Want traffic from Google? Start with images and Pinterest

Images are positioned, drive traffic, and reinforce the message. In many sectors, they are the first response that Google shows, even before text. And if you can build a solid visual presence, today you have a better chance of standing out and even stemming the decline in clicks to sites caused by AI Overview and other SERP features.

Pinterest is the most underrated channel for capturing these spaces: it doesn’t follow social media logic, it doesn’t focus on engagement, it doesn’t force constant publication, but it rewards relevance. Content lasts, gets indexed, can climb the SERP, and stay there for months. Above all, it speaks the language of images, which drives a growing portion of online searches.

This guide aims to give you an integrated strategy to transform your visual content and your Pinterest profile into a powerful engine of traffic and authority. We won’t just talk about alt text, but also about the psychology of visual search, thematic image clusters, and how to dominate Google to become the answer, even before the user starts reading.

Why SEO visibility today depends on images

The eye decides before the mind, and the eye guides navigation. These are not “clichés,” but scientific evidence: in less than 100 milliseconds, the human eye selects what to look at, while the brain takes just 13 milliseconds to start processing an image.

Your next click? It could come from a Pin

With SEOZoom, you can track, measure, and enhance every piece of visual content in the SERP

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This is why online reading is different: users do not stop to consider whether content is relevant, but rather glance at it quickly, and this influences all digital behavior—clicks, scrolling, dwell time, trust.

And the choice almost always stems from a visual element. Google has adapted its architecture to this dynamic: visual snippets, carousels, product cards, AI Overview, each section is designed to offer a visual response. Because images influence perception, guide intent, and reduce the time between search and interaction. They are strong signals: they speak of context, quality, relevance. They don’t support the content: they are the content.

And in SERPs, they are actual results and have a dedicated space, often before text links. Almost one in four queries shows content from social media, with Pinterest appearing in 14% of cases, with a higher average position than TikTok, Instagram, and even Facebook.

In short, visual SEO is a strategy, and images can no longer be treated as decorative elements or “extras.” They are a gateway, provided that each one is readable by search engines, consistent with intent, and optimized for speed, context, and semantic impact.

The importance of visual search

Today, visibility comes from vision, we can say. This urgency is dictated by three unstoppable forces that are shaping the web: the biological behavior of users, the evolution of Google’s interface, and the very nature of artificial intelligence.

1. Images direct attention and structure the online experience

The speed with which the human eye identifies a shape, contrast, or color exceeds any other mode of processing.

This is a physical and biological reality: it takes the brain only 13 milliseconds to process a visual stimulus, and the eye needs less than 100 milliseconds to select what to look at. In other words, visual information does not need to be decoded: it is grasped instantly in a time infinitely shorter than that needed to read and understand even a headline.

In a crowded space such as SERP or social feeds, images are what attract the eye, even before the user reads. They do not compete with text: they pave the way. They serve to filter, select, and identify relevant content in a matter of seconds.

This biological advantage has a direct impact on user behavior, which follows the same principle: look, select, act. Visual content increases the likelihood of clicks, improves brand memorization, and accelerates the transition from discovery to action. If the image is clear, consistent with intent, and designed to answer an implicit question, attention turns into clicks, clicks into permanence, and permanence into a potential conversion.

It is easy to understand why images have become a crucial lever for guiding interaction in the early stages of research: on Google, on social media, in editorial content, everything starts with a visual stimulus.

Neuroscientific data has enormous marketing implications: the human brain is a visual machine, and in the economy of attention—in a context of “endless scrolling” on social media and in SERPs—an image is capable of communicating a concept, an emotion, and a value in a fraction of a second, overcoming the cognitive barriers that a wall of text, however well written, inevitably imposes.

2. Google’s new SERP: an increasingly visual mosaic

Open Google and do a search: as you know, the old list of 10 blue links is a distant memory. But perhaps you haven’t noticed how much Google has transformed search results into an increasingly modular and visual interface. Image boxes, carousels, visual sections, AI Overview, and social results occupy growing portions of the page, particularly for informational, exploratory, inspirational, or product-, design-, food-, travel-, event-, and tutorial-related queries.

