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Are you spending hours designing beautiful pins, only to watch them get basically zero traffic? It’s so frustrating to feel invisible on Pinterest when you know you have something great to offer. But here’s the good news: the problem probably isn’t your pins—it’s your keywords. In this guide, I’m going to show you exactly how to find the niche-specific keywords that will turn your Pinterest into a magnet for your ideal audience.
I’m , a digital marketing strategist and creator of Ballen Blueprint Coaching — a program designed to help creators move faster, stay consistent, and scale smarter. Inside Blueprint Coaching, I teach you how to build systems like the one in this article — so you’re not just learning what to do, but actually implementing it with a plan that works. If you want to grow your Pinterest traffic, build your audience, and start monetizing your content, joining the Blueprint will accelerate your results.
Tools Mentioned in This Article
Pinclicks: A powerful keyword explorer for Pinterest that reveals real search terms people are using, helping you find pillar, niche, and long-tail keywords your audience is searching for.
Pinterest Trends: The built-in Pinterest analytics tool that shows when topics are peaking in popularity so you can post at the right time.
KeywordsFX: A free external keyword generator that helps you find long-tail variations and new topic ideas for your Pinterest strategy.
These tools work together to help you build a keyword system that attracts your ideal audience — faster. If you want to master this process and streamline your entire Pinterest workflow, you’ll love what I teach inside Ballen Blueprint Coaching.
The “Why” That Changes Everything
We’re about to pull back the curtain on how Pinterest really works. This isn’t just another “5 quick tips” article. My goal here is to completely change how you see and use the platform. By the end of this, you won’t just know how to find the right keywords for your niche, but you’ll get the deep, strategic why behind every move you make.
The single biggest mistake people make on Pinterest is treating it like social media. That mindset will keep you stuck with disappointing results forever. Let this sink in: Pinterest is not a social network; it is a visual search engine. Its own co-founder has said it, top marketers know it, and the entire algorithm is built around this one idea.
People don’t hop on Pinterest to chat with their friends. They come to plan, dream, solve problems, and decide what to buy. They are actively searching. They’re looking for an answer, whether that answer is for “what’s for dinner tonight?” or “how do I decorate my new apartment?” or “what can I wear to a fall wedding?”
This is where you come in. And this is why keywords aren’t just a small part of your Pinterest strategy—they’re the entire foundation. Keywords are the bridge that connects someone’s search directly to your content. When you use the right ones, you’re raising your hand and telling the Pinterest algorithm, “Hey! That solution this person is looking for? I’ve got it right here.”
The algorithm has a simple job: deliver the most relevant and inspiring content for any search. It’s constantly scanning everything—your profile name, your bio, your board titles and descriptions, your pin titles and descriptions, and even the text you put on your pin images. It’s hunting for keywords to figure out what your content is about so it can show it to the right people at the right time.
If you aren’t strategic with your keywords, you’re basically whispering to the algorithm while your competitors are shouting. You could have the most gorgeous pin in the world, but if Pinterest doesn’t understand what it’s for, it will never show it to the millions of people who are looking for it.
We’re going to fix that, starting today. I’ll walk you through the exact, step-by-step process I use to find powerful keywords in any niche, how to group them, and most importantly, where to put them across your entire Pinterest account for the biggest impact. Get ready to stop feeling invisible and start getting discovered.
The Foundation – Understanding Pinterest SEO & Keyword Types
Before we get into the “how,” we need to build a solid foundation. You have to know what tools are in your keyword toolkit. Just like a builder wouldn’t use a sledgehammer for a tiny nail, you won’t use the same type of keyword for everything. Getting this hierarchy right is what separates the beginners from the pros who drive steady, predictable traffic.
So, what even is a Pinterest keyword? Simply put, it’s a word or phrase someone types into the search bar. But strategically, it’s so much more. It’s a signal of what someone wants. It tells you exactly what problem they need to solve or what they’re looking for inspiration for. Your job is to meet that signal with your content.
Let’s break down the four main types of keywords you’ll be using. Think of them like concentric circles, starting from the biggest, broadest one and getting more specific as we move to the center.
Pillar Keywords (Broad or Seed Keywords)
These are the big, high-level topics in your niche. They’re usually just one or two words long and have a huge search volume. Think of them as the main sections in a giant library. If your niche is food, your pillar keywords are things like “recipes,” “dinner,” “healthy eating,” or “baking.” If you’re in home decor, they’re “home decor,” “interior design,” or “living room.” For fashion, it’s “outfits,” “style,” or “fashion trends.”
