Hashtags are a pretty common thing on all social media platforms. Hashtags have proven to have benefits such as brand awareness, reaching your target audience, making posts viral, and more.
But the question is, do hashtags on Pinterest still work? Do I still advise using hashtags on Pinterest as a part of your Pinterest marketing strategy? Read on and find out 🙂
What are hashtags on Pinterest?
A hashtag is basically a word or phrase with the hash (#) symbol before the word or phrase. Hashtags can be a single word, or multiple words or a phrase all strung together without spaces or punctuations.
A hashtag can look #LikeThis. On Pinterest, some common hashtags you will see are placed at the very end of each pin description or board description. Some common hashtags to use are #recipes #homedecor #diy and more.
When you use Pinterest hashtags, many Pinterest creators usually add them at the end of each description.
Do hashtags work on Pinterest? Should you still use Pinterest hashtags?
If you know me and have been following my blog, my Youtube videos, and even my Pinterest course, you would know how much I recommend using hashtags in your Pinterest marketing strategy.
And throughout the years (or months, even), Pinterest has implemented several updates that include the effectiveness of hashtags today.
As of now, hashtags are no longer relevant or beneficial to your Pinterest pins. This is because the hashtag search does not work anymore and they do not appear as clickable anymore so they are basically of no use at this point.
Using hashtags in the description now would just make your description look messy and cluttered.
Changes on Pinterest hashtags
With Pinterest’s recent changes and updates to the Pinterest algorithm as well as how their feed and the overall website look, it definitely affected the use and effectiveness of Pinterest hashtags.
First off, just as I have mentioned before, hashtags are not clickable anymore. Before, when hashtags are clickable, these hashtags will redirect you to a search results page with pins using that same hashtag.
This is a great way to put your content out there easily when users search or click for a particular hashtag.
In relation to this, you can search hashtag terms or be given related hashtag terms on the Pinterest search bar anymore.
Second, Pinterest descriptions do not show on the feed anymore. And when you click on a pin, on mobile devices (and that’s the majority of Pinterest users) the description is cut off once you reach a certain number of words and you will have to click “More” to view the whole description.
This makes your hashtags hidden especially if you put your hashtags at the end of each description.
The benefits of using hashtags on Pinterest (before)
Up until 2020, hashtags were widely used and were a very beneficial secret strategy on Pinterest if you want users to find your content or pins easily.
Although incorporating relevant hashtags on Pinterest is optional and adding them to your Pin descriptions is not necessary, it was still beneficial to use for boosting your pins and reaching more of your target audience quickly.
Hashtags could help boost your content on Pinterest since they helped the platform determine and categorize what your pin was about and which set of users you need to reach.
Pinterest allows up to 20 hashtags per pin but I recommend (before) using a maximum of 5 broad and specific hashtags so your description will not look too messy or cluttered.
Also, if you just published a new pin, putting hashtags that are relevant to your topic can increase your chance of getting to the top of the search results and going viral.
Aside from this, putting hashtags in board descriptions is also a great way to boost your Pinterest account and content.
Hashtags were also a great way to view content similar to yours and get ideas or inspiration from them since you will already be shown with topics that are relevant to the hashtag you clicked.
How to make your Pinterest pins go Viral Without Hashtags
Now that you are aware that it is useless to use hashtags on Pinterest now, do not lose hope because there are still several strategies on how you can boost your content. Remember that Pinterest is a great platform to get free website traffic and leads for free – and it still stays that way!
So, even though hashtags were beneficial on the platform before, instead of using a number of hashtags now, you can instead do the following.
SEO Keyword Optimization
Pinterest is considered a visual search engine like Google but instead, it uses images or pins as results. And just like Google or any search engine, you would have to use relevant keywords on Pinterest to boost your pins or content on the platform.
With this, I highly encourage you to optimize your pins, boards, and even Pinterest bio for SEO. This means using relevant keywords about your niche.
This means keywords that Pinterest users would search for in the search bar. For example: Christmas recipes, fall home decor, Valentine’s gifts for him, and more. The easiest way to get website traffic and pin clicks on Pinterest is by using relevant keywords on your Pin description and board description.
For your Pinterest profile, I would recommend you also use keywords on your Pinterest name and Pinterest bio. In my case, you would see that besides my name Anastasiablogger, you will see there more keywords about online business and blogging.
I also made sure to put these relevant terms on my Pinterest bio as well.
Create Relevant Boards
An easy way to keep your Pinterest organized is by making Pinterest boards. Basically, a Pinterest board is where you store and categorize your pins so Pinterest users can easily navigate through your account.
And just as I have mentioned before, Pinterest boards are also a great way to boost your account and content as long as you use and incorporate relevant keywords.
Some board ideas can be as broad as “Recipes”, “Home Decor”, “Business Tips”, or as specific as “Keto Recipes”, “Christmas Decor”, “Pinterest tips” and more!
Create High-Quality Pins
Since users rely on images to answer their questions, it is on you to attract and catch their attention so they will choose to click on your pin. This means that creating high-quality and beautiful pins is very important on the platform.
Pinterest is a great way to discover new content and products from content creators and online businesses – all you just need to do is create beautiful Pinterest templates that are eye-catching and click-worthy.
If you do not have any knowledge or skills in graphic designing or making Pinterest templates, do not worry because I have here 20 Pinterest templates you can use on Canva which is a free graphic designing website.
Rest assured that these templates are templates that I personally use and have given me a huge boost in traffic through my Pinterest account.
Pin Consistently on the Best Times
The best part about using Pinterest is that you can boost your business and get traffic and leads for free. All you need to do is create content and pin consistently on the best times.
This means uploading pins when most of your target audience on Pinterest is online. For example, if you target an audience in the United States, you could aim to post around 8-9 PM EST (New York).
I would also recommend uploading at least once a day if you do not have much content yet or are just starting out. Just let Pinterest know that you are consistent on uploading pins and that you are serious on using the platform.
You can check out this post where I talk about the best times to post on Pinterest.
If you find this post useful or want to get back to it later, just save this PIN to your Pinterest blogging board.
I’m Anastasia and I’m a full-time blogger, online entrepreneur, and Pinterest marketing strategist. I help digital entrepreneurs and bloggers drive targeted traffic from Pinterest either through my online courses or through Pinterest consultancy.
