Ranking high on Pinterest and staying there is of high importance for your blog/business. You don’t magically get readers and buyers out of nowhere. You make it happen. 

With a visual search engine like this (yeah, Pinterest is more like Google but pretty, so don’t purely see it as a social media), it’s possible for (almost) everyone. If you stay with me carefully, you’ll secure your spot with the ones who succeed. Now, let’s learn some basics first and then jump onto the Pinterest algorithm strategy.

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Pinterest has always been easy on me, unlike Instagram, which constantly gives me a hard time for many reasons. First of all, Instagram thinks of itself as the centre of the Universe. Don’t get me wrong. I love many things about Instagram.

I love seeing inspiring people sharing tips from their life, but as a business owner, it’s overwhelming how it wants me to appear each day several times to make my content visible to others!

Pinterest loves fresh content too, but not that much, and you can always schedule it to work for you automatically via Tailwind!Secondly, I love designing pins more than taking photographs of myself. Many branded Instagram profiles are popular without humans on them too.

But it requires as much time as me getting all pretty to act cool, happy, sad, nervous or whatsoever in front of a previously set equipment. Then the photo selection, the editing, the caption, the hashtags, the time. Devastating!

The third reason is instant engagement. There are several reasons why the platform is called Instagram. It sure requires instant work if you want to grow your account. That is a big problem if you lack time.

AGAIN! You need to like, comment, save, share, interact with people and sometimes even ask for favours. “Hey, would you mind leaving a comment on my last photo”?

Reason number four is the worst one for me! I call it the “10K door”. See, if you follow its basic rules, Pinterest permits you to link your content on your pins. Instagram, on the other side, only allows that for those that have over ten hundred followers.

Those followers can be fake, so you might feel like your work is for nothing! I prefer (also find it easier) for people to come to my blog because they see my content as valuable. They will surely stay for a long time.

However, if you have time, don’t waste it around but try to set both Pinterest AND Instagram to work for you. I’m hoping to go there myself too. Instagram is great, and new trends are always happening. Its aesthetic is beautiful, and yes – you can grow your account and your business if you use it properly and have time on your side.

Once I’m ready to focus on it more (I hope it will be soon enough), I’ll share everything I know. But for now, let’s zoom closer to today’s lesson: the Pinterest algorithm.

Don’t scroll down just yet. I know it’s getting big, but I promise the understanding of this is worth your time. After you familiarize yourself with new Pinterest algorithm changes, you’ll officially enter the room of success. But, before we do that, you need to learn why it works.

Your business needs an audience, buyers and followers to grow bigger. According to Pinterest Business, 431 million people use Pinterest every month. Because of them, we succeed. Like any other big company like Walmart, Youtube or Starbucks, it is successful because people use its service.

Among the 431 million people, 7 of every 10 Pinterest users are female, and more than three out of four weekly pinners have discovered a new brand or product through it. More importantly, less than 30% of brands worldwide use it to promote their business, making it easier for you since you don’t have to compete a lot.

But most importantly, 8 out of 10 users have bought products based on the face/business recommendation they follow. 52% are millennials (born 1983-1998) who make plans for the future, such as a “new home”, “entrepreneurship for beginners”, or “fashion trends for the next season”. Therefore, they are more likely than everyone to buy what they save.

Once you find your target audience and start creating content exclusively for them, you’ll feel the magic. 78% of users find content from a brand they follow useful, including ads and affiliate links. You’ll be able to grow your business by linking it through Pinterest, as well as earn money through pins when linking your product or an affiliate link.

One more thing before we start learning! Since I know this bothers many, I’m going to break it to you right away. NO, you don’t need to spend 19 hours each day working on your account. I promise to teach you how to beat the Pinterest algorithm in little time. Now – let’s go!

I want you to know that I appreciate your attention, and I admire your courage to start a business and grow it. It takes a lot of patience, but you can do this. Here are my seven proven strategies to make the Pinterest algorithm work for you. No rush, you can thank me later!

You should pin up to 5 new pins each day. Not repins of other content, but yours. Although this may have been something you were trying to do last year, I promise it will pay off eventually if you follow the other rules.

You can sit down one day each week to design your new pins and schedule them in Tailwind to post automatically. Tailwind is free and easy to use. Once you set the time and date of your pins, they automatically go live without your presence. Even 1 fresh pin is good for you, but the more you provide, the more traffic it brings.

The “third party content” stands for “other people’s content”. Unlike the past three years, when Pinterest encouraged us to do a mix of both ours and others, it’s a lot different now. In 2019, I saw success in going with the 20/80 rule (20% of my content and 80% of other people’s content).

