The estimated reading time for this post is 3 minutes
When you think of Pinterest you may think of a place to find beautiful photos, innovative ideas and interesting information. But with Pinterest Guided Search you may begin to think of Pinterest as a source for even more inspiration.
With over 30 billion Pins and 750 million boards on Pinterest, you may not have time to sift through all of them finding the most interesting pins but Pinterest wants to help you with that. On Friday the company launched Guided Search, a new feature to help you discover what you’re looking for, and beyond, on Pinterest.
Rather than traditional search engines which display a list of results when you type in a keyword, Pinterest Guided Search will suggest categories for your search to lead you on a path of exploration. “Guided Search will help you discover when you didn’t know how to ask for things to begin with,” said Pinterest’s CEO Ben Silbermann.
Your search will be an inspirational expedition, rather than a direct route to a targeted search result. This feature leads you in new directions, giving you many choices and making it easy to take a divergent path.
Guided Search is available in the updated Pinterest app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch and Android devices. 75% of Pinterest traffic is mobile so this feature is launching on smartphones and tablets before being brought to the Pinterest website.
How to Use Guided Search
To begin using Guided Search, open the updated app on your mobile device, tap on the magnifying glass search icon, then type in the keyword you want to search. You can search for pins, boards and pinners.
As soon as you start typing, Pinterest suggests categories. You can tap on the one you want as soon as it appears.
You can easily refine your search by choosing categories, or broaden your search by eliminating categories. Guided Search lets you search through all pins on Pinterest or just your own pins. Forget where you pinned your favorite recipe for Sangria? Use Guided Search to search your own pins and then discover some new recipes.
Examples of Using Guided Search
You can use this for nearly anything you want to search for on Pinterest. Here are three examples of ideas for using Pinterest Guided Search:
Travel
You can use Guided Search to get inspiration for travel ideas. Let’s say you’re thinking about heading to Bermuda for a vacation. Type Bermuda in the search box.
Guided Search suggest Bermuda, Bermuda Shorts, Bermuda Triangle, Bermuda Grass and Bermuda Beaches. Tap on Bermuda and Pinterest will suggest categories:
- Triangle
- Island
- Things to Do In
- Shorts
- Beaches
- Vacation
- Wedding
- Cruise
- Hotels
- Pink Sand
[tip] If you choose Pink Sand, be prepared to start packing your bags for a trip to Bermuda! [/tip]
Choosing Vacation will show you pins of places to visit, where to stay, travel deals and, yes, pink sand beaches.
Recipes
Want inspiration for a tasty treat? Search for recipes using Guided Search. For example, if you want to search for breakfast recipes, type “breakfast” and Pinterest suggests categories such as:
- Recipes
- Ideas
- Healthy
- Muffins
- Easy
- Quick
- Eggs
- For Kids
- In Bed
Great idea, Pinterest! Let’s search for Breakfast + In Bed. You could look at all of the breakfast in bed pins or refine your search further.
Pinterest then suggests:
- For Husband
- For Mom
- For Wife
- For Two
- Romantic
- Birthday
- Mother’s Day
- Funny
Be sure to leave your Pinterest app open to where your loved ones can see it so they can be inspired by your Breakfast in Bed Guided Search!
Gardening
If you want gardening ideas, search “Garden” and then choose from categories such as:
- Vegetable
- Decoration
- Flower
- Herb
- DIY
- Fairy
- Secret
- Small
- Ideas
- Beautiful
Choosing a category reveals new sub-categories. For example, choose Fairy and then see the different categories such as Beach. Yes, you can find Beach Fairy Garden pins on Pinterest.
Did you even know you wanted to find a Beach Fairy Garden?
You can see how searching through Pinterest can now be more effective and, well, Pinteresting.
Availability
Pinterest Guided Search is available on updated Pinterest apps for:
The feature is being rolled out gradually, on mobile in English first. Eventually Guided Search will be available worldwide on the website as well as on mobile.
Your Thoughts
Have you tried Guided Search yet? Have you discovered any interesting pins using Guided Search? What will you use Guided Search to find? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section below!
******************
*Pinterest Flower Picture courtesy of mkhmarketing
Hi Carolyn,
This is so interesting! Yes, I got the email from Pinterest notifying us about the new addition but I knew you would write and explain things so I just deleted that mail 🙂
I think Guided Search is indeed one app that everyone is going to love, and perhaps because of it I might start using my phone a bit more! Just the fact that everything is just a click away makes it all the more interesting, and I liked the video right on top about it all. Having everything laid out in categories makes it all the more easier to use it, so it’s definitely going to be a new experience trying it out. My kids would love it too, and I would be forwarding this email to them so that they can check it all out.
Thanks for sharing this with us. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, I’m glad you’re excited about Pinterest Guided Search too and thank you for the kind words!
I had so much fun playing with this cool new feature that this article took quite a while to write. Pinterest already was addictive for me and now it’s even more so.
