Why Pinterest SEO Keywords Are the Only Essential You Actually Need
I’ll be honest with you — when I sat down to plan this episode, I thought I was going to give you a whole list of Pinterest profile essentials. Banner images, board covers, the works. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there really is only one non-negotiable: Pinterest SEO keywords. If you’ve been wondering how to use Pinterest to grow a podcast, this is the episode for you. I’m walking you through exactly why keywords matter so much more on Pinterest than on traditional social media, plus sharing my simple two-minute process for finding the right ones. I’ll even take you through a couple of real examples so you can see how it works in action. This is one of those podcast marketing strategies that feels almost too simple — but that’s exactly why it works.
Topics covered in this podcast episode:
- Why Pinterest is a visual search engine, not social media, and why that changes everything
- The one essential thing every Pinterest profile needs: Pinterest SEO keywords
- How keyword-driven visibility helps you grow a podcast audience without chasing trends
- A simple two-minute exercise for finding your own podcast marketing strategies keywords
- A real example of Pinterest for podcasters keyword research using my “pretend plant podcast”
- How to research keywords for a specific series or topic within your show
- A quick way to double-check a keyword actually matches your audience’s search intent
- Why five solid anchor keywords are all you need to grow a podcast without social media
- A look inside my done-for-you Pinterest VIP Setup service
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Unedited transcript of the episode:
I love Pinterest for so many reasons, but I think the number one, all-time very favorite reason that I love Pinterest is because it isn’t social media. It’s a visual search engine. Pinterest doesn’t care if you, quote-unquote, “hop on stories” once a day or interact with comments. You just have to post your content with the right keywords woven in, and voila, you’ve got a podcast-growing machine.
Hey, I’m Andi Smiley, and I’m obsessed with helping you grow your podcast without letting it rule your life. I share strategies that actually work, the stuff I wish someone would’ve told me sooner, and conversations with the smartest podcasters I know.
When I was brainstorming this series about Pinterest for podcasters, I knew that I wanted to make a list of the essentials for a podcaster’s Pinterest profile. Say that three times fast.
But when I sat down to write this episode, I realized that there isn’t a list. It’s just one thing, Pinterest SEO keywords. There are a lot of other things that you can do that are helpful for your Pinterest profile, like a profile banner or board covers.
But the one essential thing is having your profile’s name, description, board names, and board descriptions all be full of your podcast-specific Pinterest SEO keywords. So let’s talk about why. Most Pinterest users are on their main feed or using the search function, and Pinterest uses their search history and browsing history to determine what Pinterest will show the user next.
Which means if you’re using keywords that are similar to the pins that they’re clicking on and searching for, your content is gonna pop up on their home feed or when they search for certain things. Unlike on Instagram where being funny or trendy gets you seen, on Pinterest, being searchable is what gets you seen.
So when you find Pinterest SEO keywords that Pinterest users are searching for and that match your content, then your perfect listener is going to find your pins, click on them, listen to your episode, and fall in love with your podcast. Now let’s talk about the how. Finding Pinterest SEO keywords can feel complicated and a bit overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be, especially when you’re first starting.
When you are first starting, I would recommend spending, like, two minutes, nothing crazy, and writing down some common phrases that you use to talk about your podcast and that your listeners use to describe how your podcast helps them. Then when your two minutes are up, type those phrases into the search bar on Pinterest and see what similar phrases Pinterest gives to you in the dropdown. Then write those down.
So here’s an example of what that could look like. If you wanna get a visual of what I’m saying, you can watch the video version of this on YouTube. I’ll make sure to put the link to the YouTube in the show notes. So I love plants, so I’m gonna pretend that I have a plant podcast.
So in the Pinterest search bar, I would type in the words plant care and see what drops down. So we have plant care tips. That would be a good one. Plant care houseplant. I don’t know if people are searching for that, but maybe they are. I guess, obviously they are or else Pinterest wouldn’t put it here.
Plant care guide, plant care journal. So if you have a plant podcast like I’m pretending to, some that I would probably consider are, like, plant care tips. I think that’s a really good one. Plant care guide would be a good one, I think. So those are some of the keywords that you would want to use and sprinkle throughout all of your profile things. So that’s like for an overall profile.
But let’s say you have a specific series that you’re doing about a specific plant. So like cactus, let’s see what comes up for cactus. Oh, interesting. So cactus, there’s like some painting ones, which we wouldn’t want for a plant podcast, but down here it says like cactus planter ideas or cactus plants or cactus garden ideas.
So those might be some good ones for pins that are about a specific episode or series that you’re doing about a certain type of plant.
Another, like, bonus tip that I will say is sometimes you’re gonna wanna click on the phrase or the word that you’re considering using just to make sure that you’re on the same page and, like, what you’re typing in and the phrase you’re using is actually about what you want it to be about. So this shows me perennials for the Southwest.
I feel like that’s cactus garden related or, like, 17 ideas for a blooming cactus garden. Sure.
So this phrase looks like it actually works for a cactus plant series, but that’s not always the case. Like, sometimes when I’m helping a client that is talking about emotional regulation or something like that, and I type in those words into Pinterest, and I click on one of the keywords that matches with that, it actually is talking about, like, classroom, like elementary classroom regulation things, rather than, like, adults trying to have emotional regulation in their day-to-day life.
So something to keep in mind is once you find some key phrases that you like, maybe click on them to make sure that you are on the same page as Pinterest and the Pinterest users, ’cause you wanna make sure that the keywords that you’re using are bringing the right people to your show.
You are going to want about five Pinterest SEO keywords. And truly keyword is funny because sometimes it is just a word and sometimes it’s a phrase. But we say keywords and it’s slightly confusing, but here we are.
You will want about five Pinterest SEO keywords, and these five are going to become your anchor words. They’ll show up in your profile, then you’ll mix and match them across your boards and pins, and using those Pinterest SEO keywords will help your ideal listener find your content. And if all that sounds like way too much work and you’d rather have someone else handle it, you aren’t alone. That’s exactly why I created Pinterest VIP Setup. Not only do I figure out the perfect Pinterest SEO keywords for you, but I also set up every other aspect of your profile to make sure it’s optimized to bring in new listeners.
Then I create and schedule your first 30 pins so you don’t have to lift a finger to get the Pinterest ball rolling, you just show up to a growing audience. Click the link in the show notes to get started.
As a recap, the one essential thing your Pinterest profile needs is Pinterest SEO keywords in your profile name, your description, your board names and board descriptions, and then your pin titles and pin descriptions.
Get these keywords right, weave them in everywhere, and that’s how your ideal listener finds your show instead of someone else’s. In next week’s episode, I’m gonna be breaking down what actually makes a good pin on Pinterest.
Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you next week.
