Wondering if you should you use Pinterest hashtags?
Are hashtags on Pinterest even a thing in 2023?
For years, Pinterest had been telling us not to use them, except for one branded hashtag.
Then in late 2017, they said YES, use them! But now…
Pin or tweet, then read on.
Do Hashtags Work on Pinterest in 2023?
This blog post was originally published on August 23, 2017, with a lot of rumors and innuendos.
Hashtags in Pin descriptions were clickable on desktop – then not. Hashtag buttons appeared on mobile – sometimes.
Pinterest finally published an official statement on September 26, 2017. YES you can use hashtags on Pinterest!
Like hashtags on Instagram, you now could, and should, use hashtags on Pinterest.
What’s new with Pinterest hashtags in 2023?
So the great big news last year was that ONE person got a reply from the Pinterest help desk saying they no longer recommend hashtags.
I was doubtful, because clickable hashtags did still pop up here and there on Pinterest. AND when you go to create a Pin on the mobile app, there’s a hashtag on the keyboard. Use it, and suggested hashtags will pop up to select.
Yes, it’s still there in 2023! (screenshot above)
Now, I’m not telling you that Pinterest hashtags are making a comeback. But I do believe my article has the most up-to-date and comprehensive info on Pinterest hashtags available.
Read it, test hashtags, and see what works for your account.
Any bad news about hashtags?
Sure, plenty. Pinterest has really downplayed the display of Pin descriptions, so it can be hard to find hashtags, even if they are clickable.
(Mind you, Pin descriptions are still working to help people find your Pins, so they’re still important).
1 | Descriptions no longer show in the feed. Remember when we had hashtags there? Scroll down a ways and I’ll show you! Now we have titles – maybe (see visual directly below).
2 | When you open the Pin, the description is cut off.
3 | And even if you click “More,” the hashtags are usually not clickable.
Hashtag searches have been surfacing non-hashtagged content for awhile. And with hashtags not clickable, hashtag feeds are harder to find.
Finally, Pinterest said it in 2020: Hashtags are optional.
Yes, you can still use them, but their effectiveness appears to be limited to a short, initial burst of extra exposure.
This article is a virtual Ultimate Guide to Pinterest Hashtags, and I’d love for you to read it. It’s updated as of January 2023.
But, Spoiler Alert: I was 100% right in January 2020 when I said:
Don’t spend a lot of time worrying about Pinterest hashtags.
Keep reading, or jump all the way to #PinterestFail to learn why.
What Are Hashtags on Pinterest?
Hashtags are a word or phrase preceded by a hash (#) used to identify Pins on a specific topic. You’ll know it’s a hashtag when you see the hash (#) preceding the word or phrase.
Up until late 2020, hashtags on Pinterest worked like they do anywhere else. However, now they seem to function as keywords. They’re no longer clickable, so they don’t lead you to a hashtag feed, like even Facebook hashtags do.
Hashtags can be one word, or multiple words strung together, but you can’t use spaces or punctuation in hashtags.
How to use hashtags? #hashtaglikethis (or #HashtagLikeThis, for better readability).
When you add hashtags to the description for a new Pin, other Pinners could click on it to visit a feed of all the Pins that share that hashtag. But no longer.
The freshest Pins were right up top. Unlike normal search results on Pinterest, these were shown in (mostly) chronological order.
Starting in 2020, chronology of Pins is no longer shown (aka “freshness indicator” as I’ve shown below). It’s unknown if they’re still in chronological order, but they appear to be.
How to Find Pins with Hashtags
You used to be able to discover related content by clicking on a hashtag in Pin description.
You can still search for a hashtag, like “#interiordesign” or “#healthyrecipes”.
Truth be told, in late 2020 through 2023, this seems to pull up both hashtagged and normal search results. Though hashtags are given priority, they’re no longer completely different from keywords on Pinterest.
And even if your results include Pins with hashtags in the description, they won’t necessarily be visible as blue clickable links like this screenshot from 2019.
How Do I Add Hashtags to Pins?
Hashtags for Pins go in the description.
I recommend placing them at the end of your description, and not peppered throughout your carefully-crafted sentences.