Thank you for sharing this article, Harleena. I hope you have a lot of fun exploring Pinterest with Guided Search.
Just read an article of pinterest tips at “Eriks” blogs and I guess this is another master piece. Well I wasn’t aware of this awesome pinterest search things.
Thanks
Hi Samir, I’m very glad you enjoyed this article. You’re right, this new feature on Pinterest is very cool!
Hi Carolyn,
I’ve updated Pinterest on my iPad. Using the guided search is very simple, very intuitive.
You can even look for a specific person. I use it mostly to search for inspirational quotes and art work.
Hope you have a great week!
Bill
Hi Bill, Yes, you can use Guided Search to find a pinner. I hadn’t tried that feature yet, I got so carried away with searching through categories. I’m glad you’re enjoying using Guided Search, Bill!
Hi Carolyn,
Its a cool find. Pinterest has been gaining a lot of attention lately. I too believe I can prepare something to share on pinterest using which I can get traffic from there.
Guided tour looks great. Let me check it out 🙂
Hi Ashvini, Yes, The Wonder of Tech gets loads of traffic from Pinterest and may get more with Guided Search. Pinterest is very wise to lead users on a journey of discovering new pins. Pinterest has become a huge database, but finding the pins that interest you may be challenging. Guided Search is an innovative way to help you find pins you may not even realize you wanted to see!
Hi Carolyn,
Wasn’t aware of this new search feature in Pinterest, certainly an amazing step taken by Pinterest team to give better user experience and I’m going to use it for more understanding. 😉
Hi Pankaj, Yes, if Pinterest drew you in before, be prepared to be drawn in even further. This is a very fun and addicted feature. 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
I’ll try this. I like Pinterest for looking for art and sometimes I find new ideas for clothes. I think it’s difficult to be stylish as you grow older without looking ridiculous.
Hi Mike, Yes, I think you might find some very interesting pins using Guided Search, Mike. You might even find inspiration for some future photo shoots!
Hi Carolyn,
You know I had to stop reading the post for a bit and start playing around. Way cool, I hadn’t even noticed because I don’t use Pinterest too much. I have friends who are addicted though and keep telling e I need to get my game on. Thanks so much for sharing, I know my friends will get a kick out of this for sure. Lisa
Hi Lisa, You’re right, Pinterest is addictive to begin with, but Guided Search makes it even more enticing. I love how the feature really does take me on a journey of discovering pins I might not have seen otherwise!
I hope you and your friends really enjoy Pinterest Guided Search, Lisa!
Hi Carolyn,
This Wowed me! I’m not on Pinterest because there is so much social media I needed to shave down this year, bu this is fantastic! Hmmm maybe I’ll get back into the game over there.
I like how intuitive and quick this works. When I’m searching for something other than business I get frustrated. But here, I can find my way around immediately.
Great stuff and thanks for keeping me posted!
-Donna
Hi Donna, That’s great you’re excited by Pinterest Guided Search too, Donna. You’re right, it’s a great way to lose yourself in Pinterest. Sometimes you just want an answer to a search question as quickly as you can get it but other times you can enjoy getting lost in a convoluted path that takes you to unexpected places.
Hi Carolyn,
I have not used it yet.
I did get the notification from Pinterest, but I just ignore it, I assume if the notification is important, then surely there will be someone who writes about it.
And it seems I was right, you publish a post about it, Carolyn 😀
Well, I’ll give it a shot then 🙂
Hmm.. it looks like your blog has a new look I guess.
It’s nice, Carolyn :-bd
Nanda
Hi Nanda, Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I do try to keep Wonder of Tech readers up on the latest news that can help them in their daily lives. I was very excited to share information about Guided Search because a lot of people will be able to make good use of this new tool.
I hope you enjoy using Pinterest Guided Search, Nanda.
Yes, I have a new header photo for my website. I’m glad you like it!
Hey Carolyn,
Pinterest is really an awesome social networking site and this new update Guided search seems interesting and helpful and making Pinterest more amazing.
Many people are using Pinterest these days and with these update, it gonna attract many more people. Thanks for sharing this information with us.
Hi Sudipto, Great point. Yes, the popularity of Pinterest is soaring and this latest innovation will make using Pinterest even more appealing. I hope you enjoy using Guided Search, Sudipto!
HI Carolyn, thanks for explaining this one. I haven’t yet used it. I had heard about it but got behind being sick. It’s kinda funny how most of the social networks are becoming more like search engines. I guess it also keeps visitors on their site vs going back out to search. I’m really glad Pinterest now offers this!
Hi Lisa, Yes, as more and more people share on social media, these sites develop their own databases. You’re right, why not make it easier for users to find the information they want from within the site rather than leaving to go to a search engine?
The ideal search results shows users information they wanted but couldn’t find on their own. Pinterest Guided Search really does achieve that goal.
I hope you give Pinterest Guided Search a try, Lisa. I think you’ll really enjoy it.