Pinterest has evolved from a digital bulletin board into a visual search engine, presenting opportunities for businesses to increase website traffic and brand visibility. The platform’s unique characteristics—a large user base, a search-focused user intent, and a long content lifespan—can contribute to a comprehensive SEO strategy. While Pinterest utilizes ‘nofollow’ links, the referral traffic and brand signals generated can indirectly benefit overall SEO performance.
Pinterest as a Visual Search Engine
With over 450 million active monthly users, Pinterest functions as a search engine where users seek ideas, products, and inspiration. Unlike traditional social networks, Pinterest’s user base often exhibits a strong purchase intent, making it a valuable platform for reaching potential customers. The platform’s search functionality allows users to discover content visually, similar to Google’s image search. This visual focus means optimizing for Pinterest requires a combination of relevant keywords and high-quality visuals to attract attention and encourage engagement.
How Pinterest Differs from Google SEO
While both Pinterest and Google serve search intent, their ranking mechanisms differ significantly. Google prioritizes factors like site speed and backlinks, whereas Pinterest primarily focuses on engagement signals and visual relevance. Within Pinterest, the number of saves, clicks, comments, and shares a Pin receives directly influences its visibility. The more interaction a Pin generates, the more Pinterest deems it valuable and distributes it to a wider audience. Pinterest also analyzes images directly, rather than relying on surrounding text to the same extent as Google.
Pinterest’s Impact on Google Search Results
Pinterest content can appear directly in Google search results, particularly in image searches and brand-related queries. The platform often dominates Google’s image search results, providing increased brand visibility and referral traffic. Furthermore, Pinterest profiles and boards frequently appear on the first page of Google results when users search for a brand name, expanding a business’s online presence.
Long-Term Traffic Generation
A key benefit of Pinterest is its potential for long-term traffic generation. Data indicates that a significant portion of saves occur months or even years after a Pin is initially published. Over 60% of saves originate from Pins older than one year, and over 40% from Pins over two years old. This longevity contrasts sharply with platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where content has a much shorter lifespan. Consistent referral traffic from Pinterest signals to Google that a website’s content is valuable, potentially improving organic rankings.
Optimizing Pinterest for SEO
Optimizing for Pinterest involves a multi-faceted approach, including account setup, content creation, and strategic linking. Businesses should create a Pinterest Business account to access analytics tools and features like rich Pins, which display information directly from a website. The data suggests focusing on natural keyword usage in Pin descriptions rather than relying heavily on hashtags, as only 19% of viral Pins utilized hashtags.
Linking Practices and Content Relevance
To maximize the SEO benefits of Pinterest, it is crucial to ensure that the content linked from Pins is highly relevant to the user’s intent. A disconnect between a Pin’s description and the linked page can lead to user frustration and diminish the platform’s effectiveness as a traffic driver. The purpose of using Pinterest for SEO is to drive organic traffic to a website, and this is best achieved by providing users with the information they expect.
Pinterest and ‘Nofollow’ Links
Pinterest utilizes ‘nofollow’ links, meaning they do not directly pass “link juice” to a website. However, these links are still crawlable by Google and contribute to referral traffic and brand signals, which can indirectly benefit SEO. The platform’s value lies in driving targeted traffic and increasing brand awareness, rather than solely relying on backlink equity.
Pinterest Boards and Organization
Pinterest boards play a role in organizing and amplifying SEO efforts. Well-organized boards with relevant keywords can help Pinterest understand the content and surface it to the appropriate audience.
Conclusion
Pinterest presents a valuable opportunity for businesses to enhance their SEO efforts by driving referral traffic, increasing brand visibility, and signaling content value to search engines. While Pinterest’s ‘nofollow’ links do not provide direct ranking benefits, the platform’s unique characteristics—a large user base, a search-focused user intent, and a long content lifespan—make it a worthwhile component of a comprehensive SEO strategy. Consistent pinning of high-quality, relevant content is key to realizing the long-term benefits of Pinterest for SEO.