Remember that hashtags are clickable, so give Pinners a chance to read through to your call-to-action before getting distracted to click away to a hashtag feed!
To add a hashtag, type “#” and add a keyword or phrase.
Since 2020, you ONLY get hashtag suggestions when creating a NEW Pin in the mobile app. This is still true in 2023. See screenshots below.
Start typing the hash mark followed by a word, and you’ll see suggested hashtags pop up with a number following.
The number indicates how often that hashtag has been used on Pinterest.
The hashtag suggestion feature is no longer available on desktop, at all.
Which Hashtags Should I Use on Pinterest?
When inserting a hashtag, Pinterest recommends you be specific and descriptive. Use words or phrases that describe the content in the Pin.
NOTE: As of 2020, I have to say “Pinterest used to recommend.” They no longer actively recommend using hashtags anywhere in their help docs.
Why not? I’ll answer this further along in the article. You can keep reading, or jump now to #PinterestFail.
Include a selection of hashtags that are closely related to your niche. One could be your brand hashtag (if you have one). Always place your branded hashtag before any other hashtags so it’s more likely to be the one clicked.
Don’t use popular, irrelevant hashtags just to get attention! I know of one account that was banned from Pinterest for doing this.
While you shouldn’t use hashtags that are crazy popular and vague, super-niche hashtags with under 100 uses are probably not going to help you get found. I suggest using a combination of broad and niche hashtags.
If you’re not sure which hashtags to use, try searching for your topic on Pinterest and use the autocomplete suggestions as guidance.
Search hashtags that you’re considering using (enter “#yourkeywordphrase” in the Pinterest search bar) and check out the content in the search results to make sure it’s relevant to yours.
You can also get an idea of how often that hashtag is used. If the page is filled with Pins posted in the last 10 minutes, that tag feed moves too fast to be of much use to you.
Unlike hashtags elsewhere, 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.
It’s best to be objective and use hashtags that make sense and are relevant to the Pin.
Depending on your Pin, consider using hashtags that are timely, such as:
- #oscars
- #backtoschool
- #halloween
And/or hashtags that are evergreen, like:
- #mealplanning
- #hairgoals
- #homedecor
This will help make it easier to for users to filter and find relevant content they are interested in.
How Many Hashtags Should I Use on Pinterest Pins?
Pinterest did say to add no more than 20 hashtags per Pin.
I’ve seen some people say to use one or two, which made me wonder, Why bother?
I personally have a hard time narrowing down to less than 5 or 6. I would suggest you try somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 8.
Though I use and recommend 30 hashtags on Instagram, I avoid using the full complement of 20 on Pinterest. You can test it though, and see if it works for you!
If you write a long enough description, the hashtags will be hidden under a “More” tag. Currently descriptions are truncated by “More” after approximately 190 characters.
I still feel 20 hashtags per Pin looks out of place and spammy on Pinterest. Please let me know if you’ve tried and found it effective!
Four hashtags seems like a reasonable number. In Fall 2017, Pinterest showed 4 hashtags instead of a Pin description under the Pin previews in streams and on boards. If you’ve used more than 4, only the first 4 were shown here (see below).
Pinterest is always changing things up, and I’m going to speculate about Pinterest hashtag use in 2023 further along.
You have 500 characters to use in your Pin description, so you can add more than 4 hashtags.
But also be aware that many Pinterest users are complaining about excessive hashtag use and calling it spammy. Don’t overdo it!
Where Should I Put Pinterest Hashtags?
Use a few hashtags at the end of your Pin descriptions. Not at the beginning.
If you use a branded hashtag, place it before other hashtags for brand recognition.
Should I Add Hashtags to Old Pins?
People often ask if they should go back and add hashtags to older Pins.
You can, but it won’t help your content show up at the top of hashtag search feeds. Newer Pins with that hashtag will appear first. source
If you want to change or add a hashtag, just edit the Pin description. Since hashtag searches turn up Pins based on when they were Saved, don’t edit old Pin descriptions to add hashtags.
Do add hashtags when doing a new “Save” of a previous Pin. Now you’ve got a fresh one!
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Pinterest Hashtag Hacks: Short Version
Add hashtags for Pins in the description by typing “#” followed by a keyword or phrase.
