Pinterest Traffic Strategy for Business
Last Updated: April 19, 2026
Is this the year you plan to turn your attention to Pinterest to generate more website traffic?
Most business owners write the platform off as a place to find a dinner recipe or a DIY project, so that’s good news for you!
Maybe this will be our little secret, but Pinterest is a traffic powerhouse when used correctly.
And, since you’re going to learn how to drive traffic to your website, you’re really harnessing the power of Pinterest to grow the online real estate you own.
That friend is the smartest business decision you can make.
No more sweating over social media or burning out because you’re constantly creating NEW content with little results.
Learn how to use Pinterest for website traffic and watch your business grow.
Okay, let’s dive into the best tips for a solid Pinterest traffic strategy.
Why Your Business Needs A Pinterest Traffic Strategy
Just in case you’re still on the fence about using Pinterest as a traffic generation tool, let’s share some key statistics that will show you exactly why your business needs a Pinterest traffic strategy.
- 77.1% of Pinterest users are women (aka the purchase decision-makers).
- 89% of users are using Pinterest as a source of purchase inspiration.
- Pinterest users have millions of users in each age demographic – that means your audience IS on Pinterest.
- 77 of Pinterest users have discovered a new brand or product – and they’re open-minded to it!
- 97% of searches are unbranded.
- 64% of Pinterest users described the platform as a place to find ideas, products, or services they can trust.
(source)
So, now you know why your business needs to use Pinterest to gain more traffic but how exactly do you put together a Pinterest traffic strategy that actually gets results?
I’m going to teach you the foundational elements that go into a solid Pinterest marketing strategy.
Do these activities, and Pinterest will send the traffic.
I say this with a bit of caution.
You’re going to need some patience – Pinterest marketing is your long-term strategy – account growth takes anywhere from 6 to 9 months. You need to roll up your sleeves and do the work to reap the benefits.
Trust me, it’s worth it.
If you’re looking to go viral or have results like yesterday, it won’t matter what type of Pinterest traffic strategy you have – it’ll end in frustration.
If you’re ready to do the work and put in the time, read on for what needs to be included in your Pinterest marketing traffic strategy.
What is Pinterest really?
In order to learn how to get traffic from Pinterest, you first need to understand what the platform is at its core.
Pinterest is a visual search engine, which means keywords drive the platform.
Pinterest is also an inspiration platform – which means its users are at the top of the sales funnel or customer journey – that first point of inspiration or realization of a problem that needs to be solved. That means they’re cold traffic, which, as a business owner, gives you plenty of opportunities!
It’s also a discovery platform, which means users are actively looking to find your services, content, products, and offers. Two out of three users say they use Pinterest to discover products, services, and new ideas. 98% of users report actually trying something that was found on Pinterest! (source)
That’s a whole lot of reasons to figure out your Pinterest traffic strategy!
How Pinterest Works
Pinterest uses images called pins to communicate what a piece of content is about.
Pins appear in the home feed and the Today tab and are shown to users most likely to be seeking that information.
Users (called pinners) type in search terms (keywords) to find content that solves a problem, inspires them, or continues their research journey.
The Pinterest algorithm will also show pins that are closely related to a pinner’s interests.
As you can see, Pinterest is a lot more like Google than it is Instagram or TikTok. Although Pinterest truly is a unique platform!
Now that we understand exactly what Pinterest is and how it works, we can move on to learning what to have in place to build your account and drive traffic to your website.
How To Get Traffic From Pinterest
Set Up a Pinterest Business Account
The first step in a new Pinterest traffic strategy is to create a business account. You could use your personal account, but you won’t have access to analytics or the new Creators Hub.
These are important so you can track what is or isn’t working on your account.
Sign up here for a Pinterest business account.
If you want to switch your personal account to a business one, toggle the drop-down menu on the right-hand side of your screen and select “Convert to business”.
