Great Pinterest SEO is the basis for your Pinterest success! Start using the Pinterest keyword tool to up level your Pinterest SEO for free, plus discover other tools to save time and rock your Pinterest keywords research game to check out your Pinterest competition with one click:

• Why you need to think about Pinterest keywords.

• How to get to the Pinterest keyword tool.

• How to use the Pinterest keyword tool.

• Other ways to do Pinterest keyword research in Pinterest.

• How to use your Pinterest keyword list from the Pinterest keyword tool for results.

• Is the Pinterest keyword tool useful for Google SEO?

• Your BONUS tip: Save time & check out your competition with these Pinterest keyword tools.

• If you only have 5 minutes, read this!

Full disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission from.

So many tools to learn about for your online business… Do you really need to use another one for Pinterest? And why?

Signals.

If you feel you don’t quite understand the world of keywords and Pinterest SEO tools, just think about signals.

Pinterest is a content search engine, and like Google, you can help Pinterest enormously by giving it the right signals.

Pinterest also needs to recognise keywords to understand what your content is about:

• to present it to the right searches

• to suggest it to the right audience

If you are more familiar with Google SEO, then you understand this concept already. The difference here is that in order to drive the Pinterest SEO, you can’t just use the a SEO keyword list from Google SEO. You need to identify the Pinterest keywords.

But how to create a Pinterest keyword list?

With the Pinterest keyword tool (plus a few more other tips and tools I am also sharing with you here!)

Would it be amazing to be able to find the Pinterest keywords for your pins and idea pins for free, directly from Pinterest, to drive your content visibility up?

This is exactly what I am going to show you wit the Pinterest keyword tool.

Let’s look first at what the Pinterest keyword tool is not.

• It isn’t an app.

• It isn’t an additional piece of software to install.

• It isn’t a paying feature.

The Pinterest keyword tool is a free functionality provided to target Pinterest ads. It helps find keywords and volumes. Cool!

If you’ve done keyword research in Google Ad Sense, it’s the equivalent in Pinterest. If you don’t know anything about Google Ad Sense, don’t worry. There is no need to understand it at all!

First of all, as promised, this is a totally free tool, included in Pinterest.

To access it, it is simple 2-way steps:

1. First, you need to ensure you have a business account in Pinterest, and if not, upgrade to one (I’ll show you how in a sec!).

2. Then, you need to find your way through the ads section (no panic, there is no need to spend a penny in ads or even do an ad!).

So if you already have a Pinterest account, skip this next section and go directly to the next.

Why Pinterest has two types of accounts for people?

Because it provides a simplified experience to normal user accounts and it enables data analysis and ads functionality for the business accounts.

Upgrading to a business account is free.

This is how you do it (you can click back and forwards if you want on this slideshow):

Well done! Now you have a business account! It’s going to help you:

• understand your Pinterest traffic

• access the Pinterest keyword tool for free for your Pinterest SEO success!

Time to move to the next step.

Now, this step can seem at the beginning a bit scary.

Actually, first of all, it’s totally free and there is no need to enter any payment details at all.

Secondly, there is no need to learn or even understand how to create an ad in Pinterest.

It’s just a matter of a few clicks and you are done!

Let me show you with a slideshow (you can click back and forwards if you want on this slideshow):

Exciting, isn’t it?!!!!

You now know how to access to the Pinterest keyword tool.

You’ve open a world of possibilities in Pinterest for you!

Now that you have access to the Pinterest keyword tool, let’s look at how to use it to extract the goodness you need to create your own Pinterest keyword list for your Pinterest success.

There is nothing more simple to use than the Pinterest keyword tool.

You simply need to type a word in the search and a set of related keywords will appear for you.

Careful! Not all may be relevant to you, so be selective.

Here is an example of how to use the Pinterest keyword tool for your Pinterest SEO:

As with any keyword search, be mindful of results that are meaningless for you. Not every result that the Pinterest keyword tool provides will be relevant and this is where you need to be selective. Don’t use everything. Just get what relates best to your content.

So remember to be selective with keywords and understand the wider context of their use in Pinterest. If they are too generic and bring results not related to your intended content, don’t use them. Narrow them down, try other Pinterest keywords.

Now that you have seen how to find Pinterest keywords in the Pinterest keyword tool, let’s look at how you search for volumes.

You may have already noticed this:

Typically, the higher the volume the better it will perform for you in the Pinterest searches.

However…

Don’t use keywords with high volumes if they do not make sense in relation to your content.

Keep your keywords consistent and relevant to your content. There is nothing worse than audience deception. Don’t make your audience think they will find something and then not deliver it in your content.

Using Pinterest keywords as clickbait is a bad practice and I do not recommend it.

Fantastic! You are making great progress.

Shall I help you make a step change with your Pinterest SEO and create your mini Pinterest SEO tool? Absolutely yes!