When creating a new Pin on mobile, suggested hashtags pop up with a number. Choose tags in a medium range of uses.
Be specific and descriptive. Use words or phrases that accurately describe the content in the Pin.
IF relevant to your Pin, use both hashtags that are timely, and ones that are evergreen.
Search hashtags that you’re considering using. Enter “#yourhashtagphrase” in the Pinterest search bar, and ensure the search results are relevant.
Add no more than 20 hashtags per Pin. The first 4 added may appear under the Pin in feeds – they did at one time, and it’s always possible they’ll return.
I suggest using 2 to 8 maximum hashtags. More may look spammy.
Put hashtags at the END of your description to lead Pinners TO your content, not away from it.
If you want to change your hashtag later, edit the Pin description.
Since hashtag searches favor recent Pins, don’t edit old Pin descriptions to add hashtags.
Continue your keyword strategy on Pinterest, as most Pinners will discover your content via keywords.
Be sure to make eye-catching Pins, so that yours get noticed and clicked.
Hashtags on Pinterest ONLY work in Pin descriptions! No need to use them elsewhere.
Be sure to Pin the Hashtag Hacks cheat sheet at the end of this article!
Are Pinterest Hashtags Working in 2023?
I strongly recommend you continue your keyword strategy on Pinterest. I believe this will be the way most Pinners will discover your content.
When I first started using hashtags on Pinterest 2 months before the official announcement, it appeared that they helped, since my repins, views, and website traffic went up.
But I can’t say for certain it was due to hashtags.
In 2020, many marketers started saying that hashtags just helped spammers steal our Pins.
I can’t say if this is true, or it just provided an easy way for us to find our pins that have been stolen.
In the screenshot below, I wasn’t even searching my branded hashtag, but a niche hashtag that not many people use: #hashtagtips.
All but one of the non-promoted Pins in the first screen of results were my own Pins – BUT only one of them linked to my own website!
The rest were all stolen from me and redirected to spammers’ sites 🙁
Did they find them by my hashtags though?
I’m doubtful. The stolen Pins were heavily weighted to the Pins that had the best results for me. So I really think spammers are finding Pins to steal by popularity, not hashtags.
Including, and then searching, your branded hashtag can certainly help you find stolen Pins, if you care to.
Some Pinners do still use a branded hashtag for that reason alone!
From late 2020 through 2023, I no longer use hashtags on new Pins. Pinterest has said they’re optional, so you’re free to use them if you like.
However, Pinterest has been hiding Pin descriptions, which means those hashtags won’t be seen, and they can no longer be clicked even when visible.
They do help you surface in keyword search, at least in the short term.
As I said months ago, I seriously doubt that anyone other than marketers actually searches by hashtags on Pinterest. It’s not easy to do, as it is on Instagram and Twitter.
We don’t even know if Pins in the hashtag feed show up freshest first anymore.
Pinterest removed mention of hashtags on their content tips page, and hasn’t said much about them since 2018.
For me, Pinterest sent the most traffic to this one viral post for 3 years. That Pin had no hashtags.
I believe we can’t ensure specific results on Pinterest, we can only enhance our chances. If you’ve already done the research, I suggest you include a few of your well-chosen hashtags at the end of your Pin description.
But for newbies? Don’t spend a lot of time worrying about Pinterest hashtags.
There are more important Pinterest tasks.
Why Were Hashtags a #PinterestFail?
Many online marketers, especially those who use Pinterest a lot, predicted that hashtags would be a failed experiment.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s certainly a good idea for companies to try things out. But in this case, it didn’t pan out.
Why didn’t hashtags work for Pinterest?
1 | Pinterest is a visual search engine. Pinners search with keywords, not hashtags.
Do you go on Google and search hashtags?
I hope you said no lol.
Pinterest users never caught on to searching by hashtags, or even clicking them to peruse the hashtag feed.
However… now Pinterest is actively trying to be more of a social network that keeps users on its platform, with things like Idea Pins. So it’s possible they’ll try to revive hashtags!
2 | Hashtag search results were heavily weighted towards spammers.
Why?
Because the results were chronological – most recent at the top. And spammers specialize in cranking out lots of Pins – using lots of hashtags! So they always have loads of recent Pins.
