How to Get More Clicks on Pinterest

Getting your Pins seen on Pinterest is a great start, but transforming those impressions into valuable website clicks is what really moves the needle for your business. It's the difference between passive brand awareness and actively growing your traffic, email list, and sales. This guide breaks down the actionable strategies you need to create Pins that don't just get saved - they get clicked.

Design Pins That Beg to Be Clicked

On a visual platform like Pinterest, your Pin design is the single most important factor for grabbing attention. But a pretty design isn't enough, it needs to be strategically engineered to create curiosity and drive action. Think of your Pin as the front cover of a book - it has to convince someone to open it.

Go Vertical, Always

This is a non-negotiable rule on Pinterest. The platform’s feed is built for vertical images. A horizontal Pin gets lost, while a vertical Pin commands more screen real estate, making it more visible and impactful.

• The Gold Standard: Stick to a 2:3 aspect ratio. A common pixel dimension is 1000 x 1500 pixels. This size looks great on both desktop and mobile devices without getting truncated.
• Avoid Super-Long Pins: In the past, "giraffe" Pins were popular, but Pinterest now prioritizes standard vertical sizes. Excessively long Pins can get cut off in the feed and may even be deprioritized by the algorithm.

Use Bold, Legible Text Overlays

Your image might stop the scroll, but your text overlay is what tells a user why they should click. People scroll quickly, so your message needs to be instantaneous. You have about two seconds to make your case.

• Write a Strong Headline: Make it a direct benefit, an intriguing question, or a solution to a problem. Instead of "Chicken Recipe," try "5-Ingredient Chicken Dinner Ready in 20 Minutes."
• Contrast is Your Best Friend: Use bold, easy-to-read fonts. Your text should stand out dramatically from the background image. If the image is busy, add a semi-transparent colored block behind your text to make it pop.
• Keep it Concise: Don't try to fit an entire paragraph on your Pin. A powerful headline and maybe a short sub-headline is all you need. The goal is to create enough curiosity to earn the click, not to give away everything upfront.

For example, a travel blogger trying to drive clicks to a post about "Packing for Europe" could create two different Pins to test:

1. A Pin with the headline: "Europe Packing List"
2. A Pin with the headline: "The #1 Thing Tourists Forget to Pack for Europe"

The second option creates a curiosity gap and is far more likely to get the click because it promises a valuable, specific piece of information.

Add a Subtle Call-to-Action (CTA)

Sometimes, users need a little nudge. Including a simple call-to-action on your Pin design can significantly increase your click-through rate. It doesn't need to be aggressive. A small arrow graphic or a text box with "Tap to Read," "Get the Recipe," or "Shop Now" can guide users to take the next step.

Branding is also part of an effective design. Add your logo or website URL discreetly to the bottom of your Pins. This builds brand recognition and can discourage content theft.

Master Pinterest SEO for Targeted Traffic

Pinterest is not just a social media platform, it's a massive visual search engine. Users are actively searching for ideas, solutions, and products. Optimizing your content for these searches is how you attract a warmed-up audience that is ready to click and engage.

Find the Right Keywords

Before you write a single word, you need to know what your audience is searching for. Pinterest's own search bar is your best friend here.

1. Start Broad: Type a general topic related to your content (e.g., "meal prep") into the Pinterest search bar.
2. Notice the Suggestions: Pinterest will auto-suggest popular related searches like "meal prep for beginners," "healthy meal prep ideas," or "weekly meal prep." These are gold mines for keywords.
3. Analyze the Colored Bubbles: After searching, look at the colored bubbles that appear below the search bar. These are additional long-tail keywords that show you how people are narrowing down their searches.

Gather a list of these keywords. Include broad terms and more specific, long-tail phrases to target users at different stages of their search.

Write Irresistible Pin Titles and Descriptions

Once you have your keywords, it's time to put them to work. The copy you write is just as important as your visual design for getting discovered and convincing users to click.

• Your Pin Title: This is your most important piece of SEO real estate. Lead with your main keyword and make it compelling. The title appears prominently in the feed, so make it count. For example, instead of a generic title, use a keyword-rich one like, "Easy Meal Prep Ideas for a Healthy Week."
• Your Pin Description: You have up to 500 characters, so use them. Write 2-3 natural-sounding sentences that describe what the user will find when they click. Weave in your primary and secondary keywords, but avoid "keyword stuffing." Write for a human first, the algorithm second. Tell a story, explain the benefit, and set expectations for the content on the other side of the click.

Organize and Optimize Your Boards

Your Pinterest boards are another powerful signal that tells the algorithm what your content is about. They provide context for your Pins, helping them appear in relevant searches.

• Create Niche Boards: Instead of one giant board for "Recipes," create multiple, specific boards like "Quick Weeknight Dinners," "Vegetarian Lunch Ideas," and "Healthy Breakfast Smoothies." This helps both users and the Pinterest algorithm understand your content better.
• Write Keyword-Rich Board Titles and Descriptions: Give each board a clear, descriptive title that includes keywords. Then, write a 1-2 sentence description for each board, naturally incorporating relevant keywords that describe the content pinned there.

Build a Smart Pinning Strategy

Having great designs and optimized copy won't do much if your content isn't seen. A consistent and deliberate pinning strategy is what gets your Pins in front of the right people at the right time.

Prioritize "Fresh Pins"

Pinterest explicitly states that it prioritizes fresh content. A "fresh Pin" is defined as a new image/video that has never been seen on Pinterest before. This doesn't mean you have to create brand new blog posts every day. It means creating new Pin graphics for your existing content.

For a single blog post, you could create 5-10 different Pin designs with varying:

• Images
• Text overlay headlines
• Colors and fonts
• Calls-to-action

This allows you to promote the same piece of content over and over again without being seen as spammy by the algorithm. It also works as a massive A/B test - you can quickly see which headlines and designs resonate most with your audience based on which ones get the most clicks.

Consistency is Everything

Pinning 30 Pins on one day and then going silent for a week is far less effective than pinning 3-5 Pins every single day. Consistency signals to Pinterest that you are an active and reliable creator. Spreading your Pins out targets different audiences who might be online at different times, maximizing your potential reach and, ultimately, your clicks.

The Destination Link MUST Deliver

Every single one of your Pins should link directly to the most relevant content possible. If your Pin says "5 Tips for Container Gardening," the link should go straight to that article, not to your homepage or a category page. A confusing user experience will stop someone from clicking your Pins in the future.

Before pinning, always check your links:

• Does the link work? (No 404 errors!)
• Is the page mobile-friendly and fast-loading?
• Does the destination deliver on the promise of the Pin?

Final Thoughts

Driving more clicks from Pinterest boils down to a focused strategy: create visually arresting Pins with compelling text overlays, back them up with smart keyword research, and distribute them consistently. Every Pin is an opportunity to solve a problem or inspire an idea, and when you do that effectively, the click will naturally follow.

Staying consistent with creating and scheduling this steady stream of fresh content can be the most challenging part. This is exactly why we built Postbase. Our visual calendar lets you plan your entire month of Pins at a glance, and you can trust our reliable scheduler to publish everything right on time. This helps you maintain the steady rhythm that Pinterest rewards, all in a simple, modern platform that just works.