How I Spy on Pinterest to Get More Traffic to My Sites

The simple process I leverage to target content Pinterest is showing to new users.

Today, I’m going to share with you a tactic I use to help me get more traffic from Pinterest…

But first, it’s important to know why I started doing this tactic.

In Pinterest’s 2024 Q3 earnings report, they said it now has 522 million monthly active users, up from 465 million around the same time last year.

This means they’ve added 57 million new active users to the platform.

That’s 4.7 million per month.

That’s 156,000 people per day signing up for Pinterest and becoming what they consider an active user.

That’s a lot of people signing up for Pinterest every day, which is why I like to pay close attention to their new user onboarding workflow from time to time.

Why?

Because I see them change and tweak their onboarding quite often.

And I want to see what interests they’re recommending and what are those first pins they’re showing to a brand new user.

I think all of this leaves clues about what kind of pins the algorithm really likes.

Then, I adjust my strategies based on new clues I’m finding.

New tactic

Recently, I signed up for a new Pinterest account on mobile, in the Safari browser and I was presented with an onboarding screen I don’t think I’ve seen before…

Instead of the typical screen asking me to select the things I’m interested in, like this:

I was presented with a screen asking what I’m in the “mood to do” like this:

Perhaps you’ve seen this before?

I haven’t.. but I also haven’t been as consistent in doing this.

It’s an interesting onboarding workflow and a reminder of how focused Pinterest is on showing pins that are actionable. But also, things got interesting after I selected some random things I was in the mood for…

Next, they wanted me to select some images for each interest category I had selected previously, which looked like this:

I’d imagine doing this extra step will give Pinterest more data points on me as a user and what kind of specific interest or pin styles I prefer.

Do I like abstract art or real images? Or both?

Do I like sheep or a panda? Both?

Do I prefer to bake muffins or cake? All of the above?

So what can we do with this?

Well, I recommend you create a new Pinterest account on different browsers/devices/apps, and selecting the interests or things you’re in the “mood to do,” and see what the top pins are in the home feed.

Click each one and look at the pin title, description, if it has a link or not, the asthetics, etc..

I like to take the first 25 ranking pins and drop them into this tool to get their stats, such as how many saves they had, the date it was pinned, etc.

Like with my testing this week, I noticed Pinterest is favoring fresher pins created within the last 3 months or so.

Some pins are a few years old but with thousands of saves.

I also like to look at the annotated interests for these top pins because they give me “shoulder interests” for me to make sure I cover.

For example, for one new Pinterest account, I selected home decor as an interest I wanted to follow and the top pin had an annotated interest I’ve never seen before called “delicate room aesthetic.” Here it is:

So now, I’ve got some fresh ideas on blog posts and pins I can create that will start targeting these new interests I discovered.

This will allow my pins to reach not only existing Pinterest users but also newer ones who have engaged with a pin that had these annotated interests.

Targeting these shoulder interests from top pins will help spread your reach to new users (within the interest graph).

Lastly, one other thing I highly recommend you do is create multiple new accounts and each time, select a different decade for the birthday (which Pinterest now requires).

You might be surprised to find different interests shown for the user to select from or in a different order.

Think about your target audience… that ideal person who comes to your site.

What’s their age and gender?

I’d select those during the Pinterest onboarding process.

Then, once the home feed populates, go to the first 25 pins and study them (logged out).

If you use this Pinterest tool, simply paste the URLs of the 25 pins into the Top Pins tool to see all the hidden stats and, most importantly, the top annotated interests.

✅ Action steps

1. Create a New Pinterest Account: Sign up for a fresh Pinterest account using different browsers, devices, or apps to see if you get presented with different onboarding workflows.
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2. Pay Attention to Onboarding: When signing up, take note of the interests or “mood to do” options Pinterest asks you to select. This will give you insight into what’s trending and which types of pins Pinterest is prioritizing.
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3. Analyze the Top 25 Pins: Once your home feed populates, examine the top 25 pins shown to you. Look at the pin titles, descriptions, aesthetics, and whether or not they include links. This will help you understand what types of pins are performing well.
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4. Use PinClicks for Deeper Insights: Drop the top 25 pin URLs into the Top Pins tool to gather hidden stats like saves, pin dates, and annotated interests.
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5. Identify Shoulder Interests: Take note of any new or unique interests that appear in the top pins’ annotations (e.g., “delicate room aesthetic”). Use these shoulder interests to inspire new content ideas for your blog or Pinterest strategy.
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6. Experiment with Multiple Accounts: Create multiple Pinterest accounts, each time selecting different decades for the birth year and analyzing the different interests shown during onboarding. Tailor these findings to match your target audience’s demographics.
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7. Tailor Content for New & Existing Users: Use the data from your testing to create pins and blog posts targeting both newer and existing Pinterest users, especially focusing on the interests that are trending for new users.