And Pinterest couldn’t figure out how to identify my spammers’ pins in real time, as they were posted.
Thus, spam (aka stolen Pins) dominated the hashtag feeds.
So TBH, marketers are glad Pinterest hashtags have withered away.
And re stolen Pins, check out the new Content Claiming Portal.
Why Aren’t my Pins Showing Up in the Hashtag Feed?
This section is rather irrelevant since there’s not a hashtag feed per se since late 2020. Left here for historical reference.
In 2018, Pinterest said that hashtag feeds would surface the freshest content first – but you may notice that the feed isn’t showing you all Pins with that hashtag, in completely chronological order.
One woman noticed that most of her Pins were missing, and some of the content was old. She emailed Pinterest and got this response:
What shows up when a hashtag is searched has to do with a lot of different factors including a Pinner’s interests, searches, past history of engagement, etc as well as a vast majority of other signals. In general, our goal is to show the right Pin to the right Pinner at the right time. That means that it actually isn’t possible to force show a specific Pin of yours for the hashtag.
So like I said above, we can’t make Pinterest bow to our wishes – we can only follow suggestions and see what works best for our own accounts.
Pinterest First Hinted about Hashtags in August 2017
I first heard of this in a blog post. The author Vanessa was fortunate enough to visit Pinterest HQ in San Francisco.
She met with Jackie, a Partner Manager.
Jackie explained that brands really wanted to utilize hashtags because they had become so commonplace on other platforms and basically the language of #marketing. Pinterest has started utilizing hashtags in the search as well as linking pins with the same hashtags. Her Pinterest marketing strategy was to include at least one hashtag after the end of the pin description that most strongly represented the purpose of the pin. source
I read that August 21. Then on August 23, I was on a webinar with Pinterest and Curalate.
Tiffany Black is the Head of Content Business Development and Corporate Development at Pinterest. During the webinar, she mentioned both keywords and hashtags, and fielded a couple pointed questions later.
As far as hashtags, she recommended we use a few, relevant ones in our Pin description. “Don’t get carried away or use 100.”
There’s now an official recommendation from Pinterest on number to use: no more than 20. Heck, that’s a lot!
Jackie had said 1 or 2, but apparently that wasn’t an official Pinterest stance.
The full quote from Tiffany:
It is true that In the past, I think that we were dissuading people from using hashtags. We are actually changing that such that you can and are often benefited in the future by using hashtags. As far as best practices go, the rule of thumb is use authentic hashtags but don’t keyword stuff essentially. So I know on other platforms you can often see people putting 50 or 100 hashtags on something.
It’s not the volume of hashtags that’s really useful, it’s actually making sure you are using the hashtags that people will likely be searching for. So not trying to do like 100 because actually doing too many will decrease rank in some capacity because we will think it is possibly spam.
So I would say we haven’t figured out exactly what the right number is. I don’t think that we will probably come out with an exact number but you know keeping it reasonable and using ones that are relevant to the content and authentic is the way to go.
When asked whether keywords needed to be used in a sentence, Tiffany responded that it’s “preferred” to be conversational, but not critical enough to go edit past Pin descriptions.
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Conclusion: Should You Use Pinterest Hashtags in 2023?
Do Pinterest hashtags work in 2023?
Pinterest no longer actively recommends hashtags. But the platform is always changing!
With the recent focus on keeping Pinners on Pinterest, it’s always possible that Pinterest will try to revive hashtags.
In the meantime, be sure to create eye-catching Pins, so that yours is the Pin that gets clicked in search results or hashtag feeds.
Improve your Pin descriptions, using keywords and calls-to action.
I don’t recommend spending a lot of time on hashtags.
Try them if you’ve already researched them. And let me know if you A/B test!
Have you tried hashtags on Pinterest? Let us know a comment.
I’ll keep this post updated on how to use Pinterest hashtags. Pin it, and check back!
Susan says
Hi Louise, thank you for this very informative article. Something I’m unclear on though, is when pinning Instagram posts to Pinterest, do the hashtags used in the IG post (up to 30 of them) transfer to Pinterest, and will they function as hashtags there?
