After getting my Pinterest account suspended twice so far for AlisonsNotebook.com, I began wondering: what can you do to get your suspended account reactivated? And more importantly, how can you prevent it in the first place?
When you pin at the volume of many big Pinterest accounts, suspension at some point seems almost inevitable. In fact, Faith Mariah, a guest coach in my Monetization Mastermind told me…
Getting your Pinterest account suspended is like a right of passage for bloggers.
Lololol. Now, don’t get me wrong. The goal is to absolutely pin and behave in such a way as to avoid another suspension.
For bloggers, Pinterest is THE most powerful social media platform.
I genuinely want to use Pinterest the way it is intended to be used. And at the same time, I want to use it in a way to maintain the biggest growth possible.
If your Pinterest account gets suspended, or if you’re wondering HOW to avoid getting it suspended in the first place…
Keep reading.
(I’ll also tell you how to reactivate Pinterest.)
Don’t Panic
If your business account (or even your personal account) gets suspended, then the first step involves NOT panicking.
I know its easier said than done, trust me.
The first time my account got suspended was right before I hit 1 million monthly impressions on my self care blog, and it was right before I was launching a Pinterest program. I decided to change the program launch entirely, which really affected the momentum of the launch.That said, I still make over $5k in that launch, and I truly believe everything happens for a reason.
Here’s the thing:
Algorithms change. Platforms update. Technology transforms.
The entrepreneurs who come out on top are the ones who stick with it. (More on that in a second.)
So, yes. HUGE giant bummer that your account is suspended. It hurt so incredibly badly when I got suspended the first time. But, because my account was suspended, I had time and mental energy for other things and I was forced to rest.
Know that the universe is in control, this was meant to happen, and get into some positive heckin’ action.
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The Difference Between A Personal Account & Business Account On Pinterest
I’m guessing most of you reading this are inquiring about a business account.
If you’re a casual Pinterest user and use it strictly for private, personal use, you likely have a personal account.
And if you plan to use Pinterest to grow your brand or traffic for a business, then you’ll want to create a business account.
The main difference is that the business account will have a different layout, and come with some additional functionality and metrics that as a personal account, you wouldn’t need.
Take Action: How to appeal Pinterest suspension
So, now that your Pinterest account is suspended, how do you reactivate it? I’ve seen a few blogs here and there, but the most helpful feedback I got was actually from Facebook groups.
Below are the steps you’ll take to reactivate your suspended Pinterest account, how to appeal Pinterest suspension, and how to avoid getting suspended in the first place.
Reach Out To support
First things first, reach out to support. Many times suspensions happen after algorithm updates. Pinterest is an extremely robust and huge platform with lots of content. They use data and algorithms to make decisions, many of which are automated.
So, start by going to Pinterest’s Help Page and search for the word “suspended”. It should take you here.
Submit a ticket and let them know, very kindly and patiently, that your account has been suspended and you think its been in error.
I know that the support tickets are mostly managed by bots, but I ALWAYS also add that I’m grateful for the use of the platform, and I’d love any information about how I can improve.
You may also add that you’ve reviewed the guidelines and made sure you are following them.
After you submit a support ticket, you will get an automated response, and then probably another one a few hours later. The most important thing at this stage is to email them every day or every two days to kindly follow up and see if they have any updates or questions for you.
Audit Your Activity
Now that you’ve got a support ticket in, its time to take a peek at what you’re doing.
The first time my Pinterest account got suspended, I never got an explanation as to why. The second time, I did get a reason as to why. AND, the automated email for the second suspension even explicitly said: we will not be reactivating your account. (!!!)
In both cases, my pinning behavior changed afterwards and I think I have a good idea on what raised spam flags.
My Guesses…
- Increased Scheduling Activity Too Quickly: The first time my account got suspended, I had just taken a new course on Pinterest and I was getting really close to 1 million monthly impressions. The course suggested making sure I had 50 open slots for scheduling every day. Additionally, I was creating 2 r 3 new pins everyday and scheduling them to board lists. I made NO other changes in my strategy, and I think if I added new scheduling slots in Tailwind incrementally I probably would have been ok.
