2021 Pinterest Update: Top Tips For Beating The New Pinterest Algorithm

Pinterest is a bit like marmite for some bloggers, it can be a really valuable source of traffic for new bloggers, but it is also one of the hardest platforms to master. Over the past year I’ve taught myself almost everything there is to know about Pinterest. Why I no longer use Pinterest for this blog (without sounded big headed I no longer need it as a traffic source) I am a Pinterest account manager, and manage a Pinterest account for both of my subsequent blogs. With my food blog averaging 8.1 million monthly impressions, and my largest client account averaging 7.3 million monthly impressions and 120K monthly link clicks.

Unfortunately with the new algorithm, a lot of fellow bloggers saw their impressions rapidly drop. Pinterest made ranking harder, and changed a lot of their rules. Whatever you’ve read about Pinterest, it’s a genuinely hard platform to use and rank on from. Expect to be putting in a year or so of effort before you start seeing consistent numbers. Be prepared that it won’t work for you, and if you don’t have the time for it as a platform, I suggest putting your time and effort elsewhere to grow your blog. Such as mastering SEO.

Not all niches are made the same on Pinterest, and this might be need something you need to accept before you start your Pinterest journey.

So What Exactly Changed With The Pinterest Algorithm?

Pinterest actually publishes all the changes they have made, you can find these in the form of posts from partners, or on the Pinterest website. The new algorithm was aimed to diversify content types on home feed.

In the last year Pinterest has put the focus on FRESH content. This could be new blog posts, new products, or new pins. What does a ‘fresh pin’ consist of? This is the following:

• a different image ( a unique image, whether this be a different angle, or zoomed image)
• a different font for the text, or title. A new text overlay for the same image doesn’t count.
• and/or different colours or graphics on the pin itself

What other changes have Pinterest implemented? Video content is preferred. The discovery feed is currently made up of 4% video content. Pinterest are trying to keep more users on the site for longer. The best practice pin amount has dropped to 10-25 pins per day. where previous you pin could pin up to 50. The suggestion is that you pin to a maximum of 10 boards, and keep a 2 day gap between any re-pins of your own pins to your other boards.

Tailwind doesn’t seem to help your impressions but harm them, and this is a trend many users have seen (if it works for you great, but for most it doesn’t). In January the algorithm updates to make keywords harder to rank on. With any platform it’s important to learn and work with the new algorithm changes.

What Keyword Research Should I Be Doing

This answer might make me unpopular but only using the Pinterest key search bar to find a keyword for your post, is the same as going to google and writing in a blanket phrase for any niche, using that to write a post and hoping to rank 1st. Yes, it is a valid way to do keyword research to some extent but it shouldn’t be the only way you do your keyword research.

When it comes down to it, your niche is going to affect what keyword research you do and how hard it is to rank for your content.

For example if you write about self care, and you have really good keywords, and rank first place for this. Are you going to bring in the same stats as someone who ranks 1st for a keyword for say ‘keto foods’ or ‘meal ideas’? Absolutely not. Food keywords are heavily searched and are a much more popular niche, you therefore can’t expect the same results.

Where Can I Do My Keyword Research For Pinterest?

There are many ways to do Keyword Research, all my methods are things that I have learnt from Nele’s Keyword Research For Bloggers – I use it for my blog, I use it for my Pinterest. It works for me.

I use a combination of Keysearch, competitor research, Pinterest trends. There are so many keyword research sites you can use. You have to approach Pinterest SEO in a similar way to Google SEO

Niches, Niche Stats, And How This Affects Your Blog

Whenever I see information on Pinterest niches, blanket terms are often used. If you’re new to Pinterest or still finding your footing you might not under exactly what means.

Did you know that ‘holidays’ is the most popular searched category on Pinterest? That travel was the top searched niche at the beginning of 2020? (really unfortunate that). Some of Pinterests top niches are travel, crafting, gardening, food, art, home decor, technology. You can fall into the category of producing content and pins that might not be what your audience is there for, or creating content that there may be a really small audience for.

Under the analytics of your Pinterest account you can see a breakdown of your audience and niches.

Your niche is ultimately going to affect your statistics, some niches are really competitive and some don’t have a massive audience.

Your Followers Matters

Let’s get into this here. Ever read Pinterest advice from someone with 30-50k followers who says ‘Pinterest followers don’t matter’. Under the new algorithm this is one piece of advice that I’ve detested seeing, the update means that it is viably harder to rank. Previously you uploaded a pin and you had fair chance of getting top spot, now to get the top spot you have to understand keywords and need a basic SEO knowledge, and for need people to be actively clicking and saving the pin. Previously your following didn’t matter as much, but now it does.

Let’s get into some maths here. So say you’ve got someone with 50,000 followers, when they upload say 10 new pins a day, and for example may have 1% of their followers online – that’s 500 people seeing each pin straight away. Say after 24 hours 10% of their following have seen their pins, that’s 50,000 impressions between those 10 pins, without the impressions from re-pins, without impressions of older pins. So say someone who has the 10mil+ impressions on their profile, has uploaded 40,000 pins, that’s on average 250 impressions per each pin over the space of a month to reach that button. I’m not trying to diminish those stats, because they are hard to reach, and it takes time to build a following that large but it’s a large advantage.

Location, Location, Location

By far one of the largest factor on how your pins perform is location, and the time you post. If you are in the UK, you will need to post to US, or Canadian time as Pinterest has more users in these timezones. You also need to try and use American english if you want the algorithm to pick up on certain keywords or phrases, even down to certain words like ‘mum’ vs ‘mom’ make such a big difference.

So How Do I Get Viral Pins Under The New Algorithm?

Here are two pins the 1st is from one of my Pinterest clients, the second is from my food blog. It is 100% possible to get ‘viral’ pins. I’ve found that pins genuinely take longer to hit off than they once did. It takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks too start seeing results, and 3+ months before pins have hit off ‘big’ for me. These pins above are 6 months old.

Here are some tips for creating good, click worthy pins:

• Have good Pinterest SEO
• Write a keyword rich (but not keyword stuffed) description and title
• 2:3 ratio 600 x 900 or 1000 x 1500
• High quality images – your own photos or paid stock are best to use.
• A click worthy title
• Clear readable text
• Colours that stand out or represent your brand

I massively suggest you using pre-made templates to speed up your pin making process, for example 100+ Pin Power Template Kit for Pinterest or Food Blogger Pinterest Pin Templates. More suggestions can be found in my Finding The Best Blogging Resources On Etsy.

Overview

The best practice for pins has changed, here’s what you need to continue to do:

• Allow time for pins to hit off
• Do you niche research
• Create eye catching clickable pins
• Learn basic SEO and keyword practices for your descriptions
• Pin to a maximum of 10 boards
• Stay between 10-25 daily pins, try not to go over that
• Use Pinterest trends if fitting
• Continue to grow your following
• Stop re-pinning content if it’s not relevant, remember to post more of your own content
• Use Pinterest analytics to find what works for you

If you’re actively using Pinterest consistency is everything, it’s so easy to get disheartened but use that energy to work harder and grow your account. If you’re struggling to learn the basics of Pinterest, I recommend grabbing a copy of Mariam’s The Ultimate Pinterest Marketing Guide (AF).

If you enjoyed this post read my How To Get To 100,000 Monthly Blog Sessions and