Make your Pinterest pinning easier going forwards.

You are quite certainly creating content related to 4-5 core content subjects. By the way, if you aren’t, check out my blog How To Write Unique Blog Posts For A Whole Year - Exact Blueprint For Quality Blog Content Ideas:

So instead of having to search again and again your keywords in the Pinterest keyword tool for your Pinterest SEO, start creating your own spreadsheet with a Pinterest keyword list including the keywords related to your content pillars.

Simply:

1. Copy and paste the keywords you find in the Pinterest keyword tool to a simple Google Sheet or Microsoft Excel file.

2. Create a sheet in the file for each content pillars / main keyword.

   • For example for a recipes food blog could have individual sheets for: “keto”, “vegan”, “lose weight”, “summer recipes”, “super foods”

As simple as that!

Enjoy your new, super efficient workflow to save time with your Pinterest game!!!!

You have a few more things to do to maximise how you use keywords in Pinterest.

So first remember: stuffing keywords everywhere is a waste of time. So before you run including keywords everywhere, you need to do a few checks.

The reason to do checks for the keywords you have identified is to:

• check how other pinners use those keywords (competition research)

• eliminate keywords that result in searches mainly unrelated to your content subject matter

• find related keywords that you can use

• identify highly impactful headlines for your pin title and pin design

In the next section, I will show how to validate and expand your Pinterest keyword list. Once you have achieved that, and only then, it would be time to see where to use the keywords in your refined Pinterest keyword list.

So let’s recap:

Let’s look at how to validate and complement the Pinterest keyword tool results for optimised Pinterest SEO.

Now that you have extracted huge value from the Pinterest keyword tool, it is best practice to check what results a search with the keyword will give.

Simply type the keyword in the search bar and check out the results. This is the simplest way to:

• validate that your keyword gives the type of pin results you want.

• spot other related keywords in the top pins of the search.

Here is an example for “superfoods” as keyword and the results for the top pins.

As you see from this example, you can start exploring other keywords like:

• superfoods meal plan

• superfood salad

• superfood smoothies

• Superfoods for weight loss

• …

The idea being that the pins at the top of your search are the top pins related to your keyword, with the most volumes. They give you a great benchmark to what drives volumes in Pinterest and what you will be competing against.

Beyond the Pinterest keyword tool, this is a widely known method for finding related keywords and understanding what are the top keywords related to a certain search.

This is how to do it:

And this is how it looks like:

There are another 5 ways you can validate and expand your Pinterest keywords for successful Pinterest SEO beyond the Pinterest keyword tool.

Let’s look at them.

The second place where you can find related keywords is in the Related Searches menu.

Where is it?

Slightly hidden. Let me uncover it for you.

This is how it looks like for the search for “superfoods”:

This menu gives you a Pinterest keyword list of top searches. You can redo the steps above to get even more related keywords. Easy!

This is a feature that Pinterest used to offer across all types of accounts and now it only appears in the personal accounts.

I know you started this tutorial by upgrading your account to business and that is still the right thing to do.

Now, in order to benefit from this functionality, you need to create a second Pinterest account, one you will keep as a personal account. You don’t need to manage or pin in it. You just use it for Pinterest research purposes.

You will see later that it will come also super handy to use Pin Inspector to benchmark your competition in Pinterest!

What you will achieve is seeing the top searches menu related to your keyword.

Many believe that Pinterest has removed this top searches menu feature. In fact, it has from business accounts.

It is a very useful view to have to understand top related keywords, so use a Pinterest personal account to get it. That simple!

Ok, now back to your business account. When you do a search in Pinterest, notice that you have 3 options to choose from in your results:

• Explore

• Shop

• Profiles

By default, Pinterest shows you the “Explore” view, which shows the top pins associated with your Pinterest keyword search.

You can also do some great competitor analysis and refine your keyword research by looking at the “Profiles” view. It looks like this:

The Pinterest Profiles results are a great way to validate or do further Pinterest keyword research from top ranking accounts for your keywords.

Yeap! It is a competitors research in Pinterest through keywords. Cool! Just click on a few of the accounts and explore to find inspiration for your keywords (and even future content!).

This can give you plenty of further related keywords and ideas for your Pinterest keyword list to be successful with you Pinterest SEO game!

Complement your Pinterest keyword tool results looking at the Pinterest Boards search results view.

And now, I have left a great Pinterest source of Pinterest keywords insights for last.

Trends.

This is one of the advantages of having upgraded your Pinterest account to a business Pinterest account!

Access to Pinterest Trends.

To access trends, just click on the top left menu called “Analytics”. A submenu will pop up, just click “Trends” (you can click back and forwards if you want on this slideshow).

