Pinterest isn’t just a social platform—it’s a visual search engine where people actively plan purchases. For Shopify stores, that makes it one of the most powerful long-term traffic and sales channels available.

But success on Pinterest isn’t automatic. Many Shopify stores treat Pinterest like Instagram – and end up abandoning it before their Pins have time to gain traction.

If you want Pinterest to become a consistent source of traffic and revenue, here are the key do’s and don’ts that separate successful Shopify brands from everyone else.

The Do’s

Do Treat Pinterest as a Search Engine

Pinterest is fundamentally about search intent.

People come to Pinterest looking for things like:

 

• • “Minimalist living room decor”

• • “Fall outfit ideas”

• • “Healthy meal prep”

• • “Wedding guest dresses”

Your Pins should target specific keywords that shoppers search for.

Best practice:

 

• • Use Tailwind‘s keyword research feature to find the top keywords for your products

• • Include the main keyword in your Pin title and Alt Text

• • Include other keywords in your Pin description

• • Add them naturally in the destination page

When Pinterest understands what your Pin is about, it can show it to the right people.

Do Link Pins to Valuable Pages on Your Shopify Store

Every Pin should lead somewhere useful.

Good destinations include:

 

• • Product pages

• • Collection pages

• • Gift guides

• • Blog posts featuring your products

• • Tutorials or inspiration content

Pinterest favors Pins that lead to useful, high-quality pages, and users are far more likely to click when they feel they’re getting real value. Content-rich pages rank better on Pinterest than more generic ones, such as your Shopify store homepage.

Do Focus on Shopping-oriented keywords

Pinterest scores all keyword searches for their shopping intent – is this person likely looking for products or information and inspiration?

High shopping intent keywords will show mostly Pins linking to products in their search results.

Lower commercial intent keywords will show Pins linking to blog posts or articles.

The challenge: Pinterest doesn’t publish these shopping intent scores.

But Tailwind has access to the data – and shows you clearly which keywords indicate shopping behavior.

Just look for the shopping cart icon to know which keywords are likely to bring shoppers to your Shopify store. The darker shopping carts indicate very high intent scores.

Pins linking to your product pages should always target high shopping intent keywords.

If you write a blog for your Shopify store, you can target non-shopping keywords with those posts. They will be more likely to surface for searches that Pinterest considers more informaitonal or inspirational in nature.

Do Create Pins for Every Product and Collection

Many Shopify stores only Pin a handful of products.

Instead, treat Pinterest as a distribution engine for your entire catalog.

Examples:

 

• • Pins for each product

• • Pins highlighting collections

• • Gift guides featuring multiple products

• • Inspiration content using your products

The more high-quality Pins you create, the more opportunities Pinterest has to distribute your content.

Do Create Multiple Pins for the Same Product

One product can generate many different Pins.

You can vary:

 

• • Images

• • Text overlays

• • Angles

• • Keywords to target for different use cases or seasonal contexts

For example, a single candle product might become:

 

• • “Cozy fall home decor ideas”

• • “Self-care night essentials”

• • “Minimalist living room decor”

• • “Gift ideas for candle lovers”

This gives Pinterest more opportunities to match your content with different searches.

To create many fresh images for each product without spending a ton of time or money, use Tailwind’s SmartPin tool.

You tell it which pages on your Shopify store you want to promote and each week it’ll automatically draft a new Pin for each page, matching your preferred design style!

Do Publish Consistently

Pinterest rewards fresh content over time.

Rather than publishing a large batch once and disappearing, it’s better to add new Pins consistently.

Many successful Shopify stores publish 5-10 Pins per day.

That may sound like a lot, but with the right tools and systems you can get there pretty easily.

Pinterest gives preference to sites that publish content regularly, so think about spreading out your content evenly, based on the size of your store. 3 Pins per day is better than dumping 30 Pins once a week.

In Tailwind, set your SmartSchedule to the number of Pins you want to publish each day.

Then, you can just add Pins to your queue and they’ll automatically be spread out over time.

Consistency helps Pinterest understand your account and keeps your content circulating.

The Don’ts

Don’t Treat Pinterest Like Instagram

This is one of the biggest mistakes Shopify stores make.

Pinterest users aren’t primarily looking for:

 

• • Brand updates

• • Behind-the-scenes content

• • Lifestyle posts without context

They’re looking for ideas, solutions, and inspiration.

Focus your Pins on:

 

• • Products people search for

• • Solving a problem

• • Inspiring a project

• • Helping someone discover a product

Don’t Use Square Images

Pinterest is optimized for vertical content.

Square images take up less space in the feed and tend to receive fewer clicks.

Best practice:

 

• • Use vertical Pins

• • Ideal ratio: 2:3 (1000 × 1500)

This format stands out and performs far better in the Pinterest feed.

Don’t Skip Text Overlays

A beautiful product image alone often isn’t enough.

Text overlays help users instantly understand:

 

• • What the Pin is about

• • Why they should click

• • What value they’ll get

Examples:

Instead of just showing a product photo, try:

 

• • “Beach Day Outfit”

• • “10 Cozy Living Room Ideas”

• • “The Perfect Fall Candle”

• • “Small Apartment Storage Hacks”

Clear messaging dramatically improves engagement, which is a key factor in Pinterest’s ranking algorithms.

Don’t Pin Only Product Pages

Pure product Pins can work—but Pinterest thrives on inspiration and discovery.

Many successful Shopify brands create Pins that lead to:

 

• • Blog posts

• • Style guides

• • How-to articles

• • Gift guides

• • Inspiration boards

These pages introduce shoppers to your products in context, which often leads to higher conversion rates.

Don’t Ignore Keyword Research

If you don’t know what people search for, your Pins are guessing.

Keyword research helps you discover:

 

• • What shoppers want

• • How they describe products

• • Which ideas are trending

For example, people might search for:

 

• • “boho bedroom decor”

• • “neutral kitchen design”

• • “capsule wardrobe outfits”

When your Pins match real searches, they’re much more likely to be discovered.

Tailwind’s keyword research tool is unmatched – you can quickly find the best keywords in your niche, save them, and use them to create new Pins.

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Don’t Expect Instant Results

Pinterest works differently than most platforms.

Content often takes weeks or months to gain traction, but when it does, it can drive traffic for years.

That’s what makes Pinterest so powerful.

Instead of chasing quick wins, focus on:

 

• • Publishing consistently

• • Improving your Pins over time

• • Expanding your keyword coverage

Many Shopify stores find that Pinterest becomes one of their highest ROI marketing channels over time.

The Bottom Line

Pinterest can be an incredible growth channel for Shopify stores—but only if you treat it strategically.

The stores that succeed tend to:

 

• • Think like a search engine marketer

• • Publish Pins consistently

• • Target real shopper keywords

• • Create visually compelling content

• • Build libraries of Pins over time

Do this well, and Pinterest can become a long-term source of traffic, customers, and sales for your Shopify store.