When a person is looking for inspiration, visual examples, or practical comparisons, long texts are not enough: Google intercepts this need by offering increasingly visual layouts. It’s not just about Google Images, but a complete architecture that integrates carousels, visual snippets, product cards, thumbnails, and—increasingly—content from Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok.

In iconographically dense queries, the content that gains visibility is that which is capable of representing information in a visual, direct, and contextualized way.

This evolution perfectly reflects the technical data analyzed in the Web Almanac 2024: images are now the most common content on the web, present in 99% of pages, and represent the main visual element for over 68% of the sites analyzed. Modern formats, lazy loading, and responsive optimization are growing, but remain largely underutilized. This shows that the real web is already visual, even where content producers are not fully aware of it. Visibility today is mainly determined by what is shown before it is even read.

3. AI thinks in images: providing visual data to algorithms

The artificial intelligence models that power modern search are increasingly multimodal. We have moved from algorithms capable of understanding words to those capable of understanding entities, and now to the integration of visual signals. They don’t just “read” text, they “see,” analyze, and interpret the content of images in an integrated way.

Above all, images are associated with concepts, compared to those from other sources, and evaluated in terms of consistency with the search intent. For multimodal AI, an effective image is not only well-made: it is informative, thematic, and complementary to the text, thanks in part to clear structured data and a relevant textual and semantic context.

This transformation has a direct impact on SEO. In practice, you can provide Google with a visual “second opinion” that confirms and enriches what you have written, increasing the likelihood that your content will be considered a comprehensive and authoritative source and may appear in AI Overviews, visual boxes, or related suggestions. And if the content is uploaded to a platform such as Pinterest, Google’s algorithm amplifies its dissemination thanks to the authority of the domain and the accompanying information structure.

Pinterest is a visual search engine, not a social network

We have mentioned it twice already, and not by chance: Pinterest is the undisputed leader in visual search.

Many make the strategic mistake of considering it a social network like Instagram or Facebook, but it is not and does not behave like a closed archive: Pinterest is a search engine, where users do not come to connect with friends, but to actively plan, discover ideas, and find inspiration for their future projects.

It is an image search system that responds to visual intent, reasons by topic and keyword, positions content over time, and generates lasting organic traffic. The interface is designed to suggest, inspire, and accompany. Each Pin can be found through internal search, but also through Google, where Pinterest regularly conquers space in SERPs, often ahead of official sites.

The visual content published on the platform has a solid structure, is organized by category, enriched with metadata, and lives much longer than any social media post.

The dominant role in visual discovery and inspirational search

As always, let’s talk numbers.

With over 518 million monthly active users (Statista data, Q2 2025), Pinterest has cemented its position as a global inspiration engine. The demographics are particularly interesting for marketers: although there is a female predominance (about 60%), the male audience and Gen Z are growing the fastest. But the key figure is another: Pinterest users have a very high propensity to purchase and plan their spending well in advance.

One statistic stands out above all others: 97% of searches on the platform do not include a specific brand. Users are not looking for a name, but an idea, a solution, a visual reference. This makes Pinterest an ideal resource for capturing attention in the early stages of the funnel, when the need is latent and there are still no explicit preferences.

Those who position themselves here not only capture clicks, but also build familiarity, recognition, and presence in visual exploration paths. And with an SEO-friendly structure—based on keywords, topics, tags, and evergreen content—every Pin can become a strategic entry point.

The psychology of the Pinterest user

Pinterest users don’t behave like they do on other social networks. They don’t passively scroll or browse distractedly, but save, organize, and compare. Pinterest users are “planners” who save (“pin”) ideas for future projects: home renovations, trips, weddings, new wardrobes, recipes to try.

Pinboards become visual maps of desires: a trip to take, a renovation to start, an event to prepare for. Each piece of content enters into a decision-making process with real value, and planning brings with it a logic of selection, choice, and action. This means that their search intent is inherently commercial and long-term — people here are open to discovering new solutions.

In this context, Pins take on an operational value. They are not just inspirations, but stages in a purchasing decision process. Each image can be the one that prompts a visit to a website, the consultation of a guide, or the search for a product. It is no coincidence that the best content in terms of performance is that with a strong link between visuals and informational intent.

Those who work on SEO have a double opportunity here: to enter the user’s journey much earlier than the conversion phase, and to do so with content that Google rewards for relevance, consistency, and structure.