Currently, you can easily click on your IG post, tap the 3 dots in the top right corner of it, click the link symbol and it’s copied to clipboard. You then go into Pinterest, hit the plus sign to create a pin and paste the link. The IG post and its caption are pinned and that’s it! Trouble is, you can’t see the hashtags, as you’ve mentioned, so I’m wondering if they still function on Pinterest and, if not, since Pinterest doesn’t prompt you for any hashtags or keywords when pinning this way, how does it know what your image is of and how will people find/see it?
Lastly, I read that there should be a Pinterest icon on the Instagram posts that have been pinned, but none of mine have that, and I’m wondering if you know why that might be.
Thanks again for all of your help!
Louise Myers says
In the past when hashtags were clickable on Pinterest, yes hashtags from IG posts worked.
If you want to pin the same image you used on IG it’s best to upload it to Pinterest, write a good pin description, and add a link to your site.
As far as the P icon, I doubt this is true. Bottom line, in my opinion there’s little reason to be concerned about pinning from IG.
Elias Isaac Quezada says
Hi
Thanks for the article, but I’m still very confused. I just opened my Pinterest account because I opened a Zazzle store and someone recommended me to pin my products on Pinterest. I’m new to Pinterest and I have seen about 10 videos on how to type tags in my pins but I can’t find the spot or slot to type my hashtags. Now, according to your article, it’s not necessary to add hashtags on Pinterest but I still want to know where to type them just in case. Like you said, times change. Another thing is the keywords, where do those go? Do the keywords get automatically transferred from the Zazzle platform to Pinterest? I don’t see any keywords on my pins. How are people going to find me? I hope you can answer these questions please. I’ve invested alot of time watching YouTube videos and asking questions and nobody responds. Please help me.
Louise Myers says
Nothing appears “on” the pin. If Pinterest picks up copy from the Zazzle page, it would be in the title and description. You may need to click on the pin to open it to see these. Then click the 3 dots to access Edit Pin if it doesn’t have the keywords you want.
Keywords go in the title and description. For more, learn how to get found on Pinterest or how to write a Pinterest description.
Bob Galka says
Hi, and thanks for all this info… but I still have some confusion.
To start with I am only conserned with searching my own pins, pins that i have collected from other’s boards. Most of the pins that I have collected when edited have no descriptions. What I want to is use the search for a filter so see only images for a certain features… for example one of my interests is native american pottery.. so I have collected images from ancient to modern native tribes from north and south america… so say I am starting a project of animal effigy pots that are painted black and white. I tried entering some hash tags in to the description of a few pins, but when I tried searching my pins I got results of pins that have no descriptions. So my issue is that I am not a business I am not trying to get people to see my pins.. I don’t mind if they see them and copy them… I just want to set up my pins for flexible searches…
How do I do that. ;O)
Louise Myers says
In the search bar, you can choose to search “all pins” or “your pins”… that should help.
Of course you’d have to have those keywords in the pin descriptions for them to surface. Pinterest can kinda-sorta read images but you may be expecting more than it’s capable of.
Or you could just sort your pins onto different themed boards when you save them – probably easiest.
Katie says
I found this article after having trouble with Pinterest and Instagram posts. When I pin a link from Instagram, I’m unable to edit the description. It automatically uses the Instagram description so I can’t put in “keywords” Do you have any advice on this?
Thanks!
Louise Myers says
In general I advise people not to pin from Instagram (so I didn’t even know this happens). Do you have a particular goal for pinning from IG? And is it working?
Sorry I can’t help with your original question though!
Adrianne Jerrett says
This is a super useful post. Thank you Louise . Unfortunately the hastag generator doesn’t work on my app. Maybe it’s an Android or location thing (I’m in New Zealand) ?
Louise Myers says
This feature does seem to come and go. Pinterest is de-emphasizing hashtag use now.
Seb says
Thanks for the article,
I am confused however by the image of your stats. You have 20K daily viewers on your Pinterest account, and 240K daily viewers on louisem.com ? Is that correct? So only a very small portion of the viewers you get on your website come from Pinterest?
Louise Myers says
Yes, only a portion of my website traffic is from Pinterest.
