How to use Pinterest Group Boards in 2023
Last Updated on January 8, 2023
This site contains affiliate links for products and services we recommend. Read my disclaimer for more information. If you make a purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a small commission (for which I am very grateful).
The strategy of group boards on Pinterest has changed slightly over the years as the importance of them has decreased.
Let’s get into how to use Pinterest group boards in 2022 and which ones to join that will help you grow.
How do Pinterest group boards work?
Group boards on Pinterest are boards that have many collaborators.
More than 1 person is contributing content to that board at one time which means that group boards have a range of content and topics not only from one person.
Pinterest group boards can have hundreds, even thousands of contributors which means that the amount of content on a group is usually big.
And this is where some can be great to join, and some will just not get you that reach you once got.
Before 2020, bloggers would have Facebook threads (and there are some still up today), where hundreds of bloggers would leave a link to a pin, and they would have to repin everyone else’s.
Now I must admit I was guilty of this, and I even recommended it to people because at that time it was working. By repining everyone else’s content, it helped each other’s reach.
However, Pinterest caught onto this and other tactics that were using boards (particularly group boards) as a dumping ground for their and others’ pins instead of posting it to more relevant boards.
So, Pinterest changed the best practices so that less is more.
By posting 1 pin to a bunch of different boards, you are effectively hurting the reach for that pin. The fewer boards you pin that pin to, and the more relevant ones, the more reach it’s going to get.
So now it’s not about being joined to 10 different group boards, it’s more important that you have your boards as the main course and then a few group boards sprinkled in there too (but only if you wish).
Pinterest group boards are not compulsory so if you really cannot find any that are within your niche that are quality then just create banging boards yourself!
how to find group boards on pinterest
You can find group boards on Pinterest by just doing a search on Pinterest itself. Group boards have a headshot that has many accounts within. You can do this manually and it’s fairly straightforward.
OR you can save time (which I love) and use a website called Pingroupie. It’s free to use but you may have to sign up just to do some searches.
How to join group boards
With Pingroupie, you can type in a search term from your niche and then make sure you hit the filter that says, ‘request to join’.
You want to do this because boards which do not have this option are incredibly hard to find out how to join.
Another option you should switch on is ‘exclude stale boards. These are boards that are no one is no longer posting to or engaging with so best to not join those!
Quite often these boards are incredibly hard to join because you will have to find the owner then try and find their email or a way to contact them and quite often, they will never respond.
You should find group boards that are easier to join and not waste time doing the latter.
Once you have clicked that filter on press enter and you will see a bunch of group boards that are open for you to join!
Which Pinterest group boards to join
Once you’ve figured out how to search for boards on Pinterest, you may find yourself with an overwhelming about of group boards to choose from.
Now, just because there are Pinterest group boards in your niche with lots of contributors and pins doesn’t mean you should join it.
Low-quality boards can bring down your account, so I recommend that you choose wisely.
Here are the top things I would check before joining group boards
Engagement
When picking Pinterest group boards to join, you will want to see what kind of engagement it is.
You can’t get how people are interacting with the board unless you’ve been posting for a while, however, check how many people are pinning to the board.
If it’s just one person pinning all their pins to the board then don’t bother joining because that board is basically dead.
Contributors
Have a quick look at the contributors of the board. Are they real people who are in the same niche as you and are not spammy accounts?
Board name + description
The board name & description is good to quickly audit to make sure that the board is searchable and that they have put some great keywords in there.
This is important because if the board is filled with keywords, then you know it might have some immense potential to grow.
Read my full article on how SEO and Pinterest keywords work. If you’re already familiar with SEO for Pinterest, you can access my Pinterest Keyword Vault to get started on making SEO-friendly pins!
Where pins are linking to
Is the content pinned on this board quality and Is it leading to quality websites and not spam sites?
You’ll want to have a quick check on the board and make sure that the content is good to go and not spammy in any way.
Follower to collaborator ratio
This you can see within Pin groupie, and I like to have a look at the ratio.
Although followers don’t matter on Pinterest because pinners are not necessarily looking for that community, followers of your favourite creator are becoming more common on Pinterest thanks to idea pins.
When picking a board, I like to make sure that the follower count is higher than the collaborator because this tells me that pinners (outside of collaborators) are engaging and following that board for more which can be a great sign.
If you can tick all of those off then you may have good group boards, and I say ‘may’ because you won’t know until you start pinning.
After 1 or 2 months of posting to that board, I then use Tailwind to check the quality. This is one of my favourite things about Tailwind that you can’t see elsewhere.
Tailwind gives you board insights that allow you to dive deeper and see which boards are quality and which ones are not.