Pinterest and Google: a symbiotic relationship with effects on visibility

Intercepting a user on Pinterest means anticipating, even months in advance, the moment when they open Google to search for “buy [product].”

This is the crucial point that unites the two worlds. Pinterest Pins have an incredible and almost unique ability to rank at the top of Google Images and Google universal search. Thanks to the very high authority of the Pinterest domain and its image-optimized structure, Pins act as “Trojan horses.” For many informational, creative, and inspirational queries (such as “forearm tattoo ideas,” “long hair wedding hairstyles,” “how to decorate a small balcony”), Google’s SERP is literally dominated by results from Pinterest. Leveraging Pinterest means, in fact, using a platform with very high authority to “rent” a prestigious space on Google’s SERP, bringing traffic and visibility.

Ivano Di Biasi already told us this in his speech at SEOZoom day 2025: Pinterest is the social domain with the highest organic visibility on Google, surpassing giants such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Its presence is constant and transversal, thanks to the visual and thematic nature of its content.

Specifically, it is present in 14% of cases where social content appears in SERPs, has an average position of 4.63 (the highest among all social networks), and is, according to the data, one of the main response vectors in Google SERPs, both in traditional formats and those generated by AI.

Analysis with SEOZoom makes this dominance even clearer, which is reflected both in the Italian-based site (it.pinterest.com) and the main international domain (www.pinterest.com).

The Italian version is currently ranked for over 3 million keywords, 875,190 of which are on the first page.

The first three Google results alone contain over 330,000 keywords, followed by another 257,000 in positions 4-6 and almost 285,000 at the end of the top 10.

This is a strong and widespread distribution, reflecting the visual nature of searches in sectors such as furniture, cooking, fashion, DIY, weddings, tattoos, and beauty, even for visual and high-volume keywords. The queries covered reveal a lot about user behavior and Google’s choices: Pinterest appears in first position for searches such as “good morning,” “good night images,” “short haircuts,” “easy drawings,” “long hair hairstyles,” “summer nails,” “small tattoos,” but also for keywords related to holidays, greetings, GIFs, and maps.

Analysis using SEOZoom’s exclusive AI Overview feature reveals that the domain also appears in 2,716 keywords within Google’s AI boxes, with a total of 4,717 mentions and ranking as the top source in 2,089 cases. The average position is 5.65, with a visibility rate of 9.53%: a sign that Pinterest not only manages to be present, but also anticipates textual content in the new AI interfaces.

The global domain www.pinterest.com also shows signs of great strength: almost 3 million keywords ranked, with 505,578 in the top 10. Mentions in AI Overview, although lower than in the Italian version, are still significant: 931 keywords, with 1,294 mentions and 353 cases in which it is indicated as the first source.

But its uniqueness lies in the type of queries intercepted: while the Italian domain covers general or seasonal keywords in Italian, the international domain ranks for more visual, social, and international searches. Among the top positions are keywords such as “men’s haircuts,” “women’s short hair,” “wet koala,” “the rock meme,” “doodling art,” “Christmas pixel art,” “cute wallpaper,” “couple tattoos,” and “Lake Garda map.”

Pinterest dominates entire semantic families linked to visual discovery, managing to:

• generate traffic even from seasonal or cultural searches (“Befana images,” “Happy February Thursday”)
• intercept evergreen content (“infinity tattoo,” “egirl outfit,” “long hair hairstyles”),
• occupy prominent positions even in new AI interfaces.

The pattern is clear: for every visual need—from haircuts to GIFs, from greetings to decorative inspiration—Pinterest is the first result. This applies to both generic searches in Italian and visual searches with international, aesthetic, or social-friendly terms. And the two domains work in a highly complementary way: those looking for graphic inspiration, visual ideas, or lifestyle content (whether in Italian or not) will almost always find Pinterest in first place, thanks to its presence across both the .com and .it domains.

This means that pins published on the platform can climb Google and occupy spaces that other content, even well-optimized content, cannot reach. And once there, they can stay there for a long time, generating stable and lasting traffic.

The strategic ABCs: optimize the images on your site (but do it intelligently)

It’s time to move on to the practical part.