These keywords are vital for telling Pinterest your general area of expertise. They’re the pillars of your content strategy. But let’s be real, you’ll almost never rank for these on their own. The competition is just way too high. The point of pillar keywords isn’t to rank for them directly, but to use them as a starting point for research and to anchor your more specific content. You need to know your 5-10 pillar keywords. They define your universe on Pinterest.
I use Pinclicks keyword explorer to find these.
Niche-Specific Keywords
This is where we start getting focused. A niche keyword takes a pillar keyword and adds a qualifier. It narrows the audience from “everyone” to “a specific group of people.” This is where you start finding your real audience.
Let’s use our examples from before:
- The pillar keyword “recipes” becomes the niche keyword “vegan recipes,” “keto recipes,” or “30-minute recipes.”
- “Home decor” becomes “boho home decor,” “farmhouse home decor,” or “minimalist home decor.”
- “Outfits” becomes “business casual outfits,” “mom outfits,” or “wedding guest outfits.”
The search volume is lower than for pillar keywords, but the user’s intent is so much stronger. Someone searching for “boho home decor” knows what they want. If your content is all about that style, you have a much better shot at being discovered by them and getting that click because you’re hyper-relevant.
Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are the secret sauce for traffic. These are longer phrases, usually three or more words, that are incredibly specific. They have much lower search volume, but they have the highest conversion rate. Why? Because the user’s intent is crystal clear. They are looking for a very specific answer.
Let’s follow the trail:
- Pillar: “Home decor”
- Niche: “Boho home decor”
- Long-Tail: “boho home decor for small apartments,” “DIY boho wall decor ideas,” or “affordable boho bedroom inspiration.”
Can you feel how powerful that is? Someone typing “affordable boho bedroom inspiration” isn’t just looking for ideas; they need ideas that fit their budget and their specific room. If you have a pin titled “7 Affordable Boho Bedroom Ideas You Can DIY This Weekend,” you are a perfect match.
Competition for these long-tail keywords is way lower. While millions of pins might be competing for “home decor,” maybe only a few hundred are competing for “boho home decor for small apartments.” This is your chance to shine. The majority of your individual pins should be optimized for long-tail keywords.
Seasonal and Trending Keywords
Pinterest is a platform for planners. People are often searching for ideas weeks, or even months, in advance. Seasonal and trending keywords let you tap into this forward-looking behavior and ride waves of search traffic at specific times of the year.
These keywords relate to holidays, seasons, or current events.
- Holidays: “Christmas decor ideas,” “Halloween costume ideas,” “Easter brunch recipes.”
- Seasons: “Fall fashion trends,” “summer salad recipes,” “spring cleaning checklist.”
- Events: “Back to school outfits,” “New Year’s resolutions ideas,” “Super Bowl party food.”
The key here is timing. You need to start pinning content for these topics 30-90 days before the event or season actually starts. This gives the Pinterest algorithm time to index your content and start showing it just as people begin searching. The Pinterest Trends tool, which we’ll cover in a bit, is your best friend for getting this timing right.
The Core Methods – Where to Find Your Niche Keywords
Okay, theory’s over. Now for the fun part: the treasure hunt. This is where we roll up our sleeves and actually find the exact words and phrases your audience is using every day. Here are four powerful, and mostly free, methods to build a massive keyword list.
I seriously recommend you open a spreadsheet or even just a notebook. As we go through this, write down every single relevant keyword you find. We’ll organize it later. For now, just collect everything.
Method 1: The Pinterest Search Bar (The Obvious Goldmine)
This might sound basic, but it’s the most powerful keyword research tool you have. The Pinterest search bar is a direct window into your audience’s mind. The suggestions that pop up are the most popular searches related to what you’ve typed.
Here’s how to use it, step-by-step. Imagine you’re a food blogger specializing in healthy family meals.
First, type one of your pillar keywords into the search bar. Let’s use “dinner ideas.” But don’t hit enter yet. A dropdown menu will immediately pop up with suggestions like “dinner ideas for family,” “dinner ideas healthy,” “dinner ideas easy.” This is pure gold. Write them all down.
Now, hit enter on “dinner ideas.” On the search results page, look right below the search bar. Those colored bubbles are guided search suggestions. For “dinner ideas,” you might see bubbles like “healthy,” “chicken,” “easy,” “family,” “quick.”
This is where to go down the rabbit hole. Each of these bubbles is a potential niche keyword. Click on one. Let’s click “healthy.” The search updates, and a new set of bubbles appears. Now you might see “for weight loss,” “for two,” “vegetarian,” “on a budget.”