Pinterest Trends at the moment of writing are only available for 3 geographies: US, UK and Canada. Still, they can give you:

• a great insight on your Pinterest keyword volumes over time

• other related keywords and trends

• top pins for that keyword

Absolute gold.

All super easy and totally free!

You have now achieved a huge amount!!!!

Not only you have identified your top keywords directly from the Pinterest keyword tool, but you have also validated and expanded them by benchmarking with top pins and trends. Superb!

Let’s recap before moving on. You have a range of options beyond the Pinterest keyword tool to refine your keywords and therefore your Pinterest SEO.

Now let’s ensure that you optimise how you use your Pinterest keyword list.

I can write a whole blog just on this subject, so for the purpose of this one, I am going to keep this section simple. I will link below related blogs so that you can find more detailed information.

Using your keywords for the sake of it without a clear and impact Pinterest idea or pin design is not going to work.

So remember the basics for great Pinterest design:

• Create a compelling title.

• Include a CTA (Call to Action).

• Use pictures and graphics that convey your product or service.

• Include your logo (brand your content in Pinterest).

• Include your keywords in your Pinterest ideas and pin designs. Make them readable with large fonts.

Keywords needs to appear in different places throughout Pinterest to strengthen the signals to Pinterest and make your content easier to be found:

• Your Pinterest Idea or pin design

• Your Pinterest Idea or pin title

• Pinterest Idea or pin description

• The file name of your design

• The link name

• The Board name

• The Board description

• For your top keywords: your Profile

Keywords are not the beginning and the end for Pinterest success.

Obvious other factors matter a lot too:

• the quality of your content

• how much fresh content you pin

• the seasonality and timings of when you pin

• your consistency and frequency

• your use of all forms of content in Pinterest

• your interactions in the platform

Discover step by step tips for your Pinterest pinning in my blog about The Best Blogging Pinterest Tips And Tricks To Explode Your Traffic For Free - 3 Top Pinterest Traffic Tips For Bloggers To Get More Blog Traffic:

I don’t believe that it is either Google or Pinterest.

I believe that both bring goodness to your online business or blog and understanding both is super important.

If you don’t know much about Google SEO. You can easily level up your Pinterest game without any Google SEO knowledge.

When you combined both, Pinterest SEO and Google SEO, your online business traffic will get a great boost. You can easily step up your SEO skills… and you should!

So, if you want to learn Google SEO the easy way, I can personally recommend Mike Pearson’s Stupid Simple SEO online course. I am very selective on the online course I do and this is an absolute jewel. Why? Many people don’t go any near SEO because it sounds too complicated. What a mistake!

In Stupid Simple SEO, Mike has a teaching method that:

• is super easy to follow

• is extremely well structured to build your skills bit by bit

• includes simple step-by-step video tutorials for all the tools that he recommends

• is based on not having to spend money on expensive tools (which is soooooo important with SEO)

And, importantly, will actually help you blog better. Your blogging quality goes through the roof!

But there is nothing better than joining his webinar for see it for yourself. Using my link, if you decide to purchase Stupid Simple SEO, you will get special bonuses only available through the webinar. Cool, isn’t it!!!

The results are amazing. As a blogger, combined Pinterest and Google. Learn Google SEO to maximise your results. I personally hesitated for months before making this investment… The fact is that I should have done it so much sooner! Hence why I so strongly recommend it. I remember reading blogs recommending it and thinking… “Oh, another affiliate sale”. Yes, it is and…

… you don’t need to buy. Just watch the free webinar and decide for yourself! Great opportunity.

Ok, now back to the question in hand. As I said, for me it is not Pinterest or Google, it is both.

So yes, indirectly, the Pinterest keyword tool can be useful for your Google SEO search. Why?

• The better your Pinterest keywords and content is, the more you increase your chances of click throughs.

  • That means that Pinterest opens a door into your content.

  • This therefore increases the traffic that Google sees and statistically the chances of you getting backlinks (increasing your SEO).

• While it is also true that the Pinterest keyword tool does not tend to provide long tail keywords, you can coordinate your Google SEO and Pinterest keyword analysis to work with keywords that will rank both for you in Pinterest and provide a competitive opportunity in Google based on the level of difficulty, traffic volumes and the domain authority.

Check out my bonus tip for a great tool that will help you simplify this for you, the Pin Inspector!

Fantastic! Now you are a star! You now have mastered:

• Why you need to think about Pinterest keywords

• How to get to the Pinterest keyword tool

• How to use the Pinterest keyword tool

• Other ways to do Pinterest keyword research in Pinterest

• How to use keywords from the Pinterest keywords tool for results

• How to approach a coordinated approach for your Pinterest and Google keyword searches

Do you want to save time? Is all of the above too time consuming?

Before you go, don’t forget to check out my bonus tip, with two other Pinterest keyword tools that are great to use and will save you a tonne of time!