Before flying high with advanced strategies, you need to make sure the foundations of your house are rock solid. We won’t repeat the usual shopping list of all the tips for SEO image optimization, but we will give each “old” tip a new strategic interpretation, geared towards communicating effectively with both humans and artificial intelligence in 2025.

Optimizing an image today means working on three levels: semantic, structural, and technical.

It requires the ability to translate graphic content into a useful message that is readable and valuable to viewers, but also to those who analyze it: Google, AI, and crawlers. Each image can contribute to positioning only if it is placed in a clear, accessible, and technically consistent semantic context.

Let’s start with the ones you upload to your website—because yes, having a website is still useful if you know how to get the most out of it.

• Alt text and title: don’t describe, contextualize for AI

The alt text attribute is not only used by screen readers for accessibility (which remains its primary and very important function) and is not just a formal obligation to be carried out distractedly.

It is a tool of meaning.

It is how we explain the subject, action, and context of the image to AI and Google, helping them recognize its elements and connect it to an intent.

Instead of a lazy “woman running,” a strategic alt text would be “woman in sportswear running at sunset on Rimini beach, wearing cushioned running shoes for long distances.” You are providing entities, places, and attributes that enrich the semantic understanding of the page.

• File name and URL: clear signals of relevance

The same applies to file names and image titles: every word is an opportunity to reinforce intent and relevance. Google doesn’t just look at the image: it analyzes the content that names it, describes it, and presents it. If well accompanied, the image can enter visual boxes, AI results, and product cards.

A URL such as /images/woman-running-beach-running-shoes.jpg is a much stronger and cleaner signal than /uploads/IMG_8765.jpg. It’s the basis of SEO hygiene: make sure every part of your code speaks the language of your content.

• Structured data (Schema.org): speaking the language of search engines

This is the next level, the one that sets you apart from the crowd. Implementing structured data means translating your content into a format that Google understands instantly, without ambiguity. For images, you can use the Schema Markup for ImageObject to specify the license, author, and other details (through specific tags such as license, creator, contentUrl, caption, thumbnail, representativeOfPage…). But the real power lies in nesting images within other types of Schema, such as Product (to show photos of a product), Recipe (for photos of the finished dish), or Article, dramatically increasing your chances of getting visual and eye-catching rich snippets in SERPs.

For many industries, especially food, travel, fashion, and physical products, this is a direct lever for gaining visual space in SERPs.

• Modern formats and speed: user experience as a ranking factor

Today, loading speed is non-negotiable. Heavy images kill performance and ranking, and if they are slow or incompatible with the device, they will never be seen.

Data from Web Almanac 2024 shows that images are the heaviest element on the page in most cases and are directly responsible for the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) in 68% of situations.

To improve speed and performance, it is no longer enough to “compress a JPEG”; modern formats are needed: WebP and AVIF are replacing JPEGs for compression and quality. Files must be served via srcset and sizes attributes to ensure mobile responsiveness and adapt to the user’s device, and loaded progressively with loading=lazy to avoid initial blocking. An important exception is the main image on the page, which is often responsible for LCP: in that case, no lazy loading and declared dimensions (width, height) to avoid layout jumps.

Using a CDN to distribute images from a server geographically close to the user can also minimize latency.

Visual optimization is not only about the content of the image, but also how it is perceived, displayed, and evaluated by the system.

The advanced playbook: building visual ecosystems to dominate SERP

Now that we have a solid foundation, we can move on to the strategies that really make a difference. The goal here is not to optimize a single, isolated image, but to think in terms of a visual ecosystem to respond holistically to user intent and occupy as much space as possible in the SERP.

A fragmented approach no longer works—uploading a generic image to a page is not enough to gain space in the SERP. Images are nodes connected to different search intents: every thematic cluster, every strategic content, every high-potential page should have multiple optimized images, designed to cover families of queries and conversion goals.

Pinterest reinforces this approach: it rewards visual consistency, content variety, and their relocation within thematic boards. Google does the same, attributing value to pages that offer articulate and relevant visual answers. The result is an SEO strategy that is not limited to a single image, but develops as a visual infrastructure capable of generating traffic, authority, and engagement.

• Create “thematic image clusters”: target families of related queries

A good rule for semantic SEO is to adopt a “cluster” approach: each piece of strategic content should be accompanied by a series of images optimized to cover search variations.