In just a few clicks, you can go from the super broad “dinner ideas” to the incredibly specific “healthy dinner ideas on a budget for family.” Someone searching for that has a very clear problem. Do this for every single one of your pillar keywords. Start broad, click through the suggestion bubbles, and go deeper and deeper, writing down every relevant phrase you find.
Method 2: Pinterest Trends (Your Content Crystal Ball)
If the search bar shows you what’s popular right now, the Pinterest Trends tool is your time machine. It shows you how interest in a keyword has trended over the past year and helps you predict when to post your content. This tool is free under the “Analytics” tab at the top of your profile.
Let’s stick with our food blogger. In the Trends tool, type in “soup recipes.” A graph will pop up showing search volume over the last 12 months. You’ll probably see a huge spike starting in September, peaking in January, and then dropping off in the spring. This tells you to start pinning your soup recipes in August or September to catch that wave.
The real power here is in comparison. You can compare up to four different terms. Comparing “soup recipes” to “salad recipes,” you’ll see the exact opposite trend. Salads will peak in the spring and summer. This is so valuable for planning your content calendar.
Now, scroll down below the graph and look for “Related trends.” For “soup recipes,” you might see trending terms like “creamy chicken noodle soup,” “lasagna soup,” and “healthy vegetable soup.” This shows you which specific types of soup are hot right now. Use the Trends tool to plan all your seasonal content. By planning your content 45 to 90 days before the interest climbs, you set yourself up to be at the top of the feed when search volume explodes.
Method 3: Competitor & Niche Analysis (Ethical Spying)
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The top creators in your niche are leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. By looking at what’s working for them, you can get incredible insight into the keywords that connect with your shared audience.
First, find 5-10 successful accounts in your niche. Start by looking at their profile. What keywords are they using in their display name and bio? A successful home decor influencer probably doesn’t have a bio that just says “I like pretty things.” It’s more likely, “Helping you create a beautiful home with DIY projects, budget decorating tips, and modern farmhouse inspiration.” Boom—you’ve got “DIY projects,” “budget decorating,” and “modern farmhouse.”
Next, look at their boards. Board titles are a huge SEO signal for Pinterest. A smart creator will have super-specific, keyword-rich board titles like “Small Kitchen Organization,” or “Fall Porch Decor Ideas,” not “Cool Stuff” or “My Blog Posts.” Analyze their board descriptions, too. A well-optimized board will have a short paragraph that naturally includes several related keywords.
Finally, look at their individual pins. Find the pins with a lot of saves or comments. What keywords are in the pin title? In the description? Is there text on the pin image itself? You’ll start to see patterns. You are not copying them; you are doing market research. Add all these keywords to your master list.
Method 4: External Keyword Tools (Expanding Your Horizons)
While Pinterest’s own tools are your best bet, sometimes it helps to get an outside perspective. A great free place to start is a tool like KeywordsFX or other free keyword suggestion tools. They’re simple: you enter a “seed” keyword—like one of your pillar keywords—and it will spit out a huge list of long-tail variations. For example, entering “meal prep” might give you hundreds of ideas like “meal prep for beginners,” “meal prep for weight loss,” and “meal prep on a budget.”
These tools are great because they can come up with variations you might not have thought of on your own, helping you find less competitive keywords that your competitors might be overlooking. You can build an incredibly strong Pinterest strategy using just the free methods we’ve talked about.
The Application – Putting Your Keywords to Work
Having a giant list of keywords is useless if you don’t know what to do with it. We’re going to strategically place these keywords to turn your Pinterest account from a random mess of images into a well-organized, searchable library that the algorithm loves.
We’re going to optimize from the top down: first your profile, then your boards, and finally, every single pin.
Part 1: Optimizing Your Profile for Discovery
Your Pinterest profile is the front door to your brand. It needs to tell both people and the algorithm who you are and what you do in seconds.
First, your Display Name. Your display name is searchable. The best practice is to have your Name or Business Name, a vertical bar “|”, and then your one or two most important keywords. For example, instead of just “Jane Smith,” it should be “Jane Smith | Vegan Recipes & Healthy Living.”
Next is your Profile Bio. Write a clear sentence or two about what you do that naturally includes 3-5 of your top niche keywords. Do not just list them out. A good bio: “Helping you get healthy, easy dinners on the table! Find simple vegan recipes, meal prep ideas, and tips for healthy family eating.” In that short bio, we’ve naturally included “healthy easy dinners,” “vegan recipes,” “meal prep ideas,” and “healthy family eating.”
