How to Get More Saves on Pinterest

Getting more saves on Pinterest is the key to unlocking massive organic reach and driving real traffic to your business. This guide teaches you exactly how to create pins people feel compelled to save, covering everything from content ideas and eye-catching design to smart SEO strategies that get you discovered.

Why Pinterest Saves Are So Important

On Pinterest, a "Save" is more than just a like or a casual tap. It’s a direct signal to the algorithm that your content is valuable, useful, and worth revisiting. When a user saves your Pin to one of their boards, they’re essentially telling Pinterest, "This is quality content that I want to keep for the future."

This single action has a huge ripple effect:

• It Boosts Your Pin's Reach: Pinterest’s algorithm prioritizes content that users find valuable. More saves tell the platform to show your pin to a wider audience, including in their home feeds, search results, and "More like this" sections.
• It Increases Longevity: Unlike a tweet or an Instagram story that has a short lifespan, a saved pin can continue to be discovered and re-saved for months or even years. It gives your content a much longer, more durable life on the platform.
• It Drives Qualified Traffic: People save pins because they intend to act on them later - whether it's trying a recipe, buying a product, or reading a blog post. This means the traffic you get from high-save pins is often more engaged and ready to convert.

Think of saves not as a vanity metric, but as the engine for your organic growth on Pinterest. The more saves you get, the more trust you build with the algorithm and the more your content will work for you over the long term.

Step 1: Create Content People Actually Want to Save

Before you even think about design or keywords, your content idea has to be fundamentally "save-worthy." People save content for two main reasons: utility (it helps them do something) or aspiration (it inspires them to become someone). Here are the types of content that consistently earn saves.

Tutorials and How-To Guides

Educational content is Pinterest gold. If you can teach someone a skill, solve a problem, or walk them through a process, they will save it for when they’re ready to take action.

• Examples: "How to Style Curtain Bangs," "5 Steps to Organize a Small Closet," "A Beginner's Guide to Repotting Houseplants."
• Why it works: These pins are instructional and provide a clear, actionable solution to a problem. Users save them as a reference for a future project.

Checklists, Planners, and Infographics

Content that organizes complex information into a simple, easy-to-digest format is highly saveable. Think of it as a helpful resource a user can refer to again and again.

• Examples: "The Ultimate Road Trip Packing Checklist," "Weekly Meal Plan Template," "Infographic: 10 Benefits of Morning Workouts."
• Why it works: These formats distill valuable information into a quick, scannable resource. They’re practical tools that help with organization and planning.

Inspiration and Idea Collections

Pinterest is, at its heart, a platform for planning and dreaming. Aspirational content that helps users visualize their goals or discover new ideas is incredibly popular.

• Examples: "Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Ideas," "Cozy Fall Outfit Inspiration," "Vision Board Quotes for 2024," "Dreamy Home Office Setups."
• Why it works: This content taps into users' ambitions and future plans. They save these pins to mood boards to gather ideas for personal projects and goals.

Recipes and Meal Plans

Food content is a cornerstone of Pinterest. Users famously browse for meals and save their favorites to "to-try-later" boards. If you’re in the food or wellness niche, this is a must-have content pillar.

• Examples: "Easy 30-Minute Chicken Stir-Fry," "Healthy Smoothie Recipes for Busy Mornings," "The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe."
• Why it works: It’s practical, actionable, and visual. A great recipe photo makes someone instantly want to save it and try it themselves.

Step 2: Design Pins That Are Built for Clicks and Saves

Your content idea could be brilliant, but if the pin design is weak, it will get lost in a sea of other images. Your pin needs to grab attention instantly and communicate its value within a split second. Here’s how to design it.

Start with the Right Dimensions

Always use a vertical aspect ratio. Pinterest recommends a 2:3 aspect ratio (e.g., 1000 x 1500 pixels) for Standard Pins. This format takes up more space in the feed, making your pin more visible and impactful on mobile devices, where most users browse.

Use High-Quality, Vibrant Visuals

Your image or video is the first thing people see. It needs to be professional, clear, and compelling. Avoid dark, blurry, or low-resolution visuals at all costs. Stock photos are fine, but aim for ones that look authentic and not overly staged. If you can, use your own high-quality photography to stand out.

Add a Clear Text Overlay

Don’t assume users will read your pin description to understand what your pin is about. Your text overlay should act as a mini-headline. Use a bold, easy-to-read font that contrasts with the background image. Clearly state the value proposition of your content.

