How to Find Pinterest Keywords: 4 Methods That Work
To find Pinterest keywords, type a seed term into the search bar and read the autocomplete suggestions and coloured tile filters that appear. That gets you started, but adding Pinterest Trends, the Ads Manager keyword tool, and competitor board auditing turns it into a repeatable system.
What Pinterest keywords are and why they work differently from Google
Pinterest is a visual discovery engine. People use it to plan and save ideas, not read articles, which means keywords on Pinterest tag intent-driven saves rather than clicks. When someone searches "small bedroom storage ideas for renters" and saves your pin, Pinterest reads that as confirmation your content matches the intent, then keeps serving the pin to similar audiences.
That compounding effect is the core difference from Google. Pinterest's algorithm can surface a pin weeks or months after you publish it, so solid keyword research keeps paying off long after you've moved on. Google indexes pages within days; a Pinterest pin can hit its traffic peak sixty days after going live.
Pinterest keywords also live in four specific places: pin titles, pin descriptions, board titles, and board descriptions. All four need to align for the algorithm to understand and distribute your content. The phrases themselves also tend to be longer and lifestyle-phrased rather than short head terms. "Meal prep" is a head term. "Easy meal prep ideas for busy moms" is a Pinterest keyword.
How to use Pinterest's search bar to find keywords for free
This costs nothing beyond a few minutes.
- Open Pinterest while logged in and type your seed keyword into the search bar. Don't press Enter yet. The autocomplete dropdown lists real searches in real-time popularity order.
- Screenshot the dropdown. Each suggestion is a keyword phrase your audience is actively using.
- Press Enter and look just below the search bar. You'll see a row of coloured bubble tiles, sometimes called guided search tiles. Pinterest generates these from its own category clusters, and they represent high-traffic modifiers for your seed term.
- Click each tile one at a time. The results shift, and the URL updates to show you the nested long-tail variation you've just filtered to. Each combination is a keyword candidate.
One practical tip: repeat this in an incognito or private browsing window. Pinterest personalises results based on your account activity, so a logged-in search can surface ideas skewed toward your own interests rather than general audience behaviour. Incognito strips that personalisation and gives you cleaner data.
How to use Pinterest Trends to validate keyword demand before you create
Pinterest Trends is free and covers the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Before drawing conclusions from it, set the country filter to match your primary audience — traffic patterns vary significantly by region.
The most useful feature is the Compare tool. Type two keyword variants side by side, say "meal prep ideas" versus "healthy meal prep," and the graph shows their relative search volume over time. Go with the phrase that has higher sustained volume rather than a single seasonal spike, because a spike usually means the window has already closed.
The Trending Searches tab is where things get strategically useful. Pinterest publishes rising keyword data two to three months before those terms peak, which often puts it ahead of Google Trends. If you spot a keyword climbing in late October, you have time to create and publish content before the surge hits.
Timing matters. Seasonal pins perform best when they're live 45 to 60 days before the trend peak. That means your Christmas gift guide pins belong on Pinterest in mid-October, not December. Use the monthly breakdown graph on each keyword's Trends page to find that peak, then count back.
Scroll to the bottom of any Trends page and check the Related Interests section. These are Pinterest's own suggestions for adjacent topics, and they work well as board name candidates too.
How to do Pinterest keyword research with Ads Manager (even if you never run ads)
This is the most underused free tactic available, and it's the only method that gives you something close to an actual search volume number without paying for a third-party tool.
- Create a free Pinterest Business account if you don't have one, go to Ads, click Create Campaign, and select the Consideration objective.
- In the targeting section, find the Keywords field and type your seed keyword. The tool returns related keyword suggestions, each with a monthly search volume bracket such as 10K–50K or 50K–100K.
- Log every suggestion along with its volume bracket. The organic search bar can't give you this information, which makes this step genuinely worth doing even if you close the campaign setup without spending anything.
- Prioritise keywords in higher volume brackets where the existing top pins have fewer than 500 saves. High search demand combined with low competition is the signal you want.
You never have to publish the campaign. The keyword planner is accessible during the setup flow, and no billing is triggered until you actually launch an ad.
How to audit competitor boards for proven keywords
Competitor boards are a ready-made keyword list built by creators who have already done the testing.
- Search your seed keyword on Pinterest and filter results to Profiles. Identify three to five top-performing accounts in your niche.
