Are you Using Pinterest Hashtags Properly?
Pinterest is late to the hashtag party, but we’re just glad they decided to show up as when used right hashtags are a really powerful strategy to get your content seen on the platform.
How do Hashtags work on Pinterest?
If you search for content using a hashtag on Pinterest you are shown the most recent pins first, whereas if you do a normal search using keywords then you are shown the most relevant pins first. So basically they show you pins in chronological order.
This is great news for people newer to Pinterest. It enables you to get your pins seen quickly, even before you’re established, rather than waiting a few weeks or more for your pins to show up for specific keywords.
So how in the world do you find the right hashtags and what do you do with them when you have found them? Check out this post for my complete guide to hashtags.
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Finding Pinterest Hashtags Tip 1: Make sure it’s relevant
You want to ensure that the pins which appear when you search the hashtag are actually relevant to the topic and it’s not being used for other things.
#mompreneur is not a great hashtag as there are quite a few off topic pins showing up such as the pictures, necklaces and makeup pins.
Finding Pinterest Hashtags Tip 2: Make them clear
It can be tempting to use fun or clever hashtags. That can work on social media but Pinterest is not a social media platform, its a search engine (I should definitely get that tattooed on me I say it so often!!).
Hashtags on Pinterest are used to tell Pinterest what your pin is about and therefore what search results you should show up in. It’s also a way for your target audience to easily find you.
Your hashtags should be the keywords your audience uses on Pinterest to search for your topic. E.g. use #podcasts not #ilovepodcastsmorethanmycat (so not true but you get the idea)
Finding Pinterest Hashtags Tip 3: Learn from your niche
Look at the hashtags people in your niche are using to get inspiration. Make sure you then check if they are relevant, clear and popular.
How do you use Pinterest Hashtags?
Now that you’ve found your main hashtags it’s time to use them. Pinterest is all about relevancy, they want to show the most relevant pins when people search on the platform. So you can tell Pinterest what terms you should rank for through your carefully crafted pin description.
Hashtags are another way to tell Pinterest what your pins are about, so they work hand in hand with your keyword and pin description optimisation strategies.
Write your incredible highly searchable pin description and add your hashtags at the end either when you upload your pin directly onto Pinterest or via your social plugin on your website e.g. Social Warfare.
You don’t want to overwhelm the pin description with loads of hashtags, I recommend using 3-5:
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Business specific: 1 hashtag should be specific to your business, this allows you to easily find all your own pins or for someone else to find everything you have created and binge your content. Mine is #thestartupstudio
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Pin Specific: 1-2 hashtags should be specifically about the pin. So if you have pinned a gluten free banana bread recipe, then look for gluten free banana bread/cake hashtags
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General: Use 1-2 hashtags which are about the general topic of your business e.g. if you write about living a gluten free life, then find some general gluten free hashtags
For example the hashtags for my blog post on top podcasts for female entrepreneurs were:
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#thestartupstudio – specific to my business
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#podcasts – specific to the topic of my blog post
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#podcastsforbusiness – specific to the topic of my blog post
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#femaleentrepreneurs – general topic relevant to my business
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#blogging – general topic relevant to my business
And it’s that simple. Research your hashtags as you would keywords, choose between 3 and 5 great ones for each pin and start to see how they accelerate your reach on Pinterest.
Bonus:
Ready to Profit from Pinterest? then you should definitely check out my ultimate Pinterest guide.
This free (and highly detailed) cheat sheet gives you my exact 6 step process to attract more leads & make more sales for FREE using Pinterest.
