The House Directory
Home decor is one of the biggest niches on Pinterest, but with platform changes over the years, like the addition of shoppable pins, things don’t always run smoothly – even for sites that seem perfect for Pinterest.
When Angel from The House Directory first reached out, she was struggling to keep up with it all, and the account wasn’t gaining any real traction. Growth was inconsistent, mostly dropping month to month, with the occasional spike.
With regular blog posts and a huge directory of amazing home décor and interior design brands, content wasn’t the issue. So what was causing her stagnant growth? This was an interesting one, so let’s take a closer look!
Angel’s Goal
Angel’s goal was to increase outbound clicks to The House Directory blog, directory members’ pages and boost overall brand awareness.
Now, let’s look at where the account was at the start and where it is now, seven months later.
Then
While the account was active, it lacked a clear strategy, and a few outdated methods were still in use. The website hadn’t been properly claimed, making it hard to track analytics accurately, as everything was getting merged together.
Here’s where the numbers were when I first started:
- Impressions: 340,601
- Engagements: 13,702
- Saves: 2,067
- Outbound Clicks: 781
Throughout
Our first step was to claim her website, so Pinterest could distinguish her content from third-party content. This made previous analytics unreliable since they combined both, which can make a big difference on some accounts.
Next, we optimised her boards and created a content plan so she could write blog posts aligned with trends and seasons.
When I dug deeper into her top-performing pins, I noticed a sudden drop in a large chunk of them. At the time, Pinterest was experiencing a keyword glitch, which caused top-ranking pins to disappear from searches. Based on the analytics, this looked like the culprit.
These glitches are usually temporary, so we decided to wait it out while consistently pinning high-quality content to bridge the gap.
But within a couple of months, the account continued to drop:
- Impressions: 248,373
- Engagements: 8,700
- Saves: 1,356
- Outbound Clicks: 653
A screenshot from analytics showing an unusual drop for an ever green high performing pin
With a solid strategy, seasonal targeting, and optimised boards, there was no reason for the account to still be declining. So, we tackled the ongoing keyword glitch, which was impacting many accounts, as reported by members in my free Facebook group.
Step one was to identify all the affected pins, save copies of the images, and create fresh ones for the same URLs. We then gave each set of pins new titles and descriptions and recirculated them to the updated boards (including the original, older pins).
This meant Pinterest now had new pins and fresh data tied to the affected URLs, in hopes it would “unstick” the glitch and get the content circulating again.
Now
As you can see from the graph below, it worked!
Within a few weeks of recirculating old content, we saw improvements, and at the seven-month mark of working with Angel and The House Directory, here’s where the account is now:
That’s a 117% increase in outbound clicks compared to the same month last year and a 107% increase from where we started!
If it hadn’t been for the glitch, I’m confident these numbers would be even higher. But this is the reality of Pinterest, and it shows why trusting the process is so important when you have a strong strategy.
Stats start picking up once we started recirculating older content
Why It Worked
Improved optimisation always makes a difference. Pinterest is a search engine, so if you’re missing key info in your board and pin titles or descriptions, it’s going to struggle to distribute your content properly.
With the keyword glitch, this account had other issues slightly out of my control, but by recirculating old content, it brought new life to it, which helped catch Pinterest’s interest again.
Tips For The Reader
- Track your best pin
- Make sure your account is optimised
- Don’t be afraid to recirculate old content that does well. Despite what many people believe, this won’t hurt your account if done well.
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What Angel Says
It was an absolute pleasure working with Leah over the past six months. Whilst we did encounter some challenges due to the glitches on the Pinterest platform, Leah was incredibly responsive and patient throughout the process. Taking the time to research, analyse and explain everything in detail and managed expectations effectively and we’re very happy with the outcome.
We understand that Pinterest is a slow burner, and for the time being we’ll continue in a holding pattern so we can complete a new website build. However, once the site is ready, we plan to work with Leah again.
