While some social media platforms – cough Facebook cough – are famous for making changes that negatively impact businesses in the name of improving the user experience, Pinterest has developed a great reputation for developing their platform to perform for both audiences. Features like Rich Pins allow businesses to properly classify their content and provide users with additional structured data, a benefit for both users and businesses alike. Additionally, their Promoted Pins are designed not only to give businesses greater reach on the platform, but also to expose users to more content in which they are interested. Pinterest’s latest update, Guided Search, follows this same theme, expanding the value for both users and business owners.

What Is Guided Search?

Guided Search is a feature Pinterest launched on their mobile application in April of this year that is now fully rolling out on the web. This function recommends additional keywords for users to explore based on their search queries. For instance, when one searches “Engagement Ring,” Pinterest might suggest “Jewelry,” “Diamond Engagement Ring,” “Designer Engagement Ring,” and so on. In essence, Guided Search helps users explore Pinterest and dig deeper into their interests.

How Does Pinterest’s Guided Search Impact Businesses?

Using key phrases in your pin titles and descriptions has always been important, but it becomes crucial with the full roll out of Guided Search. This translates to a greater time investment on your part – or that of your social media management team – in order to fully understand the keywords relating to your pins and optimize for them.

Make Guided Search Work for Your Business

In the wake of this roll out, you’ll want to reevaluate your Pinterest strategy to ensure that you’re capitalizing on the opportunities that Guided Search creates. Below are some tactics to keep in mind:

• Research Suggested Keywords:

  You know which keywords you optimize for on your website, and you should continue optimizing for them on Pinterest as well. However, try typing these keywords into the Pinterest search and see what keywords the guided search recommends. Work these recommended keywords into your pin titles and descriptions as well, taking care to stagger the usage – i.e. don’t simply stuff your descriptions full of keywords!

• Customize Your Pinterest Descriptions:

  Unless your meta descriptions and title tags are catchy and 100% applicable to your pins, you should customize the pin title and description within the Pinterest environment. Your descriptions should be informative and entice users to click through to your website. They should also contain keywords that users are likely to type into the search bar (keep in mind that this phrasing may differ from your websites key words).

• Include Keywords in your meta descriptions, alt tags and image titles:

  Though this is an SEO best practice we recommend to all, it is especially important for those on Pinterest. When your customers pin content from your site, you want to ensure that the default title and description are search friendly, as it is likely that they will not take the time to customize them.

Need help developing a winning Pinterest strategy or assistance with your overall social media presence? Reach out for a free consultation to hear how we can help!