Depending on your niche, the age of your site, and how good you are with search engine optimization, this % will vary. Newer blogs in the cooking and craft niches will get a larger % of their traffic from Pinterest (if they use it well).
As they become more established and work with SEO, they can grow their organic traffic from Google and other search engines, while maintaining and hopefully growing their Pinterest traffic as well.
Some people focus on the %, but to me the important thing is the amount of traffic and that you keep growing.
Ada says
I downloaded pinterest app on.mobile to try the hashtag function
I wrote as mentionned underdescription part the hashtag starting with # and the wanted word but it doesnt show any “link” (blue link)or reaction. Usuallyif enter hashtag words it llalso appear related hashtag words. But it doesnt. I tried with famous words sich has christmas etc..
Does the hashtag still function on mobile? If yeshow..m.m
Louise Myers says
Pinterest is testing and changing up a lot of things right now. Sorry but it’s impossible to say from one day to the next what’s working, is under testing, is glitchy, or has been abandoned.
I’ll update this post if Pinterest says anything definitive!
Ada says
thank you~~~~understand on it. ><
Lilian Chime says
Does (spammy site name and link) site also allow me to get other application that is not seen in google play store? How does it work and will it be safe to install this to my phone? Is it safe and free of viruses? I just want to confirm and erase my worries. It seems that this will be very helpful for me, especially if I need some applications that I need for school. I hope someone can enlighten me here. Thanks.
Louise Myers says
No, I would avoid that type of site, just as I avoided letting you put a link to it here.
Kelly says
Thank you for this incredibly helpful post!
Orana Velarde says
I have a question about hashtags in descriptions and rich pin descriptions.
The description I write (along with the hashtags) doesn’t show up in the ACTUAL description. That is always the Rich Pin meta description. The description with hashtags shows up as a “share”. I don’t get it.
Even if I EDIT the description, the rich pin meta description doesn’t change.
Louise Myers says
I’ve had this same issue. Apparently Pinterest is changing things up. In some cases, people who have written to Pinterest had NO description showing at all, and were told this could not be restored, but the info is still “there” for search purposes.
Rosie says
I’m still not getting the option to add hashtags or my own descriptions. I’m using the same laptop computer as always, and the same browser as always (Firefox). Nothing has changed at my end. I’ve now contacted Pinterest three times to get an answer to this issue, with no success – I get back completely irrelevant replies. Now at the point where I’m tearing my hair out, as it’s seriously affecting my business.
Louise Myers says
There’s a problem with descriptions right now. Pinterest is experimenting with making them not visible, but says they still work for search optimization.
Rosie says
The option to add descriptions and hashtags has completely disappeared as of a few days ago. All pinterest allows me to do now is upload a photo. Has this happened to anyone else…?
Louise Myers says
I haven’t heard this exactly, but the pin description when repinning on mobile is in a different position.
I still have all the options when uploading a photo, as of yesterday.
Kim says
Thank you for a great article!! I did not even know you could use hashtags in Pinterest. Now I do!!!
Louise Myers says
You are welcome 🙂
Tom Madewell says
I have had success editing old pins to update or improve hashtags.
Louise Myers says
Good to hear.
Bob says
Attempting to follow your example, I cannot get a count of hashtags on my pins (new or existing.) I’ve tried it in two different browsers, with and without the Pinterest app. Has Pinterest disable this feature?
Louise Myers says
Just tried and it works for me. It won’t work on existing Pins at all. I see it pinning from Chrome, whether using the Save button that appears on the image, the Pinterest browser extension, or my social share button.
Kathy Dady says
Two questions: Firstly, is there value in putting hashtags in Board descriptions? If so, should these be within the sentence structure or at the end of the description?
Secondly, as I’ve just learnt about hashtags, can I hashtag my posts retrospectively (items for sale)? Will they show up on peoples’ latest feed using the newly added hashtags? Hope that makes sense. Thank you for any advice given.
Louise Myers says
Hashtags in Board descriptions? There doesn’t seem to be a benefit at this time, however if you’re rewriting the description anyway, you can add a few at the end.
Can I hashtag my posts retrospectively? I wouldn’t bother, as they seem to only surface new pins.
cedric says
I created a pinterest account 3 weeks ago and just found out about the hashtags. I have my own ecommerce store with my own images (not always as sometimes I use the supplier photos).
If I put 500 keywords including 20 hashtags…my pin will not show in any hashtags. I have to put 10 to 15 words maximum in my description before the hashtag (a hack I found it to update the description and make it longer).
Also, I can publish each day one pin by hashtag…if I had 2 pins with the same hashtag, only my first pin will show with this hashtag.
Anyone knows if this is normal or if it is because my account is new ?
Louise Myers says
It’s probably normal. Pinterest doesn’t want you to take over a hashtag by adding it to dozens of pins a day. Also, it’s no longer a strictly chronological feed.
I recommend using way less than 20 hashtags though!
Karen says
I can’t add hashtags below my image I want to post now even on my computer and the #”s don’t auto populate anymore below with popularity . Has this changed recently?
Louise Myers says
It’s still working for me in Chrome for Mac. I tried 4 different ways to save and it worked on all of them.
Mom says
I just started to promote my travel blog and nothing is going on yet, hope these hashtags will enlight the way to my funny website, thank you for sharing these informations. Is there any other way to rich more followers at Pinterest?
Louise Myers says
There’s definitely a lot involved in Pinterest marketing.
Jennifer Hanford says
Hi Louise, this information is very useful. I am experimenting with hashtags on pins and have only been using the relevant ones that pop up automatically as suggestions. I’ve noticed recently that some of them are no longer auto-populating (example, #lunch and #easyrecipes). Is it okay to use hashtags that are relevant but not auto-populating to help drive traffic to our site? I am unable to find anything definitive on this.
Thank you!
Louise Myers says
Yes, that feature is buggy anyway. I don’t find it helpful even when it works! Will be updating this post as time permits.
No Name says
Hi Louise, thank you for a good blog. However, I don’t know what’s wrong, but I can’t see the list of blue colored and hyperlinked hashtags rolling down with the number how many times they are being used in the description box like in your screenshot. And in search results, where my pins do appear, it seems like only the hashtags used in the beginning of description are hyperlinked on others pins, but as you said it’s better to place them at the end, but they are not hyperlinked. Has there been some changes in Pinterest since that?
Louise Myers says
Yep, not sure what’s going on with this but *for the most part*, they’re no longer hyperlinked. Probably some changes afoot. I suspect they’ll return.
The numbers still come up for me most of the time. This is in the Pin description when I Save a new Pin. I do not see this when editing a Pin description.
Kelly says
Thank you for taking time to put this hashtag information together Louise!
Louise Myers says
You’re welcome, Kelly.
BIRGIT OTTOSEN ANDREASSEN says
HOW CAN U TELL IF YOU HAVE EARNED ANY MONEY YOU SURE KNOW HOW MUCH YOU SPEND ADVERTISING THAT’S NO SECRET I PAY OVER 100 DOLLARS A WEEK PLUS SO IT WOULD HELP TO KNOW IF I AM MAKING OR BREAKING THE BANK AS A PENSIONER THAT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW PLEASE LOUISE CAN YOU HELP ME THERE PLEASE LOUISE THANK YOU.
WARM REGARDS
BIRGIT
Louise Myers says
Hi Birgit,
I don’t advertise so I can’t help you with this.
Margaret Melville Hugo says
I am wondering if one can or should add # to other people’s content as it might bring people to your own boards? I have recently discovered Tailwind & it has got me thinking in so many new directions & you have the option to change the pin description.
Louise Myers says
My opinion is that it’s a little shady to use / edit others’ content for your own gain.
Gavin Evans says
This is really very useful as the previous best practice on using Pinterest that I have recently read made no mention of hashtags whatsoever. I am pretty new to this platform so am trying to arm myself with the best information possible. Thanks very much!
Louise Myers says
There’s definitely lots of outdated info around. Best of luck on Pinterest, Gavin!
Susan says
Hi louise,
I’ve used 4-6 hashtag per-pin.. there also some pins that i didn’t put hastag on it. But i see no significant difference between with or without hashtag. Funny thing is, everytime i put common hashtag for my products like #christmasgift #holidaygift #metalflower etc, it won’t appear on that hashtag result no matter how many times i re-pin the picture to freshen the pin or clicked the hashtag, I even tried to search it from different Pinterest account but still my pin won’t appear on the result. But it will likely appear on an uncommon or more specified hashtag like #daisies #ironrose or a typo #christmastgift. It is kinda frustated me off.. so now I’m working more on keywords on the description than the hashtag.
