Howdy there!
My name is Angela and I’m a 32-year-old Blogger and Illustrator living in Bangalore, India with my 2 adorable dogs.
I’ve been blogging full-time for 10 years.
I run (and have sold) multiple websites all in different niches.
And in 2023, due to some nasty Google Core updates, us bloggers lost all our traffic.
It was devastating, but after brooding for a bit – I turned to Pinterest.
I even started a new website so I could grow that while experimenting with different strategies and I was able to grow it quite nicely.
I also was able to get it into Mediavine within the 1-year mark.
Lookie lookie.
You can read these updates in this blog post.
Now, here’s another website’s Pinterest account that I started posting on in the last 70 days:
I will talk more about this in a bit.
But, here’s my free email course if you’d like to learn more about getting traffic from Pinterest.
Okay, before that really quick, let’s get the affiliate disclaimer out of the way.
This post may include affiliate links, which means clicking on them might result in me making a commission at no extra cost to you. This allows me to run this blog ad-free and make content accessible for you for free. I also use this to pamper my beloved pups.
Initially, I was using another keyword tool,PinInspector.
It’s an offline keyword tool that sits on your computer and it was definitely a great option while also being cost-effective since it’s only a 1-time payment.
But then PinClicks came along and blew me away.
It gave me so much more and I was ready for the upgrade.
I didn’t have anything to lose since the tool offered a free trial.
I didn’t expect much when I took the free trial but after seeing all the lovely features, I immediately signed up for the paid plan.
If you’re reading this review because you want to know if this tool is for you, then you’re in luck! I’ll cover:
- What exactly is PinClicks
- How I use it to Create Viral Pins
- How I use it to analyze my competition
- How to use it to get Keywords
- And so much morrrrrre.
Let’s get into it.
This is not a sponsored post in any way. I am writing this blog post to help my readers who’ve asked me to review this tool.
What the devil is PinClicks?
PinClicks is a keyword/topic and growth tool specifically designed for Pinterest users by Tony Hill.
Whether you’re a blogger, small business owner, or content creator, this tool helps to skyrocket your Pinterest growth by offering insights about Pins on Pinterest.
If I were to sum up why I love PinClicks, it would be:
- I can quickly copy-paste any Pin’s URL and see all the relevant information like the number of Saves, Annotations Pinterest has assigned to the pin, and when it was created.
- I love how I can scrounge the top pins for any keyword and this helps me understand what type of pins people like for those keywords.
- But my favorite part is going to Account Explorer and copy-pasting anyone’s account URL and seeing their top pins (by saves) and top keywords that they rank for! As of now, there is no other tool that does this!
You can also take their free 5-day trial. No card information is required.
Okay, let’s get into it.
How I Use PinClicks to Grow My Blog Traffic
1. Using Pin Stats
Although I dive into more methods in my eBook – The Secret Recipe to Pinterest Traffic, I want to talk about a few ways I use Pin Clicks that you might also find beneficial!
Let’s say I notice a pin in my competitor’s profile (who is in the same niche as I am) and it’s got many reactions.
Clearly, the pin is doing well.
This is the only way to tell on the platform if a pin is doing well because saves and repins are hidden.
I want to see what keywords it’s ranking for so I can write a blog post on the same topic as well.
So, I’d plug it into the Pin Stats tool and see the annotations it’s currently assigned.
In case you’re confused about Annotations, here’s a brief explanation.
When you pin a pin to Pinterest, Pinterest “reads” the pin and tries to analyze what it is about – it tags it with some keywords based on
- The words in the title, description, and pin image,
- The images on the pin
- The way users interact with it and what boards people save it to
- + lots more.
This process is called annotation, where the algorithm tries to figure out the most relevant interests your pin aligns with.
These annotations help Pinterest associate your pin with specific interest categories that users engage with.
These annotations are important – because if we tailor our content to match popular annotations, we can grow our blogs VERY, VERY FAST.
Let me show you an example.
Let’s say I notice a certain pin has many “hearts.” If it has more than 2-3 hearts, it means people read the blog post, came back, and hearted the pin – this is sufficient to say that the pin/topic is super popular.
You can do this with your own pins or someone else’s pins.
For this example, let me take one of my pins that did pretty well this Christmas. It’s now January, so it’s died down.
But I want to replicate this process and write more such posts.
I’m going to plug the URL into pin clicks and hover over the annotations.
I can now click on each annotation and see the keyword volume on Pinterest.
It also brings up the top pins ranking for that keyword.
“Hot Romance Books” looks awesome.
And the volume is pretty good!
So, I can now write another post on this – and in the description, I’m going to add all the related keywords I just got from the above screenshot.
This helps me duplicate the success of pins that are already doing well – by going after similar keywords, we’re spreading the net wide and covering so many topics!
This ensures I never run out of topic ideas.
2. Using Top Pins
This is super simple and easy to use.
After you do keyword research in PinClicks by going to “Keywords” and finding a keyword that has good volume, you just go to Top Pins under PinClicks.
I liked the idea of “glass skin on dark skin” and I went and checked out all the top pins.