You can check out my full Tailwind Review to see if it’s for you. If you’re ready to sign up, get a great discount on Tailwind.
Pinterest analytics gives you a brief overview of the top-performing boards but doesn’t give you a deep analysis like Tailwind.
After 1 month or 2 of posting content to a certain group board, you should have enough data.
Any board that has a virality of under 1 I unjoin because it means that content on this board is just not getting seen, shared and clicked on meaning it’s a low-quality board.
Make sure you schedule this into your quarterly tasks to check the group boards and unjoin any that’s not bringing you results. Keeping low-quality boards on your account can lower your reach.
Think of it as a heavy object weighing your boat down and once you clip that heavy object, you’re able to float a little better.
Are Pinterest group boards dead?
My answer to this is yes and no. They are still relevant, but group boards are not as important as they used to be. You can join them, but it won’t hurt you if you don’t.
You can easily just create outstanding boards that you have complete control of.
Before creating or joining boards…
Make sure you have a Pinterest business account. This allows you get to get access to all the Pinterest analytics which you will need to see what kind of boards are working.
If you have never created a Pinterest account, then just create a business one from the get-go.
If you have a personal account on Pinterest, then go to your settings and convert it to a business account. It’s super easy to do and takes less than 1 minute!
You can read my full article on how to use Pinterest for business.
How many boards should you create?
I would recommend you have 8-10 relevant boards for your niche.
For example, if I had a candle business, I would first do some keyword research and see the most popular keywords that pinners are using to find candle ideas.
When I did a quick search within my Pinterest Keyword Vault, I found these keywords:
- outdoor candle
- tealight candle ideas
- candle scents
- candle box
- how to make candles with essential oils
Creating board names
Because these are keywords that people are actively searching for, I would create boards out of those and then have 1 board with my business name on it.
Make the titles of your boards, the keywords, and not any fancy language, symbols, or emojis.
Board descriptions – do you need them?
Yes, you need board descriptions for all your boards.
You get 500 characters to add which I highly recommend you try and use all up by explaining the purpose of your board, what topics pins to that board will be about, and what people can do next.
Within this description, you will want to use lots of keywords that pinners are using for that particular topic so that your board can have the chance to show up and be recommended to pinners.
How do I organise my boards on Pinterest?
Now Pinterest has brought out some new updates so that you can update the order of your boards, add sections, notes and gain more ideas.
Personally, the only update I use is the organisation of boards. I put the most relevant at the top of my account and group boards at the bottom.
That’s because if people come to my profile, I want them to see my best boards.
With idea pins, we are seeing more people visit our profile from our idea pins to check us out a little more and click on our website.
That’s why I like to make sure my profile is all up to date and clear to my target pinners on who I am, what I do, who I help and what topics I specialize in.
Should I delete boards?
What if you created a board and you’ve been pinning but you just don’t find it relevant anymore? Should you delete the board? The answer is no. Never delete anything on Pinterest.
You might have content pinned to that board that is bringing your traffic or may do down the line. Instead, make the board secret.
You can do that by going to the board’s settings and you’ll see a slider option that will say ‘keep this board secret’. That means it will no longer be searchable, but the content will stay on Pinterest.
How to make a group board
If you have a board or have an idea to create a group board for one of the topics, you specialize in then you can easily turn one of your ordinary boards into a group one.
When you go to the board you should see a plus sign there. Click that and then you’ll see 2 options:
- A link that you can share around to make it easy for people to join.
- Personally invite Pinterest users who you think are perfect for the board
It’s super easy to create a group board but remember that you should also manage it. You’ll want to keep an eye on who joins and what content they post.
If you have someone join who just spams the board with irrelevant content, then it’s best to remove them from contributing.
Keeping up with group boards can be a little tiring so I always find it better to have your boards and then join other’s group boards on Pinterest that I don’t have to manage, just post to!
I hope thing post gave you some clarity on group boards on Pinterest and how to use them correctly in 2022 and beyond.
If you have any further questions, feel free to leave them below and I will try and get back to you as soon as I can.
If you would like to learn deeper about Pinterest marketing and how to use it to explode your traffic and income, then come join us over in Passive Profit with Pinterest which is my signature course!
Frequently Asked Questions
Instead of 1 person contributing to the board, Pinterest group boards are open to multiple users. This means that they can contain many members, with a wider variety of content than would be found on an individual’s board.
Group boards can be found by doing a simple search on Pinterest itself. Alternatively, using the website Pingroupie is a great way to find Pinterest group boards.
Using the website Pingroupie, you can search for boards that relate to your niche with a filter that says ‘request to join.’ You will then be presented with a list of groups you can join.
Other articles you will love: