This post has been updated with the most accurate and recent changes Pinterest has made & I plan on updating this blog post once new updates are revealed.

The Pinterest algorithm for 2020 has made so many changes that it has caused a lot of stress and confusion to many bloggers and business owners who use the platform to grow their online visibility and gain new followers, clients, or customers.

A lot of people have noticed since Pinterest has been making shifts to their algorithm, it has resulted in a lot of drops in monthly viewers, saves, and link clicks. 

Because of this, I felt it was important to write a blog post about the new Pinterest algorithm changes for 2021 and what you need to know so your Pinterest account and audience can grow.

I’d like to welcome you to the new Pinterest 2.0.

I recently heard this term from one of the most well-known names in the Pinterest game, Meagan Williamson.

I’m in her Pin Potential Membership (affiliate link), which is one of the BEST Pinterest memberships available to date.

On one of her monthly calls, she dubbed the term “Pinterest 2.0”, which I thought was genius because as much as I’m a die-hard Pinterest fan, I have to admit… Pinterest has changed.

Yes, friend. Gone are the days where you would throw a pin on Pinterest with a few keywords (if any), and Pinterest would send you a million monthly viewers to your website.

Well, not a million exactly - maybe a good thousand or so, but I’m sure you get my point.

Pinterest has shifted and changed according to many, many different reasons - too much to get into in this blog post, but I do want to fill you in on what those changes are, what they mean for the growth of your account, and what you need to do moving forward if you plan on using Pinterest to expand your reach and gain new leads to your business.

The Pinterest Changes You Need To Know

A lot of people don’t realize that as time goes on, Pinterest will start to shift and change much like all other social media platforms do too. 

If you look at any social media platform out there, they definitely are not the same, even as little as two years ago.

Just recently, Instagram started rolling out Reels and the ability for accounts to add links to their stories, despite their follower account.

Much like Instagram, Pinterest has taken notice of thousands and thousands of its users’ feedback and data and has made some pretty big changes.

Although I’m sure you’ve heard me say this before, Pinterest is not a social media platform but actually a search engine, so if we are using Pinterest to grow our business and gain new leads, we need to use the platform like we use Google.

If you are using Pinterest for your business and have noticed a huge shift (decline) in your reach (impressions, saves, and outbound clicks), it’s because Pinterest has taken notice of the feedback it’s received from its users who want to use the platform in a way that ultimately, make more sales.

So if you’ve noticed the changes to your account yourself or have not jumped on Pinterest to know what the changes are, let me fill you in below.

Idea Pins

Idea Pins (formerly called Story Pins) are the newest feature to Pinterest that is taking the platform by storm.

Idea Pins are a way for creators to share their unique stories and ideas with their audience in a way that is engaging, inspirational, and allows creators to build and form an engaged community.

Now when you want to publish content on Pinterest, you have the option of creating an Idea Pins with up to 20 slides that can be a mix of video, static images, text, and photos.

Pinterest has said they were looking for a way for creators to share more behind-the-scenes action of their lives, business, or both - and many creators have said they have seen a dramatic boost in their engagement, comments, and likes of their Idea Pins.

But, as amazing as Idea Pins are, they lack the ability to send your audience to your website, landing page, or product page, which many business owners and bloggers have been upset about.

Driving traffic to your website is one of the main reasons why people use Pinterest, so what’s the big deal with Pinterest not providing you with linking abilities?

Well, one thing is that Pinterest wants to keep your audience engaged with your content more, and the best way to do that is to keep them on the platform (or your account) longer.

If you keep your audience on your account longer and they become intrigued by what you offer, they will be more inclined to go to your website and check out what you have there.

The debate on this one is out with bloggers and business owners, but the truth does lie within the analytics.

Those creators who do open up their world to their audience more tend to see higher engagement and traffic analytics than those who do not.

Still not 100 percent convinced?

Ask any food blogger or home decor blogger what their engagement has been since they’ve implemented idea pins - I’m sure they would probably tell you it’s changed the game for their business!

The fact is: Idea Pins are here to stay and Pinterest is making it their goal to continue to improve the performance of Idea Pins.

Currently, right now with Idea Pins, they do rank in search much as a static pin does, they never expire, and they continue to build upon your brand awareness. But some of the downsides are that you cannot use Idea Pins for Promoted Ads, nor can they be uploaded to Tailwind as Story Pin, but this may change in the near future.

Pinterest ‘Shop’ Feature

If you have noticed now on Pinterest, there is a “Shop” feature tab.

Pinterest has recognized that there was a rising demand for shopping on the app, that allows users to shop for up-to-date inventory from retailers.

Because of data that Pinterest knows of its users, the platform reaches about 77% of women between the ages of 25-54 in the US.

Because 84% of Pinners use Pinterest when considering a product or services to purchase but are undecidedWomen tend to be the main purchasers of a household so Pinterest is trying to take lead increase their users experience on the platform.

This is letting you know that Pinterest is starting to a bit of their focus on e-commerce (or in many ways, Pinterest is wanting you to choose their platform if you want to make a purchase).

These are the Pinterest analytics that really matter

This step is something I find a lot of business owners overlook, mainly because they really don’t understand what it is they are looking for but I’m here to tell you that with the new Pinterest changes, you should be looking more so at your analytics to understand your audience.

As small business owners, we have to analyze our data on a quarterly or monthly basis to get a better understanding of our business environment and efforts.

Recently, the Pinterest analytics terminology has changed & it’s something to keep in mind moving forward with your Pinterest marketing strategy.

If you go into your Pinterest Analytics tab >> Overview, you can select your date range for 30 days or from the first of the last month to the first of the next month to get an oversight of how your Pinterest account has been for the last month.

Here are some general Pinterest analytics to keep in mind:

Impressions:

• This measures the number of times your pins were shown on screen to anyone in your audience. High impressions indicate that your pins are well received, are on-trend, or that your keyword strategy is in alignment with the Pinterest algorithm.

Saves:

• Saves are the number of times someone saved your pin to their boards. The higher the number of saves indicates to Pinterest that your content is of high value.

Outbound Clicks:

• Outbound clicks (formerly Link clicks) show you the number of clicks you received on your pin URL. When you have a good click-through rate, this tells you that you are reaching your content is resonating with your intended audience and that your call-to-actions are working if you are looking at conversion as one of your main goals.

Engagement:

• Engagement on Pinterest is being seen as most important with the new Pinterest algorithm changes. Engagement is a measure of how many times someone has clicked or saved your pins. This now matters because Pinterest wants to see that your content is well received on the platform. If it is, then they are more likely to distribute your content to your relevant audience and boost your brand awareness & website traffic to your business.

The importance of Fresh Pins

Once you’ve taken a critical look at your Pinterest account and gathered your baseline information that’s detailed in the Pinterest Account Audit Roadmap, I want you to look further at your Pin designs.

Pinterest defines a fresh Pin as a new image or video that has not been uploaded and seen by Pinterest’s AI (artificial intelligence).

For example, Pinterest would see a new blog post or product page with a new URL as “fresh”, hence, the more new or “fresh” your content is, Pinterest will prioritize that content for distribution.

In addition to that, Pinterest also sees new Pin images count as “fresh” content even if it's from an older blog post you’ve previously posted - hence, you providing newer fresh Pins for your pre-existing blog posts that your new followers would be interested in.

I should also mention Duplicate Pins, as this practice of pinning the same pins to multiple boards over and over again is being seen as a no-no with Pinterest & could actually hurt your Pinterest account.

This old practice can be seen as spammy and risk you losing followers or having your Pins reported. The point is to provide a great user experience for your audience and Pinning the same image multiple times every day does not account for that.

What this all means is that the importance of newer, fresh content is crucial to your Pinterest strategy.

If you’re serious about improving your Pinterest growth & reach and are looking for new Pinterest templates for your content, I highly recommend my 10 Free Lifestyle Pinterest Templates for Canva that you can download and start using right away! These templates were created with you in mind if: 

• You love a clean aesthetic.

• You want a Pinterest template that showcases your work beautifully.

• You want something that is uniquely catered to your creative individual needs.

• You want to customize your Pinterest graphics in a quick, efficient manner.

If you want to grab the attention of your audience, start using these 10 Free Lifestyle Pinterest Templates for Canva, just sign up below and you’ll get the link sent straight to your inbox.

Less focus on Group Boards and more on your own boards

In closing, it’s important to continually look at what’s working with your Pinterest marketing strategy if you really want to grow, go viral, sell your products or book our your services. If you are committed to your Pinterest marketing growth, remember to focus on:

• Creating fresh pins for our new blog posts, pages, or products

• Looking at our Pinterest & Google analytics

• Assessing what’s working and where improvements can be made

• Recognizing that social media changes are inevitable but the changes will provide our audience with the best user experience to increase engagement and growth of our brand and business.