If you write a guide on “how to make tiramisu,” don’t limit yourself to a photo of the finished dessert, but create and optimize a cluster of images that covers the entire process. For example

1. A photo of the ingredients (optimized for “tiramisu ingredients”).
2. An image of ladyfingers dipped in coffee (“how to wet ladyfingers”).
3. A photo of the mascarpone cream (“mascarpone cream recipe”).
4. The assembly in cups.
5. The final sprinkling of cocoa powder.

This type of design improves the semantic coverage of the page and transforms your article into a comprehensive visual resource, capable of ranking for an entire family of related queries and communicating to Google a deep expertise on the topic.

Each thematic cluster can also be reposted on Pinterest, where organization by board and tag further reinforces relevance and discovery.

• Designing for visual intent: the right image for each stage of the funnel

Success is also a matter of “timing,” of having the right image at the right time, because not all images serve the same purpose. Some inspire, others inform, and still others facilitate purchasing. Correctly mapping the visual funnel means associating the most effective type of content with each stage of the customer journey:

1. Awareness → Infographics, mood boards, inspirational compositions that simplify complex data and help explore possibilities, styles, and solutions. But also relevant memes to capture attention on social media.
2. Consideration → Visual comparison tables, illustrative product photos (in use and in context), thematic galleries, graphs to support arguments: all of these encourage evaluation between alternatives.
3. Decision → High-definition product images, detailed photos from every angle, unboxing videos, visual reviews, and demonstrations that support the choice.
4. Advocacy → User-generated content (UGC), visual testimonials, shared boards on Pinterest: these are a powerful form of social proof, amplifying trust and generating organic content.

Knowing how to build this visual path improves not only visibility but also the brand’s ability to guide the user toward action, enhancing each image based on its role.

• Infographics and visual assets: levers for link building and thematic authority

Images also work outside the site and are one of the most powerful and elegant link building strategies. Well-designed visual content can attract natural backlinks, editorial citations, and spontaneous sharing; infographics, in particular, transform complex articles into easily reusable assets (one of the mantras of content repurposing). The process is simple and ingenious:

1. Write an in-depth article rich in original data (e.g., “The organic wine market in Italy in 2025”).
2. Extract the 5-6 most shocking or interesting pieces of data and turn them into a high-quality infographic, with your brand clearly visible.
3. Publish the infographic within the article and provide an “embed” code to facilitate sharing.
4. Create a dedicated Pin on Pinterest for the infographic, carefully optimizing it and linking it to the original article.
5. The Pin starts to generate traffic, gets shared, and ranks on Google. Other bloggers and journalists, looking for data for their articles, find your infographic and use it, linking to your site as the official source.

You’ve just turned an image into a backlink and authority machine. Blogs, newspapers, and industry aggregators often prefer to repost content that is ready to use: offering effective and accessible visualization increases the chances of getting mentions, citations, and inbound links. In this way, visual SEO contributes not only to direct visibility but also to the growth of external authority.

SEO for Pinterest: the complete workflow for turning Pins into traffic

And now let’s move on to the second part of image optimization, going off-site and focusing on the role of Pinterest as a visual search engine—but above all on the prominence with which the content of this platform emerges on Google, as you have seen.

Every element published on the platform—from the profile name to individual Pins—can be indexed, positioned, read by Google, and shown in search results. Boards become thematic categories; Pins behave like evergreen pages; the profile itself acts as a vertical homepage, linkable to the site and fully optimizable.

And often the visual content published here gains visibility before textual content, because the platform is structured to respond to concrete search intent: every title, description, image, tag, and metadata provides semantic signals that Google interprets and values.

In addition, Pinterest has a very high organic retention rate: well-constructed content can generate traffic for months, intercepting new queries over time and strengthening the brand’s presence.

• Your Pinterest profile as your brand’s homepage

Your Pinterest profile is the first thing Google reads when it indexes your space on the platform. You should treat it as if it were your homepage: clear, themed, consistent.

Optimize it by including your main keywords in the profile name and biography, clearly describing who you are, what you do, and who you are targeting. Verify your website to unlock analytics and advanced features.

A well-maintained profile becomes an organic showcase, positionable on Google and Pinterest itself, capable of generating direct traffic and fueling branded searches.