- Repetitive Descriptions: So, most of my viral traffic comes from ONE blog post about wearing the same outfit everyday. I have to admit: I kind of resent it a bit. I worked really hard at creating a ton of content, but very little of it goes viral besides that post, which was something I actually did…but something I don’t care much about. Because I get so much traffic for that ONE post, I’m lazy about creating new pins for it. And I create new pins for it often, but…I copied and pasted the description almost every time. The second time my account got suspended they specifically said it was repetitive descriptions.
So, here’s the great thing about all of this.
BEFORE my account got suspended the second time, I paid for a Pinterest audit from HerPaperRoute because my traffic had dropped so significantly after the last Pinterest update.
Overall, she said my account looked great and gave me with a few small tips for improvement.
And she also said: I needed to change up my descriptions more.
THAT was the only concrete negative feedback she gave, and it wasn’t even that epic of a criticism. I made a mental note and stopped copying and pasting the descriptions.
So, when the automated email for the second suspension stated the descriptions as the reason, I actually felt…
Peace of mind?
Because at least there was a concrete reason and action I could take. Whereas during my first suspension, I kind of had to guess what I did that flagged my account as spam.
Tips To Audit Your Account
- Consider how Pinterest is SUPPOSED to be used and use it that way. (As a visual content based search engine, not as a traffic factory.)
- Don’t ramp up your scheduling activity too fast.
- Its ok to have many pins going to the same post, but change the title and description every time.
- Don’t pin the same pin of yours repeatedly in a row without pinning others’ pins in between. This makes your feed look spammy. I try to never pin one of my pins two times in a row without pinning other pins.
- Consider saving scheduling mostly for others’ pins.
- Manually launch your pins if you can. Scheduling them creates copies, whereas manually scheduling makes sure you are building up the same pin over and over (instead of making copies of it, which is what scheduling does if you use board lists).
- Use the pain version of Social Pug to include the Pin ID every time you embed a pin in a blog post. This helps Pinterest identify ONE pin, instead of seeing many copies.
- I’ll update this as I go!
Be Consistent And Persistent
The last action you should take is to be persistent and consistent. Politely reach out to Pinterest asking for follow up and more information, and be patient.
You’re likely getting a good amount of free traffic from Pinterest.
So the most important thing is to feel gratitude for your use of Pinterest for your business up to this point, and know that there are many MANY other ways to market your business.
It will be okay.
Move Forward & How To Reactivate Pinterest
If you’re a legitimate content creator who uses Pinterest in appropriate ways, you’ll likely get your account back. The key to reactivating Pinterest is contacting Pinterest consistently and politely.
Remember: they’re giving you a heck-ton of FREE traffic!
Whether you do or not, here are some other ways you can move forward after a Pinterest account suspension.
How long does Pinterest suspension last?
The length of a Pinterest suspension depends on the reason for the suspension and severity of the violation. Pinterest may suspend an account temporarily. Mine lasted a few days each time for example. They could also suspend it permanently, depending on the nature of the violation or “repeat offenses”.
Start A New (LEGITIMATE) Account For Fun
Consider starting another business or account if you just want to keep pinning and feel lost without your old account. I run two businesses. So when Pinterest suspended my account the second time, I took it as a sign from the universe. I moved forward and took the opportunity for focusing on my coaching business, instead of running two businesses. While my account was shut down for a week I built a new account for my coaching brand, which is totally different than my self care brand.
What I DON’T want you to do is start a new, spammy account. Take it slow, make it fun, and re-pin some of your old pins. I created a backup account for my personal blog to make sure I didn’t “lose” all my pins. So, I have a board where copies of my pins live that other people have re-pinned.
Diversify Your Marketing
SEO can be a frustrating way to build traffic because its so heckin’ slow, which is why I love Facebook ads. Promote a great free offer or product on Facebook!
Another great way I’ve built my list is by doing free training for groups of like-minded people. I spoke at Emma Lee Bates Solopreneur Summit in 2019. Not only was it super fun, but the people who liked my webinar opted in to my email list.
Podcasts, YouTube videos, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook groups.
Pick a couple to get great at and do the thing!
Conclusion
If Pinterest suspends your account? Remain calm. AND use it as an opportunity for making sure you use the platform the way THEY intend.
