What To Do When Your Pinterest Views Drop

August 25, 2021 Pinterest Tips

Wondering “why are my Pinterest views going down”? Here are 5 reasons why your Pinterest views are down and what to do when your Pinterest views drop!

 

If your Pinterest views are down the first thing to do is not panic. It’s OK. It happens to most accounts at some point, and there are many reasons why this could be happening. Here are five reasons your Pinterest account might be suffering.

 

Updated 26 June 2023 🙂

 

In January 2021 Pinterest changed the way it reported it’s analytics. Your Impressions used to include impressions from all the pins you saved, whether they were yours or someone else’s. From January 2021 the impressions are for your pins only, i.e. your content. As it’s counting less pins, the numbers are generally down. This is a good thing though, as you can clearly see how well your content is performing and it’s not blurred by other users content.

 

In July 2021 there was a super massive glitch which saw thousands of perfectly well-behaved accounts being suspended for spammy behaviour. Pinterest quickly reinstated everyone, but some accounts have taken longer to recover from this than others.

 

Pinterest saw huge growth as a result of the pandemic. With people in lockdown or isolation, they turned to Pinterest to inspire them and to plan for when they were free. Now lockdown is over for many countries and people are able to travel again, there are less users online as they’re out living their best lives.

 

As I write this, it’s summer in the UK. Kids are off school and people are off on their holidays. Pinterest usually suffers a “summer slump” after 4 July when people start to go on holiday and spend more time outdoors. This year, more than ever, people are making the most of the summer and spending less time online. This means less people on Pinterest so less eyes on your content. It’s the same across all platforms, too. Engagement on Instagram is also down. Check your Pinterest analytics against the same time period last year. Are there seasonal trends? Is your account growing year on year? As Pinterest is such a long term platform minor peaks and troughs don’t really matter – it’s all about the long term and if your account is showing overall growth, don’t be worried about a seasonal dip. Things will pick up when the kids go back to school and everyone is back to normal. Use this time to schedule in your winter content ready.

If your impressions are at 0 it could be that your account has been flagged as spam. Get in touch with the Pinterest helpdesk and ask them to check things from their end. If your account has been marked as spam, they’ll reinstate it for you.

 

 

If you don’t think any of these is the reason, and you think it’s worse than the summer slump, it might be time to look at your pinning strategy. Are you using an outdated strategy? Ways to switch up your Pinterest strategy include:

 

Are you creating fresh pins?

Pinterest is all about fresh content these days. The best pins which will get most distribution are new images that lead to a new URL, but new images that lead to an existing URL are a very close second, and can perform better in some cases as Pinterest has already categorised the URL. Repinning an existing pin image gets the least distribution as Pinterest wants to show people new ideas, not the same old ones that have been floating around on there since 2012.

 

Are you using all the types of pin available to you?

Did you know there were different types of pin? Up until June 2023 there were standard pins, video pins, carousel pins, product pins and idea pins. Pinterest announced in May 2023 that it was combining the types of pin (essentially categorising idea pins as video pins). By using standard pins and video pins in your Pinterest strategy, you’re giving your account the best chance of being discovered and having your content shared. Video pins perform really well, and you can save time by repurposing your Reels and Tiktok videos!

 

Are you pinning consistently?

Consistency and patience are key to organic Pinterest growth, and if you dump 100 pins one day and then nothing for a month the Pinterest elves won’t like it. Using an approved scheduler like Tailwind can help you to be consistent, or a spreadsheet where you can track and organise what needs pinning when.

 

Are you pinning mainly your own content?

For organic Pinterest marketing it’s best practice to focus on pinning your own content. I like to pin other users content as well though every so often, as a) it’s nice to be nice and b) it might be useful for my clients and readers. As long as the content is complementary and doesn’t compete with your own stuff, there’s no harm in pinning other peoples things. Just focus on your own more. There is no hard and fast rule for this – if you’re on group boards, pinning other users content from the board can help the overall engagement levels for the board, benefiting everyone. If you’re in a Tailwind community or Tribe you should be pinning other tribe members content in accordance with the tribe rules.

 

When creating a new Pinterest board it can be helpful to pin other users content as a starting point to let Pinterest know what that board will be about. In time you can focus less on other people’s content and more on your own.

 

Is your website claimed?

Accounts with claimed websites perform better than those who don’t. Double check your website is still claimed and if not claim it! You can read how to claim your website in Pinterest here.

 

Are you leaving an interval between pinning images?

If you have a blog post and make 5 new pin images for it, you need to leave an interval between pinning them onto Pinterest. As they all lead to the same URL, adding them all at the same time might be seen as spammy. The best thing to do is leave 24-48 hours between pinning them. This is where Tailwind can help – who has time to be on Pinterest every day? Apart from me, but, well, that is my job.

 

Did you research your keywords?

Keywords are the words and phrases your audience will use to find your content, so it’s vital to make sure these are up to date. Carry out keyword research every few months and create a list of relevant keywords so you have them to hand. Use the free Pinterest Trends tool to see what upcoming Trends match your content and jump on that bandwagon!

 

 

Are you using keywords wherever you can?

Use keywords in your pin titles, pin descriptions, board titles, board descriptions and on your pin image text overlay. Also include them in your bio!

 

 

Did you give your account bio a Spring Clean?

Your account bio is valuable real estate on Pinterest and you can add in keywords that help you get found. Read how to optimise your Pinterest bio here.

 

Are you using hashtags?

Hashtags on Pinterest are no longer relevant. They used to be searchable and clickable, but Pinterest realised that no-one searches that way on Pinterest and hashtags began to be abused by spammers. It’s far better to use extra keywords than use hashtags. I’ve seen Pinterest “experts” still recommending the use of hashtags but I wouldn’t, as this is an outdated practice that doesn’t yield any benefit.

 

Edit: As of Summer 2023, some hashtags are now searchable but as standalone keywords, so a search for #weddingcake will give you results tagged with #weddingcake, not necessarily those just tagged as wedding cake.

 

 

 

Are You Checking Your Stats in GA4?

On 26 May 2023 there was a Pinterest app privacy update which resulted in GA4 reporting a lot of the Pinterest mobile app traffic as Direct. If you check your GA4, there will be a correlation between Pinterest traffic declining and Direct traffic increasing. This is frustrating, and is likely to get worse as privacy policies change going forward. The best way to check your Pinterest stats is within Pinterest itself.

 

As I’ve mentioned before, Pinterest is for the long term. Your pins might not get much traction the first few weeks or months. It could be that you only start to see the benefit of them the year after you publish them! If you are expecting instant growth then unfortunately you could end up disappointed and disillusioned with Pinterest. Pinterest is not your usual social media where you get the instant gratification of likes and shares. 

 

Before you decide to throw in the towel and tell Pinterest to f*^k off, take a look over your Google analytics and see where Pinterest ranks in your top traffic drivers. For my blogs it works out either first or second only to Google SEO, way ahead of the likes of Instagram or Facebook.

 

It’s perfectly normal for Pinterest accounts to see peaks and troughs in their views and engagement. Bear in mind that Pinterest is a free platform which sends traffic to your website or blog, and whilst it’s still driving lots of traffic to my blogs, I won’t be getting rid of it any time soon and will still put in the effort (when I have time)!

 

If you need a hand in creating new pins, scheduling in Tailwind or need full Pinterest account management, I have a range of packages available in my Pinterest Management service. Get in touch if I can help!