• Bad Overlay: "My New Blog Post"
• Good Overlay: "5 Genius Hacks to Double Your Closet Space"

The good example is specific, intriguing, and instantly tells the user what they’ll learn.

Brand Your Pins Subtly

Including your website URL or logo on your pin is a smart move. It does two things: reinforces brand recognition over time and helps protect your content from being stolen and used without credit. Keep it small and place it at the bottom or top of your pin so it doesn't distract from the main message.

Add a Call to Action (CTA)

Sometimes, people just need a little nudge. Adding a gentle call to action directly on your pin design can increase engagement. This can be subtle, like a small arrow pointing to the "Save" button or a simple text box that says:

• "Save for Later"
• "Pin this Recipe!"
• "Save to Your Fashion Board"

Step 3: Master Pinterest SEO to Get Discovered

Pinterest is not just a social network, it’s a visual search engine. To get saves, your target audience needs to be able to find you. That’s where Pinterest SEO comes in.

Find Keywords People Are Searching For

Your first step is to think like your audience. What terms are they typing into the Pinterest search bar? Here's a simple way to find keywords:

1. Use the Search Bar: Type a broad topic into the search bar (e.g., "healthy dinner"). Pinterest will automatically suggest more specific, longer phrases that people are actively searching for (e.g., "healthy dinner recipes for family," "healthy dinner ideas easy"). These are your keywords.
2. Check the Suggestion Bubbles: After you search for a term, look for the colored keyword bubbles that appear just below the search bar. These are related popular searches that can give you more ideas for secondary keywords.
3. Explore Pinterest Trends: Visit trends.pinterest.com to see what’s trending on the platform and find historical search data for your keywords.

Optimize Your Pin Title and Description

Once you have a list of keywords, it's time to put them to work.

• Pin Title: Your title should be direct, compelling, and include your main keyword. A user should know exactly what your pin is about from the title alone.
• Pin Description: Write a natural, conversational description (1-3 sentences) that tells users more about what they'll find. Weave in your primary and a few secondary keywords without "keyword stuffing." Explain the value and encourage them to click through to learn more.

Example of a good description:

"Looking for easy weeknight dinner ideas the whole family will love? This 30-minute chicken stir-fry recipe is one of our favorite healthy dinner recipes! Click through to get the full recipe and cooking instructions."

Organize and Optimize Your Boards

Your Pinterest boards are another important signal to the algorithm. Create highly specific boards organized by topic, and use keywords in your board titles and descriptions. When you publish a new pin, always save it to the most relevant board first. This action tells Pinterest what your content is about and helps it categorize and distribute it correctly.

Step 4: Use Smart Pinning Habits

Pin Consistently

The Pinterest algorithm loves consistency. It's far better to publish 1-3 new pins every day than to upload 20 pins once a week and then go silent. A consistent pinning schedule keeps your account active and shows the algorithm you’re a reliable creator.

Focus on "Fresh Pins"

A "fresh pin" is a new image or video that has never appeared on Pinterest before. It can link to an old blog post or product, but the pin creative itself must be new. The algorithm heavily favors fresh content over reshares of old pins. For a single blog post, you should create 5-10 different pin designs with varying images, text overlays, and titles. This gives your content more opportunities to be discovered over time.

Experiment with Different Formats

Don’t just stick to Standard Pins. Play around with all the formats Pinterest offers:

• Video Pins: These are great for showing a process, like a quick cooking tutorial or a DIY craft. They are highly engaging and can stop users in their scroll.
• Idea Pins: This multi-page format is perfect for telling a story or sharing a step-by-step guide directly on Pinterest. Idea Pins have high engagement rates and are prominently featured in the feed.

Final Thoughts

Boosting your saves on Pinterest boils down to a clear formula: provide real value with your content, wrap it in a beautiful and helpful design, and use smart SEO so the right people can find it. By focusing creative energy on content that serves, inspires, or teaches your audience, you signal to both the user and the algorithm that your account is a source of quality ideas worth saving.

Maintaining that essential flow of fresh, consistent content for Pinterest while juggling all your other social platforms can feel like a huge challenge. We built Postbase to make that part painless. Our visual calendar lets you plan and schedule your posts across all channels from one clean dashboard, making it simple to stay consistent and get all the benefits of great content without the daily scramble.