- Open each account's boards list and read every board title. Each title is a keyword phrase that creator has validated through audience growth and algorithmic reach.
- Click into their highest-follower boards and read the board descriptions. Creators whose boards rank well typically pack two to four keyword phrases into a single descriptive sentence, and you can see exactly how they structure it.
- Click through to their top-saved pins and read the pin title and the first two lines of the description. These are keyword-rich phrases that Pinterest has already rewarded with distribution.
As you go, build a spreadsheet with three columns: the keyword phrase you found, where you found it (board title, pin title, or description), and how relevant it is to your own content. That spreadsheet becomes the input for everything else in your workflow.
Where to place Pinterest keywords once you find them
Placement determines whether Pinterest connects your content to the right searches.
| Location | Best practice |
|---|---|
| Pin title | Lead with the primary keyword in the first three to four words. Pinterest truncates titles at roughly 30 characters in the feed. |
| Pin description | Write 150 to 300 characters. Use the primary keyword in sentence one, a secondary keyword in sentence two. Limit hashtags to two at most. |
| Board title | One clear keyword phrase. "Healthy Lunch Recipes" outperforms "Sarah's Midday Eats" every time because Pinterest reads the title as a topical signal. |
| Board description | Two to three sentences. Include the board's primary keyword plus two semantically related phrases woven in naturally. |
| Profile About section | Put your two to three core topic keywords in the first sentence. This shapes Pinterest's understanding of your account's overall subject matter. |
A simple Pinterest keyword research workflow you can repeat monthly
Running these methods once is useful. Running them on a schedule is what drives compounding traffic growth.
Week one of each month: Spend 20 minutes in Pinterest Trends checking the Trending Now and Seasonal tabs. Log any rising keywords relevant to your niche, then cross-reference those terms in the Ads Manager keyword tool to confirm real search demand before committing to content around them.
Week two: Create new pins optimised for the keywords you confirmed. While you're at it, update at least one existing board description to incorporate a newly discovered modifier. Small, consistent updates add up.
Monthly audit: Open Pinterest Analytics and find the Impressions by Keyword report, available on Business accounts. See which terms are already driving reach and create more pins around those phrases. If a keyword is working, more content targeting it strengthens the signal.
Every six to eight weeks: Re-run the autocomplete and guided search steps from scratch. Pinterest's trending modifiers rotate seasonally, and a tile that appeared in March may be replaced by something different by September.
Keep one master Google Sheet with six columns: Keyword, Source, Volume Bracket, Seasonal Peak Month, Used In (pin, board, or profile), and Date Added. That document shows you what you've tested, what's confirmed, and what still needs content.
If you publish blog content regularly, a tool like Pinpress can automate the pin creation and scheduling step, turning each new post into a keyword-optimised pin without manual design work — which frees up your time for the strategy side of this workflow rather than the production side.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pinterest keyword research different from SEO keyword research?
Yes. Pinterest keywords are discovered through platform-native tools like the search bar autocomplete, guided tiles, and the Ads Manager planner rather than tools like Ahrefs or Semrush. The phrases also tend to be longer and lifestyle-oriented, and placement spans four locations (pin titles, pin descriptions, board titles, board descriptions) rather than on-page HTML elements.
How many keywords should I put in a Pinterest pin description?
Aim to use one primary keyword in your first sentence and one secondary keyword in your second sentence, within a description of 150 to 300 characters total. Forcing in more than two or three distinct phrases makes the copy read unnaturally, which can reduce saves.
Can I use Google Keyword Planner to find keywords for Pinterest?
You can use it to identify broad topic demand, but Google Keyword Planner reflects search behaviour on Google, not Pinterest. The phrasing, intent, and volume rankings differ enough that you should treat Pinterest's own tools (Trends, the Ads Manager planner, and the search bar autocomplete) as your primary sources.
How long does it take for Pinterest keywords to start driving traffic?
Pinterest's algorithm can surface a pin weeks or months after it's published, so results are slower than Google. Most creators see meaningful impressions growth from well-keyworded pins within four to eight weeks, with traffic often peaking later than that, especially for seasonal content.
Do Pinterest hashtags count as keywords?
Hashtags on Pinterest are indexed and can contribute to discovery, but Pinterest's own guidance treats pin titles and descriptions as the primary keyword signals. Use a maximum of two relevant hashtags per pin description rather than relying on them as a keyword strategy.