• Boards as strategic categories

Boards are not random folders, but the equivalent of blog categories – they organize content and represent actual indexable pages.

The title of a board is treated by Pinterest as an SEO title, and is also read by Google: study it by doing keyword research. If you have a furniture website, don’t create a generic “Living Room” board, but focus on something more descriptive and useful such as “Industrial Style Living Room Ideas,” “Modern Living Room Lighting,” “Minimalist Wall Units”—long-tail keywords that reflect a specific intention and respond to a clear need.

Don’t forget the board description: 250–500 characters with related keywords, natural phrases, and a focus on usefulness. Each board can become a visual hub that intercepts queries and reinforces the overall consistency of your profile.

The more vertical and well-curated your boards are, the more likely they are to appear in SERPs for exploratory searches—both on Pinterest and Google.

• The perfect Pin: a mix of visuals and SEO

Every Pin you publish is a miniature landing page and has enormous potential: it can climb Google Images, enter the visual boxes of the SERP, and generate direct traffic from Pinterest. But to achieve these results, every element must be designed according to the following characteristics:

1. Vertical format: the ideal ratio is 2:3 (e.g., 1000×1500 pixels).
2. High-quality image: the resource (photo, graphic, or video) must be high-resolution and aesthetically flawless, consistent with the intent of the content.
3. Overlay text: add a clear and legible title directly on the image to capture attention and immediately communicate the topic of the Pin. Make sure it is also legible on mobile devices, with visual CTA and semantic relevance.
4. Optimized title: you have up to 100 characters to write a title that contains your main keyword.
5. Detailed description: you have up to 500 characters, use them all. Write a natural and useful description, with complete sentences, including your primary, secondary, and related keywords.
6. Destination link: make sure the link leads to a relevant and valuable page on your site.

The image drives clicks, the title guides intent, the description increases internal visibility, and the link transforms interaction into qualified traffic. A well-structured Pin can generate results even months after publication.

Rich Pins: superpowers for your site

Rich Pins (or Detailed Pins) are the technical link between your site and Pinterest. By enabling this advanced feature, Pinterest can automatically extract metadata from your pages and add it to Pins in a visible and structured way, automatically updating them whenever the content on the site changes, maintaining consistency and relevance.

There are three main types

1. Article Pins: add the title, meta description, and author.
2. Product Pins: add the price, availability, and product name.
3. Recipe Pins: add ingredients, cooking times, and servings.

Rich Pins are much more professional, generate a higher CTR, and keep information up to date.

Tools and measurement: how to track the ROI of your visual strategy

A strategy without measurement is just a hope; to understand what works and optimize your efforts, you need to rely on data.

Pinterest and SEO, a winning combination

Monitor URLs, keywords, and visual boxes where your content actually appears.

Find out more

This also applies to visual content, which has a lifecycle that needs to be designed, published, and monitored.

In practical terms, to understand whether an image, board, or Pin is actually generating visibility, you need to combine data from different sources: Pinterest’s internal metrics, Google traffic analysis, and SEO tools that intercept the presence of visual URLs in SERPs.

Therefore, you need to learn how to master Pinterest Analytics to understand user behavior on the platform and identify the Pins that get the most impressions, clicks, and saves; Google Analytics 4 to isolate traffic from Pinterest to your site, thanks to the use of UTMs and custom filters. And, of course, SEOZoom, to understand if your strategy is bringing organic results (and if you are making the most of visual opportunities).

Pinterest Analytics: analyze the effectiveness of Pins with impressions, clicks, and saves

Pinterest provides a native tool to monitor the performance of visual content on the platform. Pinterest Analytics allows you to understand which Pins generate the most interest, which boards perform best, and which formats work best.

The metrics to watch closely are:

• Impressions: how many times the Pin has been shown.
• Save rate: how much has been saved by users (indicator of perceived value).
• Outbound clicks: how many users clicked on the link to visit the external site.

This data helps you optimize your creativity and copywriting, but also identify content with SEO potential, i.e., content that could also gain visibility on Google.

GA4: how to track traffic coming from Pinterest to your site

Google Analytics 4 is the essential tool for measuring how much traffic Pinterest is actually generating to your website.

In the traffic sources report, you can filter “Pinterest” as a referral or direct source, evaluating:

• number of sessions
• user behavior (duration, page views, conversions)
• landing funnel.

