In this post, I’m going to be sharing how to optimize your Pinterest Idea pins for more saves on the platform. Saves are a really important metric to pay attention to, especially if you are wanting to receive an invite to the Pinterest Creator Rewards fund. What are Pinterest saves? When an idea pin is “saved”, a user pins that content to one of their boards. This is helpful because it basically makes your pin show up in a new place on the platform, where as a “react” (such as liking the pin) doesn’t actually help increase the pin’s reach *as much*.
In the words of Pinterest themselves: “the Pinterest algorithm pays attention to saved content. And the more people save your ideas, the more they’ll show up for other, new audiences all across Pinterest.”
Read below for ways to optimize your Pinterest idea pins for more saves on the platform.
Think of Pinterest as a search engine
While Pinterest is social media, it’s also a search engine full of tons of information that can be consumed visually. When you are creating content on Pinterest in a way where you are treating it like a search engine, your pins will be more likely to pick up traction and engagement.
To treat Pinterest like a search engine in the content you are creating, pick keyword-rich titles and add relevant topics before publishing your idea pins.
Pick a keyword-rich title for your Pinterest Idea Pins
You pin title is very important! Keyword-rich titles will help your pins get more impressions & saves. For example, instead of writing “Overnight Oats Recipe”, you would want to write something like “Easy Vegan Overnight Oats Recipe” or “Delicious and Quick Overnight Oats Recipe”. This not only helps your pin stand out, but also helps share it to the right people (for example those who have looked up easy recipes or vegan recipes in the past).
Tag related topics in your Idea Pins
Pinterest gives you the option when publishing an idea pin to “tag related topics”. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to categorize your content! You can add up to ten tags, and I recommend you do. However, only choose tags that are relevant, otherwise your content may not be categorized properly. Here are some tag examples:
| Content Category | Pinterest Tag Suggestions |
| Baby & Motherhood | Baby food Homemade baby food Organic baby food Weaning Child nutrition Nutritional recipes Baby care Baby Feeding Mom humor Mom advice Precious moments Motherhood humor Parenting quotes New parent advice Newborn lifestyle Newborn outfit Newborn photography Baby care Traveling with baby |
| Recipes/cooking | Cooking tips Cooking hacks Dinner recipes Vegetarian recipes Healthy recipes Instant pot recipes Vegan recipes Recipe cards Healthy food DIY food Comfort food |
| Travel | Travel quotes Travel Travel essentials Travel photography Adventure travel Travel hacks Travel guide Travel itinerary template Flight Airlines Cheap flight Traveling with baby Travel packing |
See below for where you can see how to tag related topics when publishing an idea pin.
Add detail to your Pinterest Idea Pins description!
If relevant, add information in the notes section or in the recipes section. This can also be a place to add additional keywords as you can see I did in this pin here in the notes section.
Create Content Users WANT to Save
Okay okay…I know this is a bit obvious….creating good content is important on any platform. However, on Pinterest, it’s less about creating *good* content, and more about creating content that is valuable. Pinterest is rich with valuable information, and users want to see that type of content. Pins that users typically save are how-tos or videos that give valuable information that the user wants to “save” to potentially return to later.
These prompts may help give you some ideas…
- “How to {INSERT TOPIC}”
- “5 Ways to {INSERT TOPIC}”
- “3 Things I wish I Had Known About {INSERT TOPIC}”
- “The BEST {TOPIC OR ITEM}”
- “Must Have for {INSERT SCENARIO}”
Add Calls to Action in your Pinterest Idea Pins
Within your content itself, it’s important to ask your audience to engage with you. You can add on-screen text that reads “Don’t forget to save this pin to come back to it later!” or “Save this pin if you liked this idea!”. By inviting your audience to interact with your content, you increase the chance that they will!
Keep pinning and see what resonates!
The best way to grow on Pinterest is to continually create and post high quality content, and then to look at your insights to see what is and what isn’t popular. If you notice certain topics resonate more with your audience than others, you may want to lean into that and create content aligned with your audience’s interests.
If you’ve made it this far, great job! I want to end by reminding you that your worth isn’t determined by the number of likes or saves you have. Social media, especially if you are using it to grow as a creator or business, can feel really toxic and like an endless comparison game. Take care of yourself, and remember your worth is beyond those numbers.
