Pinterest is one of the top-performing traffic sources for a lot of business owners and bloggers out there. People use it for a lot of reasons thanks to the versatility this platform offers.
You will find bloggers, content creators, and brands using Pinterest religiously to promote their content, improve their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results, interact with their target audience, and increase the overall visibility of their brands.
People come on Pinterest to find inspiration and ideas to purchase products they like. Primarily due to this reason, it has the highest conversion rates compared to all other social media platforms that are much more famous such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that more and more business owners and content creators are signing up to Pinterest to further their marketing strategies.
However, just like every other social platform out there, Pinterest has its own set of rules and best practices. Many users fail to follow the guidelines given either due to negligence or they think they can get away with it.
But if you fail to follow Pinterest’s platform guidelines, you can easily get banned by the platform for exhibiting spammy behavior. This can have negative implications for your personal branding.
In this article, we will talk about everything related to Pinterest account suspension including its solutions and how to avoid getting banned.
What is Pinterest Jail?
Pinterest Jail is a term coined by bloggers who use the Pinterest platform to describe your account getting suspended.
Pinterest is famous for banning people out of the blue. There are many stories online where people got banned without doing anything apparently out of the ordinary.
Having your Pinterest account frozen or banned can happen pretty easily if you are not careful with the platform. Pinterest is strict about its rules since so many people use it for marketing purposes and they don’t want anyone trying to get ahead by following unethical practices.
But this rigidness by the platform can sometimes translate into getting banned even for doing nothing apparently wrong.
One of the things that Pinterest hates are spammers. The platform tries to fight against spammers and spam content as actively as possible to make the user experience on the website fun and convenient. Spamming is one of the most common reasons why people get put in Pinterest Jail.
But there are many other reasons that could land you in hot water with Pinterest. Let’s have a look at some of the most common reasons why your account could potentially get banned by Pinterest.
What Can Get Your Pinterest Account Banned?
If you like using Pinterest for your marketing and business needs, you need to know how to make the most out of the platform. And that includes knowing how to not get banned and end up in Pinterest Jail.
Getting your account suspended can hinder your progress on the platform and even on other search engines, such as Google. It is important that you follow the rules that the platform has laid out for its users. Not following those rules can get you banned from Pinterest. The worst part is that once you are in violation of a Pinterest rule and get banned due to it, you are banned for life. There are no second chances here.
Which is why it is best to avoid what Pinterest considers bad practices. Below are a few things that can get your account suspended.
If You Spam
This one is pretty obvious. Spam is a huge no-no for Pinterest. Spamming includes adding too many comments, repetitive pinning, deceptive or misleading content in an attempt to make money, and sharing repetitively.
There are tools that can help you keep track of when your behavior can be considered spammy. Tailwind is a popular one.
If You Steal Someone Else’s Images
This is one of the most common ways that will get your account banned on Pinterest yet many people do it. There are a number of ways you can share other people’s copyrighted work unintentionally:
- Pinning from a website that does not contain the proper source of the image.
- Copying and resharing content from other social media platforms. This could include things like memes as well.
- Taking images directly from Google to promote your content on Pinterest.
Before sharing a picture that you have not taken personally, make sure you know who the source is and whether the picture is royalty-free.
Some good places to find royalty-free images include:
If You Follow or Unfollow Too Many People at a Time
Following and unfollowing in bulk can easily get your account banned. Gone are the days when you could follow a bunch of people as a way to market your content. This is a strategy that has been discouraged by Pinterest so much so that it can get you banned from the platform.
If You Use Unauthorized Third-Party Apps
Using unauthorized third-party apps can get you permanently banned from Pinterest. There are only a few third-party entities that are approved by Pinterest. These are the only apps that you can use in conjunction with Pinterest.
Beware that apps that ask your Pinterest password are mostly in violation of the platform’s guidelines and policies. Not only can they get your Pinterest account banned but they can also prove to be a huge security risk.
If You Automate Your Pinterest Content
Pinterest wants you to manually post your content and engage with the platform. Any automation software you use to post your content automatically will get you banned from Pinterest.
What to Do If Your Account is Already Banned? – Appeal for Pinterest Suspension
If your account is already banned at the time of reading this article, you should have an email in your mail inbox from Pinterest. This email would consist of a link about your Pinterest account suspension.
Note: If you cannot view the email in your inbox, check your spam folder.
Click the link provided in the email by Pinterest and follow the instructions given. Or you can go straight to Pinterest’s contact and help page where you can get in touch with them.