In 2020, Pinterest came up with an idea to reverse. So the creators did 80% of their content and 20% of the third-party content. 2021 encouraged us to provide ZERO of everything that’s not our job, but do the mix of 1-20 fresh pins and 1-5 old pins (OURS ONLY).

This time, create several pin images for one blog post. Pinterest doesn’t care if two of your pins take to the same post, as long as you bring value. It only cares about being user-friendly. It wants new, inspiring graphics popping up and leading to somewhere valuable.

Also, don’t bother if your new pins get only 10 views. The Pinterest algorithm works like Google SEO. It treats the old good ones as kings. So, don’t worry about your new ones – they will be on the list soon. Many visitors to my blog now are from my older pins!

Welcome to the year when hashtags are (sadly or not) dying. However, the keywords? See, since Pinterest is nothing like the other social media we’re used to, there are no comments nor likes that matter here.

What matters is the understanding of SEO (search engine optimization=how to optimize your content to make it appear on the first page of Google/Pinterest).

Therefore, our lovely Pinterest decided to stop giving value to hashtags and pay more attention to keywords, like a real professional. That partially happened because spammers took advantage of hashtags, so they no longer recommend using them for business. You can never beat a spammer unless you’re a spammer too. Right?

Anyways, I’m glad this happened. Hashtags on Pinterest always confused me. After all, they make my description a mess because they don’t become blue or something.

So, how do we make the keywords strategy happen?

First of all, for those confused, keywords are words/phrases in your content that make it visible and searchable through search engines for people. For example, let’s say the main keyword of this blog post is “Pinterest algorithm”. If I want it to be a successful fit, I make sure to splurge this post with it in every way.

Meaning: it appears in the title, at the very beginning of the post, in several subheadings, in slug and meta description, and the alt text of images. If you haven’t yet installed and activated the free WordPress plugin called “Yoast SEO“, do it now. It gives you instructions on how to master your SEO and green/red light when it’s good/bad.

How to use keywords for Pinterest?

So, when you type “Pinterest algorithm changes 2022” in Google, it will give you what you wanted: tons of texts on that topic. When you write that keyword phrase on Pinterest, you’ll get what you’ve asked for too, but in images instead of text.

Put a relevant keyword in your profile’s bio (what’s your blog about, the words and phrases you’re using the most all over your website) and relevant keywords and keyword phrases about the single post you’re linking to in your pin’s description and as a text in your graphics.

Also, how to find the trending keywords in your niche? Search them in the search bar and the what’s trending on the Pinterest section.

That also means seasons. So, if you go back to see users’ demographics once again, it’s easy to understand why they love to plan. Millennials plan everything from a cleaning schedule or habit tracker to their wedding plan five years from now. Moms plan what they need to buy, and dads plan handy things or kid’s activities ideas.

They save, therefore they plan. In the end, these people come back to what they’ve planned/saved to their Pinterest account when it’s time to take action: come to your blog to read tips on something, purchase etc.

Seasonal content and the world’s trends are so important because you wouldn’t want tips on how to wear a shacket in the middle of August, and you’re somewhere sunny. And yearly resolutions are not popular in the middle of the year (but at the start of each).

It’s of high importance to provide value to your current and your potential audience at least 1-2 months before if you want them to find you on time. Find current trends here by typing a keyword.

Create more animation and short videos to post like a regular pin, with a link to get traffic. Create more story pins as a presentation of an idea, quick info about the product you’re selling or a sneak peek inside the content of your website.

These pins are great to use NOW because they show on the homepage more than last year. They are available even for people who do not follow you to go through them. It’s a big win and a great exposure to a wide range of audiences.

One more thing. Story pins aren’t clickable, but it’s ok because the more of your brand people see, the more you’re getting into their heads – I encourage you to use them because of that. When it comes to video pins, they are clickable, BUT you must click on the text. However, they are more attractive than regular graphics – that’s a win again.

Pinterest focuses on positivity and well-being more than everything. People make plans through Pinterest for new projects and seek motivation.

Your job, as a creator, is to both educate and inspire. For instance, you educate with a pin by “Top 10 secrets from expert bloggers to become successful”.

You can be an inspiration by giving motivation from your life, content or product. It’s of high importance to staying mystic, so people must click through or follow you to learn more.

Everyone can sit down weekly or bi-weekly to make and schedule pins in their Tailwind account, so don’t you dare use the “I don’t have time” card on me. One more time, here’s the number I suggest: 10 fresh pins and 5 old pins (yours) each day.

Come back here in a month and let’s see how your account feels!

updated: April 2022