list of terms stuffed all together, because that can look spammy and really ruin some opportunities for you to get found. Pin titles. One of the most important spots, lead with your keyword phrase. Something like Pinterest marketing tips for service providers, how to get started. Pin descriptions, two to four sentences, use your primary keyword, and one or two related phrases, write it like a human. The keywords should be clearly there, not forced. And the content that you link to, if your blog post, title, and headings also use those keywords, Pinterest gets even more signals that your content matches the search. Everything reinforces everything else. So how much is too much? A common mistake is keyword stuffing, which means cramming in as many keywords as possible until the description reads like a robot wrote it. Pinterest is smart enough to catch this, and it does not help your ranking at all. The goal is natural language that includes your keywords intentionally. Read your pen description out loud. If it sounds kind of weird, rewrite it. Real humans, write it. Keywords, support it. That's the balance on Pinterest. Local versus global keywords. This is especially important for local service providers like photographers, wedding planners, or coaches, or maybe fitness coaches in a certain area who deserve a specific area. Use both. Global keywords like brand photography tips reach a broad audience and can drive referrals or education sales. I see a lot of local service providers using just generic keywords, and that is not going to be enough to grow your business. I did this right from the beginning, and I think that's what made a difference for me growing my business on Pinterest. Using local keywords like brand photographer San Jose or Brand Photographer Bay Area reaches people actively looking to book locally. It also means that people from outside of your area who are coming to your area will often look for a photographer in the area they're traveling to. And so you're still gonna get found by people all over the world that come to your area. Both serve a purpose, the generic and the local. If you just use local, you're missing out on the general, which could really help you. Build your keyword strategy to include both. It is your best chance at the fastest growth on Pinterest. How often should you revisit doing keyword research? Keyword research is not a one-and-done task. Do a refresh every three to six months. Search behavior changes, new terms emerge. What your ideal client is searching for in January might be slightly different by summer. Stay updated. Keep your content compounding instead of plateauing. Keywords are how Pinterest finds your content. Get them right, and your pins will keep working long after you publish them. Now that you know how to build your strategy and how to use keywords, the next question I hear all the time is how do I actually know if any of this is working? And that's exactly what we're going to be covering next. I'm going to break down which Pinterest numbers actually matter, which ones are misleading, and what a healthy growth timeline really looks like so that you don't quit right before the good stuff happens. I'll see you next week.