Louise Myers says
Definitely work more on keywords. But also be aware that just bc *you* don’t see your Pin in the hashtag feed doesn’t mean others won’t. You might reread the section “Why aren’t my Pins showing up in the Hashtag Feed?”
Nzekwe Godswill says
hi.. it is very good and helpful article.
thanks for sharing, Thanks a lot
Marina Barayeva says
Thank you for the post, Louise!
Why do you think hashtags may badly affect the brands?
Louise Myers says
Glad you liked it, Marina!
Possible spam, and that tags lead people away from your Pin. The best Pins and most frequent Pinners will probably win at hashtags.
Chris Syme says
Good info Louise. The thing I like to remember about Pinterest is that it is not as much a social media channel as it is a search engine. I think keywords are much more powerful than hashtags will ever be there. I try and make sure the titles of pins and boards have at least one keyword in them that people will be using to find my info. Keywords function the same on Pinterest as they do on Google–both single words and long tail searches can be relevant. Just my two cents.
Louise Myers says
I agree that keywords are incredibly powerful on Pinterest, and have been for the past few years.
The fact that Pinterest is recommending the use of hashtags makes me wonder if they’ll continue to prioritize keywords.
Kristi Kirk Trent says
Hi Louise! Hi Chris! Yet another in an endless series of helpful posts, Louise. Thank you 🙂 I want to be sure I understand you correctly. To clarify: Keywords and #hashtags are mutually exclusive? A #hashtag is not just a keyword with an additional sorting/search function? If I include #OKC in a description but omit ‘OKC’ without the pound sign, my pin will not show up in a search for ‘OKC?’
Louise Myers says
Hi Kristi,
I’m not sure that Pinterest is sure exactly how this works yet! It’s still so new to them. There may be some overlap between keyword and hashtag searches. Not certain.
In any event, I recommend using both keywords and hashtags that people are actually searching for. “OKC” seems like a brand acronym and I’m not sure how many people would know of it.
Kristi Kirk Trent says
Hi Louise! All of this change has left me so discombobulated! I sincerely appreciate you taking time to reply. I’ve wondered about the use of keywords vs #hashtags on various platforms for some time, actually. I’ll take your advice and use a mix of both on Pinterest. Thankfully, it seems they have a generous character limit. (20 #hashtags!? LOL)
‘OKC’ is an acronym and popular #hashtag for ‘Oklahoma City.’ If you live here, you definitely search for it. But I see how it could easily be obscure for non-locals. Thank you for the heads-up.
~ Kristi Kirk Trent
Louise Myers says
Got it! I thought it was specific to your business. Makes sense to me now 🙂
Mellisa Louise says
Always wondered about hashtags on Pinterest. I use a few but haven’t really noticed if it made my stats better or worse. It’s good to know they might be more useful in the future though.
Louise Myers says
Pinterest has made a complete turn from their previous recommendation. Hope you see a change for the better!
Susan Hook says
Thank you for the up-to-date information! I was dismayed to hear the news, hoping that Pinterest would continue to hashtag free. I have nothing against the hashtag (I use them with reckless abandon on Instagram!) however, Pinterest has a different “vibe” than IG and hashtags are not necessary given the power of the Pinterest search bar. I was taught to use the “@” symbol before my Pinterest name in the description, so that is the only thing I add. Is that necessary or helpful Louise? Should I consider switching to a hashtag? #susanhook888
Louise Myers says
Hi Susan,
I don’t use a brand hashtag anywhere and really don’t see a need for it. Nor do I understand why you would tag yourself in the description? Your account name is already a clickable link attached to the pin. It seems a touch spammy. What was the reasoning behind this?
If you want to use a hashtag, I’d recommend doing what Pinterest says and use one or two highly relevant ones.
Jarvee says
There are making so many changes, it’s a huge challenge to keep up with all of that.
Will have to try it out and see if I will be happy about it.
Thank you for the news Louise!