How to Get Traffic from Pinterest

Driving traffic to your website often feels like an unpredictable game, but Pinterest is one of the few platforms where you can build a reliable, long-term stream of visitors without paying for ads. Unlike social media feeds where content vanishes in hours, your pins can drive clicks for months or even years. This guide breaks down the exact strategies you need to turn Pinterest from a source of inspiration into a powerful traffic engine for your blog, shop, or business.

Pinterest is a Search Engine, Not a Social Network

This is the most important concept to grasp before you even start. People don't go to Pinterest to chat with friends, they go to search for ideas, find solutions to their problems, and plan purchases. They are actively looking for things like "healthy weeknight recipes," "small bathroom remodel ideas," or "DIY outdoor furniture."

Why does this matter? Because it changes everything about your approach.

• Longevity: A Facebook post has a lifespan of a few hours. A Tweet lasts minutes. A pin that ranks well for a popular search term can send you traffic for years.
• User Intent: Users are in discovery mode. They have the intention to find something, learn something, or buy something. Your job is to meet that intent with valuable content that links back to your website.
• Keywords are King: Just like Google, Pinterest runs on an algorithm that matches user search queries with relevant content. Your ability to use the right keywords determines whether your content gets discovered.

Treating Pinterest like Google for images is the fundamental mindset shift that unlocks sustainable traffic growth.

Optimize Your Foundation: Your Business Profile

Before you create a single pin, you need to set up your profile to work for you. An optimized profile tells Pinterest who you are, what you're about, and that you're a serious content creator. Think of it as SEO for your account itself.

1. Convert to a Business Account

If you're still using a personal account, switch to a Business account immediately. It’s free and gives you access to three indispensable tools:

• Pinterest Analytics: See which pins are performing best, what your audience is interested in, and most importantly, how many outbound clicks you're getting.
• Rich Pins: These are supercharged pins that automatically pull extra information from your website, making them more informative and clickable. More on this later.
• Advertising (Optional): Even if you don't plan to run ads now, having a business account gives you the option to promote successful pins later.

2. Claim Your Website

Claiming your website is a verification step that proves to Pinterest you own your domain. This gives you a credibility boost and unlocks more detailed analytics, including data on how content from your website is performing, even pins saved by other people. You’ll see a small globe icon checkmark on your profile, letting users know you’re a verified brand.

3. Craft a Keyword-Rich Profile

Your profile is prime real estate for keywords. Don't just put your brand name, tell people and the algorithm what you do.

• Profile Name: A great format is "Your Brand Name | A Few Keywords." For example, instead of just "The Cozy Home," use "The Cozy Home | Easy Recipes & DIY Decor."
• Bio: You have 160 characters to describe what you offer. Use your main keywords here naturally. Instead of "We love inspiring you!" try "Helping you create a beautiful home on a budget with simple DIY projects, home decor tips, and easy family recipes."

The Anatomy of a High-Traffic Pin

Not all pins are created equal. A pin designed to drive traffic has several distinct elements working together to catch a user's eye and entice them to click through to your website.

1. Create Stunning Vertical Visuals

Pinterest is a visual platform, so your images and videos are your first impression. Scrollers fly past dark, blurry, or horizontal images.

• Use a 2:3 Aspect Ratio: The ideal pin size is 1000 x 1500 pixels. Vertical pins take up more screen space on mobile devices and perform significantly better than square or horizontal images.
• High-Quality Imagery: Use bright, clear, and compelling photos or graphics. Avoid pixelated images at all costs.
• Add a Text Overlay: Don't assume users will read your pin's description. Add a bold, easy-to-read text overlay directly onto the image with the title of your blog post or the value proposition. For example, "5-Ingredient Chicken Dinner" or "How to Organize a Small Kitchen." This single-handedly makes your pin more clickable.
• Brand Your Pins: Subtly add your website URL or logo to the bottom of your pin. This builds brand recognition and can discourage content theft.

Don't sleep on Video Pins either. Short-form video showing a quick tutorial, a before-and-after, or a product in action can stop the scroll and often gets preferential treatment from the algorithm.

2. Write Compelling and Strategic Copy

Your pin's copy is what helps the Pinterest algorithm understand what your content is about and show it to the right people.

• Keyworded Pin Title: Your title should be clear, concise, and include your primary keyword. Think like a user. What would they type into the search bar? "Easy Lemon Cheesecake Recipe," not "My Favorite Dessert."
• Detailed, Keyword-Rich Description: You have up to 500 characters, so use them. Write a helpful paragraph that naturally weaves in your main keyword and a few related secondary keywords. Explain what the user will find when they click the link. Think of it as a mini-blog post that sells the click.
• Add a Call-to-Action (CTA): End your description with a gentle nudge like, "Click through to read the full tutorial" or "Get the free printable checklist on our blog."
• Destination Link: The most important part! Always, always, always link your pin back to a relevant page on your website. No link equals no traffic.

Build a Content Strategy for Clicks and Growth

Randomly creating pins won't deliver results. You need a consistent strategy that aligns with what your audience is actively searching for on the platform.

1. Do Your Keyword Research on Pinterest

You don’t need a fancy tool. The best place to find Pinterest keywords is on Pinterest itself.

1. Use the Search Bar: Type in a broad topic "dinner ideas." The search bar will autofill with popular, long-tail keywords that people are actually searching for, like "dinner ideas healthy," "dinner ideas for family," or "dinner ideas chicken."
2. Look at the Keyword Bubbles: After you search, look at the colored bubbles that appear below the search bar. These are related keywords that Pinterest suggests. Click on them to discover even more specific niches.
3. Check Pinterest Trends: Visit trends.pinterest.com to see what’s currently popular in your niche and when certain topics spike throughout the year (e.g., "gift ideas" in November).

Build content on your website around these keywords, and then create pins targeting them.

2. Curate Relevant, Optimized Boards

Your boards serve as categories for your content, helping both users and the Pinterest algorithm understand your niche.

• Give Boards Keyworded Names: Be direct. Use "Modern Farmhouse Decor" instead of a creative but unsearchable name like "Home Sweet Home."
• Write Board Descriptions: Just like pin descriptions, write a few sentences for each board describing what's inside and include relevant keywords.
• Create a "Best Of" Board: Your very first board should be titled after your brand and exclusively feature your own best content. This gives new visitors an instant look at what you have to offer.

3. Pin Consistently, Not Furiously

The Pinterest algorithm loves fresh content. This doesn't mean you need to create 50 new blog posts a month. It means you need to be creating new pins regularly.

A "fresh pin" is a new image/video that has never been uploaded to Pinterest before. For a single blog post on your website, you can easily create 5-10 different pin graphics. Tweak the text overlay, use a different stock photo, or change the background color. Pinterest sees each of these as fresh, unique content, even though they all link back to the same URL.

Aim to publish 1-5 new, fresh pins per day. Spacing them out is better than uploading them all at once. This consistency signals to Pinterest that you are an active and valuable creator.

Final Thoughts

Attracting traffic from Pinterest isn't about finding a secret hack, it’s about consistently executing a solid strategy. Treat it like a visual search engine, optimize your profile and pins with relevant keywords, create eye-catching vertical graphics, and link everything back to high-value content on your website.

This steady, strategic effort is what makes Pinterest one of the most reliable sources of long-term traffic. Of course, maintaining that consistency is often the biggest challenge. During our time running marketing teams, we found that outdated social media tools made scheduling short-form video and other modern content formats feel like a constant battle. We created Postbase to fix that, offering a simple visual content calendar to plan your pins weeks in advance and scheduling that’s so reliable you can set it and forget it.