Note how beautifully you can see all the stats of the top pins for that particular keyword which include:
- Pin Saves (to learn how to get people to save pins)
- The position where it appears in the Search
- Date created (super useful to find out how long it’s been viral)
- Reactions
It’s super fast and clean.
The best part?
You can hover over any pin and see all the annotated interests that Pinterest assigns (within its algorithm) to the pin – so now you can use these as keywords in your Pin Design/Pin Description/Pin title!!!
This is SOLID GOLD information yo.
I then proceeded to write a blog post using these keywords from Pinterest and added some affiliate links to skin care within the post.
I won’t go into detail about writing a blog post because I already have a post here that teaches you how.
Make sure it has a nice introduction, very well-formatted points, a short conclusion, and 3-5 links to relevant posts at the bottom of the blog. Add your images and affiliate links and publish the post in your blog.
After you’ve studied the top pins (for beauty, the image is always striking and very large with a text overlay), go to Canva and create 3-4 pins for free.
You don’t need Canva Pro but I love it because it’s fast and it’s way too easy to use. You can use the free version if you want to minimize your costs.
Once I created the pins, I pinned them immediately to Pinterest.
I used the keywords I collected in the PinClicks tool to optimize the title description and link to the post.
I did this in late June 2024.
It took 1 month for the pin to start bringing in consistent blog traffic.
The pin I created using PinClicks went viral within 3-4 weeks.
As of today, it’s bringing me around 8K pageviews monthly:
Another thing I love about PinClicks is spying on my competition!
This is a new feature that they just released and it’s really good!
3. Using Account Explorer
In the main menu, you’ll find the Account Explorer feature. Click on it to access the search bar.
Type in the username of a Pinterest account you’re interested in analyzing. For example, if you’re in the food blogging niche, you could look up popular accounts like “MinimalistBaker.”
Once the data loads, you’ll see metrics like:
- Top-performing pins.
- Engagement rates (clicks, saves, and comments).
- Keyboards they’re active on.
This gives you a comprehensive view of their strategy. For instance, if their top-performing pins are recipe infographics, you might consider creating similar content for your own account.
This is also a great way to see the keywords of the top-ranking pins and see whether there are topics you can pursue (that are in your niche) so you can increase your impressions and traffic.
Honestly, if you don’t use it for anything else – I wouldn’t blame you because this particular feature is priceless.
You can use all this data to:
- Refine your pin designs.
- Experiment with new topics in your niche that you never considered before.
- Optimize your keywords and boards.
By studying what works for others, you can shortcut the trial-and-error process and focus on proven strategies.
Is PinClicks worth it?
I got the Pin Pro plan for $29 a month. But you get nearly 30% off if you buy the annual plan. I knew this was a no-brainer for me, so I didn’t hesitate to purchase it for the whole year.
Why it’s worth it?
- Save Time and Effort: Skip the trial-and-error by using actual data that’s pulled out from Pinterest’s back end.
- Stay Ahead of the Competition: With features like Account Explorer, you’ll always know what’s working for others in your niche.
- Drive Real Results: PinClicks helps you focus on what matters—driving traffic and engagement.
Imagine the results you could achieve by leveraging this tool.
The best part?
You can test it out risk-free with their free trial.
Final Thoughts
From my personal experience, it is possible to grow without a keyword tool.
But it will just take you so much longer because it’s like working blind.
If you want to speed up your progress, use this tool.
It’s totally worth it.
You can also use the tool for all your websites combined – there are no limits to searches at all!
If you have any questions, feel free to drop them below. I’ll reply as soon as I can!
I already have Pin Inspector but this looks so much better. Is it fast?
OMG – it’s so much faster! Not even kidding. And I love the layout – it’s quite user-friendly. You should definitely give this a try. The free trial doesn’t use credit card info either!
ok thank you
You’re most welcome, Crystal. =)
oh my god, this account explorer feature is crazzyyyyy! I didn’t even know it could do that, thank you!!!
Hey Alexandria,
That’s because it’s a new feature – I think it was released last week. I went gaga over it too!
Believe it or not; I was just considering giving this tool a try. Carly from Pinteresting Strategies has been raving about this too. So, thank you for posting this. Have you had a chance to listen to the podcast she released?
Hey Chrissy,
Yes, it’s seriously a game-changer for Pinterest. I have. I am quite enjoying the podcast. But I’ve only listened to a few episodes. I really need to get on that!
Warm regards,
Angela
Please make the time and listen to it, it’s really good! Your book and her podcast have really helped me with my blog so much! I’m so grateful to you both. You’re like Pinterest Queens, lol.
I will, I will. I’ve heard so much about it – I really must go through it. And thank you Chrissy, you’re too kind. :)
Warm regards,
Angela
Oh! You haven’t talked about account explorer in your book. Will you be updating it?
Hey Madelynn,
This feature just rolled out a few days ago. So, I’ll definitely be updating the book soon!
Warm regards,
Angela
I just used it yesterday. The Top Pins of each account is super helpful! I’m using it to update my pin designs.
You should! It really helps understand what kind of pins people want in each niche too!