Part 2: Building Keyword-Driven, Topical Boards
Your boards are how Pinterest understands the sub-topics you’re an expert in. Each board needs to be a hyper-focused collection on a single topic, optimized with keywords. The biggest mistake is creating vague board names like “My Blog” or “Cool Ideas.” You must use your niche and long-tail keywords as your board titles.
Instead of one huge board called “Home Decor,” you should create multiple, specific boards like:
- “Living Room Decor Ideas”
- “Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Inspiration”
- “DIY Wall Art Projects”
- “Small Bedroom Organization Hacks”
Each of these titles is a searchable phrase. But don’t stop there. Every board has a description field—use it! Write 2-3 sentences for each board that elaborates on the topic and naturally weaves in a few related long-tail keywords. For the “Small Bedroom Organization Hacks” board, the description could be: “Discover clever small bedroom organization hacks and space-saving storage ideas. Find solutions for tiny closets, smart furniture layouts, and tips to make your small space feel larger.”
Part 3: Optimizing Every Single Pin
Every single pin you create is a new chance to be discovered. To maximize that chance, you need to put keywords in three key places on every pin.
First is the Pin Title. The title is the most important piece of SEO real estate on the pin. It needs to be clear, compelling, and contain your main long-tail keyword for that pin. For example, the best title for a chicken soup recipe is “Easy Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe.”
Second is the Pin Description. Write a natural-sounding paragraph (2-4 sentences is great) that gives some context, tempts the user to click, and includes your primary keyword plus 2-3 related ones. For our soup pin, the description could be: “This easy crockpot chicken noodle soup recipe is the perfect comfort food for a cold day. A simple, healthy dinner idea the whole family will love. Get the full recipe and learn how to make this delicious one-pot meal tonight!”
Third, and often forgotten, is the Text Overlay on your Pin Image. Pinterest can read the text on your images. This is another powerful keyword signal. Your pin image should have a bold, easy-to-read text overlay that basically repeats your pin’s title.
Advanced Strategy & Best Practices
If you’ve followed everything so far, you’re already ahead of most people on Pinterest. Here are a few advanced tips to make sure your success lasts.
The Power of Content Refreshing
Keyword research isn’t a one-and-done task. Once every six months or so, go into your Pinterest Analytics and find your top 10-20 best-performing pins. Now, give that content a “fresh pin” treatment. A fresh pin is just a new image that links to an existing URL. You’ll create a brand new, visually different pin for that same popular blog post. But this time, you’ll optimize it with your newest keyword research. Use a new, high-performing long-tail keyword in the new pin’s title, description, and text overlay. This strategy tells the algorithm that your old content is still relevant, often giving it a nice new boost.
The Keyword Mix is Key
The best strategies use a healthy mix of keyword types. Your board titles will generally target your pillar and niche keywords (e.g., “Boho Living Room Ideas”). The vast majority of your individual pins—maybe 80% of them—should target those super-specific long-tail keywords (e.g., “how to decorate a small boho living room on a budget”). But you should also occasionally create pins that target broader, niche-level keywords. A pin titled “10 Boho Living Room Ideas” might get saved thousands of times. It might not drive as many clicks, but those saves boost your account’s overall authority.
Continuous Monitoring and Adaptation
Pinterest isn’t static. Make it a habit to spend 30 minutes each month on keyword maintenance.
- Check Pinterest Trends: What new related trends are popping up for your main keywords?
- Use the Search Bar: Do your quick research again. Are the auto-suggestions different? Are new keywords appearing?
- Analyze Your Own Analytics: Look at which of your new pins are doing the best. What keywords did you use? Your own data is a powerful guide.
Conclusion
Let’s do a quick recap of your new blueprint for Pinterest success.
First, the most important mindset shift: Pinterest is a search engine, not social media. Your job is to be the answer, and keywords are the bridge.
Second, we covered the four key keyword types: broad Pillar keywords, focused Niche keywords, traffic-driving Long-Tail keywords, and timely Seasonal keywords.
Third, you learned the four core methods for finding them: using the Pinterest Search Bar, looking into the future with Pinterest Trends, ethically spying on your competitors, and expanding your list with external tools.
And finally, you learned exactly where to put those keywords for the biggest impact: in your display name and bio, in your board titles and descriptions, and on every single pin’s title, description, and text overlay.
You now have a complete system for turning your Pinterest account into a discovery machine. The work you put in today will pay off for months and years to come.
If you found this guide helpful and you’re ready to get serious about your Pinterest marketing, join me in Blueprint Coaching.