You could be wondering whether there are other ways to search for Pinterest keywords…

• You want to do all the Pinterest keyword research in a fraction of the time.

• Or you want to be able to contrast results from different tools.

• Or you wish to get more insights on your Pinterest competitors.

• Or you need to see the Google traffic for the Pinterest keywords you find.

The answer is yes. I have two great options for you, one free and one that isn’t, but worth every penny … (and it does NOT involve a monthly charge, only a small one off fee!):

• Keysearch

• Pin Inspector

Keysearch is a SEO tool where you can use for free limited functionality once you have registered. 

You might know it more from the Google SEO world.

The good news are that you can also see Pinterest keyword related information in it.

Once you have registered for the free version, just go to the Keyword Search menu and select “Pinterest Suggest” in the drop drop menu.

Keysearch retrieves related keyword suggestions from Pinterest's own auto-suggest recommendations. As Keysearch Pinterest Suggest uses Pinterest to gather the keyword suggestions, you can see what are the most searched keywords as well as the most pinned topics related to your seed keyword.

Now, if you ask me, to be super efficient and have great insights, nothing like Pin Inspector.

Pin Inspector gives you in one click Pinterest top search keywords plus associated keywords by implementing Pinterest keyword research using the ABC method.

In Pin Inspector, you can also add Google SEO information (Google search volumes and difficulty), opening a world of amazing opportunities to make your Pinterest keywords and Google SEO to work together, helping with ranking both in Pinterest and Google! Isn’t that incredible???!!!

That in itself is worth every penny for Pin Inspector. 

My third favourite feature is to be able to search the top pins associated with a keyword. You can really see the pin designs, the description, the followers, the interactions… the list goes on.

This is the best and easiest way to benchmark competition in Pinterest to rank. 

Just a word of caution. This is not an approved Pinterest tool. So to avoid any issues derived from your searches, you’d better create a second Pinterest account (it does not need to be business) and use that account in Pin Inspector (not your main Pinterest account). Just in case.

The Pinterest keyword tool is essential for your Pinterest SEO success. Discover what it is, how to use and Pinterest SEO best practice. As a bonus tip I share my other two favourite Pinterest keyword tools, to save time and check out your competition in Pinterest like a pro.

• You need keywords in Pinterest to give the right signals to the algorithm.

• Algorithm changes are inevitable.

• The fact is that any search engine needs keywords. Pinterest also uses images. However, keywords remain essential in Pinterest.

• What is the Pinterest keyword tool?

  • It is the tool that Pinterest offers in their ad section to target keywords for ads.

  • It can be used even if you do not do ads.

• You need to upgrade to a Pinterest business account.

• After, you can access the Pinterest keyword tool for free.

• Type a word in the Pinterest keyword tool and get a range of suggested keywords and the search volumes.

• Save time with your Pinterest SEO and create a spreadsheet with your most used keywords for your content pillars.

• There are a number of places where you need to use Pinterest keywords: pin / idea design, title, description, link, file name, board name, board description, profile (if relevant).

• Check Pinterest Keywords competitiveness by:

  • Using the Pinterest Search bar to find top keyword suggestions

  • Looking at the top suggested searches (only visible in non-business accounts)

  • Looking at the Pinterest Related Searches menu (scroll down to find it)

  • Researching Pinterest Profiles Search

  • Researching the Boards Search

  • Using Pinterest Trends

• Create compelling Pinterest Idea and pin designs.

• Sprinkle your keywords throughout.

• Your results depend on the quality of your content and interactions in Pinterest too.

• You can use Pinterest keywords that will also work well in Google SEO.

• Check out Pin Inspector for this.

• Check out two other tools to do your Pinterest keywords research:

  • Keysearch

  • Pin Inspector

What next?

Time to put it into practice! It is not complicated and it is a must-do in Pinterest!

Use Pinterest if money is tight, use Pin Inspector to save time and be super targeted with your competition analysis.

A BIG, BIG thank you for being with me until the end of this post.

It is an absolute privilege to know that you read and find value in my blog!

Don’t forget to get your Free Visuals Collection if you have not got it yet to help you with free Canva templates as well as styled photos and video for business use*.

Hi! I’m Isabel

For years and years I have created and produced content, in particular visual content. You can find me very often with my cameras and tripod out and about! 

My passion: to help you with your online presence and drive business growth through my blog and visuals collections (marketing templates, styled photos & video).

Ah, I have also worked for 24+ in the corporate world, leading quite a mix: transformation, marketing, coaching, sales, productivity, programme management, investments and product management. 

I love sharing all these skills with you in my blog.

I am also founder of Agavea Properties, our family holiday rental business.  My husband and I lead it with the passion with one goal in mind: serving our customers to create a memorable holiday experience for them.

So there you have it, that’s me! Ah... I almost forgot, my happy place is by the sea. 

Thanks for being here with me!