Whichever route you choose, select the “Getting into My Account” option that would be available in the drop-down menu box. After that, click “Appeal Account Suspension”.
In the next step, you can have a look at Pinterest’s Content Policies to see and make sure that you have not broken any rules stippled in the guidelines. If you find that you have adhered to the platform’s rules perfectly and still got your account banned, you can then go ahead and click the “I still need help” button at the bottom and then fill out the contact form.
Shortly after, you will receive an email from Pinterest confirming that your message has been received by the platform.
Here, you need to make sure that you reply to the email stating that this has not helped your situation so that your case gets sent to an actual human being to solve.
If you don’t do this, it can take a lot longer for you to get your account back and you don’t want to wait that long.
Pinterest Best Practices to Follow to Avoid Getting Your Account Banned
If you have worked hard on your Pinterest account, you may be a little scared right now. If you are stressing about how it can be to get banned from Pinterest, the best way to deal with this is to try your best to stay in Pinterest’s good books.
Here’s how you can do that:
Make Sure Your Content Follows Pinterest Guidelines
Pinterest has clear safety guidelines laid out for its users on its platform. Your Pinterest Pins as well as text, headings, comments, descriptions, and everything in between should fall within these guidelines.
Here are a few things that can get your Pinterest account permanently banned:
- Glorifying or promoting violence or violent imagery
- Sharing posts containing porn, nudity, or sexual exploitation
- Promoting or selling illegal goods
- Sharing content that relates to self-harm, eating disorders, mental illnesses, abuse, etc.
- Posting content that includes drug abuse
- Sharing sensitive personal information such as email addresses, home addresses, etc.
Have a Business Account for Your Business
If you are on Pinterest for the marketing purposes of your business and want to grow your account, you need to create a Pinterest business account. If you use your personal account for marketing purposes, you can get banned by Pinterest.
How Pinterest Suspension Can Impact Your Account and Brand
When your Pinterest account gets suspended, the fallout that happens as a result of it can last a few weeks even after the account has been restored by Pinterest.
While your account functions exactly as it used to before it got banned, you still face a few ramifications that take a few weeks to straighten out.
This may or may not happen to everyone but you may notice a drop in your Google Rankings. Due to the ban, your Pinterest account will be removed from Google search results naturally. Once your account gets back up and starts to run again, it will take some time for your content to get back to performing the way it did before and catch up with the usual rankings it had.
Another thing that could happen is that your profile and blog views could drop. Pinterest usually takes a few days or weeks to fix the banning issue. In the time that it takes to get your account up and running again, you can hurt in terms of traffic once you finally get your account unbanned.
However, both of these are not reasons enough for you to worry. Both of these problems solve themselves after a few days and things get back to the way they were before your Pinterest account got banned.
If there is anything you should keep in mind now is to stay up to date with Pinterest’s content guidelines and policies so as not to get banned in the future.
How to Avoid Getting Your Account Banned on Pinterest?
There are one of two reasons why your account can get banned on Pinterest.
- Your account got flagged and reported by other users because your content didn’t follow the guidelines.
- Your account triggered Pinterest’s spam filter.
To make sure your account stays safe from future bans or suspensions, keep the following things in mind:
- Make sure you always follow Pinterest’s latest Community Guidelines at all times. Go through these guidelines thoroughly and stick to them. They are there for a reason.
- Invest in a Pinterest course. Yes! Investing in a course that keeps up with the latest changes that happen in Pinterest’s platform guidelines and rules can teach you things you never even considered while using Pinterest. It would make sure that your account stays up and doesn’t get banned due to breaking a Pinterest guideline unintentionally.
- Don’t stop marketing your business on other social media platforms.
- If you think Pinterest made a mistake, always appeal their suspension.
- Always make sure you check your spam folder for any emails you may have received from Pinterest. You don’t want to miss out on these emails and reply to them to get your account back up as quickly as possible.
Why Does Pinterest Ban Good Accounts Sometimes?
You will hear Pinterest Jail stories from many people who did seemingly nothing wrong to deserve a ban.
Why Pinterest banned those users is something only Pinterest knows. It just seems like a mistake that the platform’s algorithm sometimes makes. It can also be due to multiple users reporting you.
Since Pinterest is a platform that provides great potential for marketing, it does have to keep close tabs on people using unethical ways of promoting their business. In that pursuit, it sometimes bans innocent accounts.
Whatever the reason may be, it is always good to be crystal clear from your side and follow the best practices laid out by the platform itself. This would keep you from doing something that can get your Pinterest account banned.