Once you’ve got a business account, make sure to add:
- Your business name
- A profile pic of yourself
- An account description (think about words your ideal person would use to discover your business and offers)
After you’ve added those details, make sure to claim your website. Claiming your website allows Pinterest to track activity from the platform to your website as well as other important metrics about how your account is performing.
To claim your website, go to settings, claim, and select what method you want to use to verify your website. We usually use adding the HTML tag to the header section of your website.
Install Pinterest Rich Pins
Rich pins are Pinterest’s way of pulling the metadata from your website. You want Pinterest to do this so that things like your blog post titles, product names, descriptions, and recipe info display up-to-date information right on the platform. This helps give context to your pins for both users and the algorithm, helping Pinterest understand who to show them to.
There are three types of rich pins:
- Product – displays up-to-date pricing, availability, and product information.
- Recipe – adds all the details about the pinned recipe, such as serving size, ingredients, and more.
- Article – adds the heading of your blog post as well as the description and author.
If this is starting to sound intimidating and techy, don’t worry, installing rich pins on your website and Pinterest is easier than you think.
If you’re using WordPress and you’ve installed the Yoast SEO plugin (if you aren’t using that plugin, I highly recommend you start!), go into settings and select ‘Facebook’. Make sure the ‘Add Open Graph metadata is enabled. Pinterest will use the same as Facebook, so you will be good!
Once you’ve confirmed, visit the rich pins validator and test to make sure Pinterest is pulling the data.
If you’re using Shopify, connecting your shop with their app will enable rich pins for you.
Need help with rich pins? Send me an email 🙂
Make Sure To Prioritize Pinterest Keyword Research
If there is one area of a Pinterest marketing strategy where I see numerous business owners drop the ball, it’s keyword research.
Pinterest is a search engine at its core, yet many business owners don’t put any effort into finding keywords to target.
Keyword research needs to be a priority.
Keywords will drive your Pinterest growth strategy.
Learn how to find keywords on Pinterest to rank your content and get traffic.
Here are the main ways to find keywords:
- The guided search bar – note the keywords that are dropping down as you search.
- Related terms found in the search results.
- In the ads manager under the targeting options.
- The Pinterest trends tool.
Think about the ways your ideal person would search for your content.
What problem do you solve?
How does your business serve your ideal client or customer?
Please take a moment to brainstorm ideas, then search Pinterest to see what users are searching for.
Create A Pinterest Keyword Bank
There’s no need to keep keyword researching on Pinterest – I actually think this is why a lot of business owners skip the research phase. It can be overwhelming and time-consuming.
I suggest creating a Pinterest keyword bank you can refer to again and again.
Do the research once and access it several times.
Organizing your keywords in one place also lets you set content marketing goals, since you can see exactly what people are looking to connect with. You can create content based on your research to attract the right people.
Your goal should be to meet your ideal client or customer where they are in their search.
We use Airtable to organize our workflow and store our keyword banks. You can sign up for a free account here.
You can also use a simple spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets.
Optimize Your Pinterest Business Account
Once you’ve completed your keyword research, reevaluate and optimize your business account with the terms you’ve found.
Accounts, boards, and pins are all searchable on Pinterest, so taking the time to do this is ideal.
When you hear someone say to optimize your account, what they’re really saying is to make sure to use your top keywords in these 3 areas.
For your account, optimize:
- Your account title – add a top-level, powerful keyword.
- Your account description – add 2-3 keywords (more if you can swing it).
Create Your Pinterest Boards
You need to learn how to create the best boards for your business, as they’re an important part of your overall Pinterest SEO strategy.
First, if anything else, please don’t create boards based on what YOU like to pin or name them cutesy names.
Boards are Pinterest SEO real estate that needs to be used to the fullest. Boards are where you’re saving your pin images and are one of the first things Pinterest crawls when trying to figure out what your pin is about.
So, let’s make it easy, okay?
To start, review the content categories on your website.
Then look over your keyword bank and choose 2-3 search terms for each category that accurately describe what your content is about. From there, make sure to give your boards keyworded descriptions.
