Do you know how to use hashtags on Pinterest? Hashtags can increase your results in Pinterest search to get more traffic back to your site. With the new best practices, it’s now simpler than ever to use hashtags on Pinterest.
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Maximizing Reach with the Best Hashtags on Pinterest
We all want our content to go further on search engines and especially, Pinterest. Using hashtags is a good way to define to the user WHAT your content is about as well as getting more reach by using them. In this post, we are going to explore the current (October 2018) best practice uses of hashtags on Pinterest.
Pinterest has an awesome creator’s guide to using Pinterest. Pinterest strategists keep an eye on the guide to make sure we aren’t missing some of the helpful strategies we can use to help our content get discovered on Pinterest. We recently noticed a new update on hashtags:
Pinterest hashtags function as broad search terms, and people use them to find trending content. Use 1-2 hashtags per Pin description, and keep them simple. Unlike other platforms, Pinterest hashtags aren’t used for jokes, memes or commentary. So for a fashion brand, something like #springfashion would work well—but #ilookterribleinhats wouldn’t.
3 Tips for using the Best Hashtags on Pinterest
- Broad and Niche Hashtags
Try to choose one broad hashtag and one niche hashtag per post. So for example, for this post, after (don’t replace your pin description with hashtags, use hashtags after your pin description!) my pin description, I might use #pinterestmarketing (broad) #hashtags (niche). I could also use #socialmediamarketing (broad) #pinteresttips (niche). It depends on how broad and niche you want to go!
Another tip for seasonal content: Are you making a holiday recipe? Choose one seasonal hashtag #holidayrecipes and one broad hashtag #dessertrecipe. Whatever you choose, signal to the Pinterest smart feed what your content is about.
2. Local Based Hashtags
Are you a local based business? You definitely need to be using local keywords and hashtags throughout your content. Are you a wedding photographer based in Virginia? You might choose #weddingphotography (broad) #virginiaweddings (niche), or #weddings (broad) #virginiaweddingphotographer (niche).
You can test the hashtags by searching the content on Pinterest. I used #weddingphotography:
Does your content fit within these results? Want to get some pinning action? Start using hashtags in your pin descriptions.
3. Maximize Reach with Different Hashtags
Can’t decide on 2 hashtags? You should be making at least 2 pins per blog post (more on that here) and you can use different hashtags on those pins for maximal reach. For e.g., Pin A #weddingphotography #virginiaweddings, Pin B #weddings #virginiaweddingphotographer.
Is your hashtag strategy effective? It can be difficult to tell if you don’t have tons of data and traffic to your site. I think it’s personally hard to see trends unless you are in a popular niche, but you can look into your Google Analytics and see which pins are bringing you the most traffic with certain hashtags. You could test a pin without hashtags and one with hashtags, but with this simple 1-2 hashtag formula, it’s easy to choose hashtags with the maximal benefit.
What do you think? Are you ready to use hashtags on Pinterest?
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