To increase accuracy, you can use UTM parameters in the links in your Pins, so you can also track the performance of individual content and seasonal or thematic campaigns.

SEOZoom: analyze the SEO performance of your Pins and boards on Google

With SEOZoom, you can monitor the SEO effectiveness of content published on Pinterest (not just your own), analyzing the visibility it gets directly on Google.

You can start with URL Analysis by entering the direct link to a Pin or board. You will obtain clear and up-to-date data on:

• Keyword rankings and related metrics (volume, intent, difficulty)
• Ranking trends over time
• Distribution across Google pages (1st, 2nd, and so on)
• Presence in AI Overview boxes or visual results
• Similar content in SERP.

Alternatively, you can analyze the domain it.pinterest.com to find out which subject areas are getting the most visibility and which keywords dominate the visual space of the SERP.

SEOZoom is the ideal tool for integrating Pinterest data with Google data, transforming images into trackable, optimizable, and strategic assets.

Images, SEO, and Pinterest: everything else you need to know

SEO in 2025 is, and will increasingly be, intrinsically visual. Ignoring this channel means leaving a huge and growing slice of traffic, visibility, and authority to your competitors. As we have seen, Pinterest is not just another social media platform to manage in your spare time, but a powerful visual search engine that acts as an accelerator for your visibility on Google, allowing you to enter your customers’ decision-making process much earlier than anyone else.

At the same time, images are not just accessory content: they are answers, semantic signals, gateways to SERPs and users’ decision-making paths.

A strategic approach to images transforms what many consider a cost (the creation of visual content) into a high-yield investment. Every image, every infographic, every Pin you produce, if optimized correctly, becomes a digital soldier working for you 24/7, guarding the SERP and capturing your audience’s attention in the blink of an eye.

This guide has analyzed the strategic value of Pinterest for SEO, with a practical, integrated, and data-driven approach. But there are still some operational questions that often arise, especially for those who want to leverage images strategically to capture traffic, gain visibility, and increase clicks. Here is a selection of useful FAQs to clarify any remaining doubts and optimize each step.

1. Do images really affect SEO ranking?

Yes. In addition to improving the user experience, images contribute to Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), one of the Page Experience factors. Furthermore, when optimized with alt text, structured data, and consistent naming, they help Google better understand the content and enhance it in the results.

2. Can Pinterest help dominate SERPs?

Yes. Pinterest often appears in Google results for visual queries, especially in sectors such as interior design, cooking, fashion, and DIY. Pins and boards can rank high in SERPs, even above text content.

3. How can I use Pinterest to increase clicks to my site?

By creating Pins with vertical images, optimized titles, keyword-rich descriptions, and consistent links. Pinterest is designed to drive external traffic: each Pin can be an entry point to a strategic page. Evergreen content generates traffic for months.

4. How do I monitor traffic coming from Pinterest?

Google Analytics 4 allows you to isolate traffic coming from Pinterest. It is advisable to use UTM parameters in Pin links to track the performance of each campaign or piece of content in detail.

5. What types of images get the most clicks?

Vertical images that are well lit, with bright colors and a clear visual focus. Inspirational compositions, step-by-step visuals, and photos in context work very well. Overlay text can increase CTR if designed well.

6. Is it possible to do SEO on Pinterest even without a website?

Yes, but in a limited way. You can gain visibility within the platform, but if you don’t link your Pins to a website, you miss out on the opportunity to generate traffic and conversions. Pinterest can be a great SEO ally only if it is part of an integrated strategy.

7. How can I tell if one of my images is getting clicks from Google?

You can use Google Search Console to monitor traffic coming from Google Images. If the page where the image is published receives visits from visual queries, that’s a clear sign. With SEOZoom, you can also check if that URL is ranked for keywords that trigger image boxes.

8. What do I need to do to rank my image on Google?

You need to publish it on a relevant page, use descriptive alt text, insert structured data (Schema.org), use modern formats (WebP, AVIF), and ensure fast loading times. The image must be semantically relevant to the target keyword.

9. How do I know if my image has ended up in AI Overview?

With SEOZoom, you can check whether the URL containing the image is present in one of the AI Overview tabs. The data is updated periodically, with specific indicators in the URL Analysis section.