Board names should always be a keyword term.
The Pinterest algorithm looks at both the board title and description, so doing this work is super important.
Here is an example to help inspire you:
I would aim to have at least two boards per content category to get your account moving. As your Pinterest strategy evolves, you can add more boards as needed.
Always choose a keyword for a board title. Don’t add any symbols or other defining things that you think will set you apart from others in your niche – it won’t.
You want to use keywords and be very clear about the kinds of content available on the board. Then make sure you pin only relevant content to each of those boards.
Create Your Pinterest Pin Images
Pinterest is a visual search engine, so pin images are just as important as your keywords.
The objective of your pin design is to stop your ideal person from scrolling.
Here are some tips on how to create scroll-stopping static pins:
- Make sure to use enough white space so that you can draw your ideal person’s eye to exactly what you want them to see.
- Do not use script fonts! Yes, they look nice, but they’re hard to read, so your person will keep scrolling if they can’t read the overlay.
- Use easy-to-read fonts and no more than two different fonts per design.
- Use a text overlay with a strong title and buzzwords to draw people in.
- Use a clear CTA – what do you want your ideal person to do?
- Make sure to review your pin designs on mobile to ensure people can read them.
- Make sure to use unique images – no free stock images! Check out PixiStock, IvoryMix, or Depositphotos for affordable stock imagery.
Another effective way to use pin design is to incorporate your brand elements, helping people recognize your brand. That doesn’t mean you can never stray and try something new; quite the contrary. But as you get your account up and running, stick to your brand before adding other design elements.
Another good tip is to use a template. Once you have a design you love, don’t reinvent the wheel every time you sit down to create pins. Using a template with your images, fonts, and branding colors means you’ll save time and give your Pinterest pins a cohesive look.
Need a little inspiration for pin design? Spend some time on Pinterest and pin the designs that capture your eye to a secret board. Do not copy the design, but use it as a starting point.
Once you have your pin designs chosen, you’ll need to write keyworded pin titles and descriptions so pinners know what your pin is about and what the algorithm will see.
Save them to the most relevant board first!
Another essential component of your Pinterest traffic growth strategy is utilizing all available pin formats. Historically, Pinterest has been known for static pin images. They’ve now focused on video pins and idea pins as well.
Incorporate these pin styles into your pin image strategy as best you can.
Your Pinterest Consistency Strategy
A big part of your Pinterest traffic strategy is to stay consistent.
Make sure to use a tool to help you run a Pinterest workflow – something that will organize your content, pin designs, keywords, boards, and pin copy.
We use Airtable to run our client workflows, and it is so organized. You can sign up for a free account and access all the features you’ll need to stay organized.
We also use Tailwind to schedule pins, and because we keep everything organized, we literally copy and paste a month’s worth of pins in an afternoon.
You can also use the Pinterest native scheduler right on the platform. It isn’t as robust as other schedulers, but if you’re looking for an affordable option to manage your Pinterest consistency plan, it’s a great way to get started.
There are other schedulers, such as Planoly and Later, but we haven’t used them yet. We will start using them and then let you know our thoughts.
Schedule at least one pin per day to the most relevant board first. You can then pin the same pin to 2-3 relevant boards, with at least a 3-day gap between them.
That wraps up all the elements of a solid Pinterest traffic strategy. The key is to know what your goals are for using Pinterest to drive traffic.
Do you want to grow your email list? Get new leads into your ecosystem? Build brand awareness?
Remember, that while getting traffic from Pinterest is great, planning and knowing what you want the traffic to do is even better.
If you don’t have content and a clear call to action in place, sending traffic to your website won’t yield the ROI you were hoping for – so have those in place so you can maximize the return on the traffic that comes from Pinterest!
Did you know we take Pinterest marketing off busy entrepreneurs’ plates?
Book your free discovery call here.
Happy Pinning 📌
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- Pinterest Case Study: What 10 Years of Content Circulation Looks Like
