How Pinterest Drives Long-Term Website Traffic

Most marketing has a shelf life measured in hours. Pinterest is one of the few channels where something you publish today can still be sending visitors next year. Here is the mechanism behind that long-term traffic: useful Pins keep being found through search and recommendations, and each one leads to a page on your website.

Why does Pinterest traffic last longer than most marketing?

Pinterest traffic lasts because useful Pins may continue being discovered through search and recommendations long after the day they are published. A Pin is not tied to the moment it went up, so when someone later looks for something it fits, it has a chance to surface again. A feed post does most of its work while it is new. That difference is why a useful Pin can keep sending visitors, and why the goal shifts from posting constantly to building things worth finding. For a look at what Pinterest reads in a Pin, see how the Pinterest search engine works.

What are the four parts of long-term Pinterest discovery?

Lasting discovery comes from four parts working together: a real search, useful content, a relevant destination and ongoing discovery. If one part is weak, the Pin has less to keep working with.

What should you publish first for lasting Pinterest traffic?

Publish content that answers evergreen questions, meaning the things your customers will still be asking next season, such as how to choose, use or care for what you sell. Give each Pin one job and point it at the page that fits it best, because a visitor who lands on the wrong page has no reason to stay. For a closer look at what makes an individual Pin last, read why Pinterest content can drive traffic for months.

How many Pins can one strong page support?

One strong page can support several Pins. Once a page is worth sending people to, build several honest angles around it: a different search phrase, a different image and a different promise for each Pin, as long as the page really delivers on all of them. That is what building a library instead of chasing a one-day spike looks like. Every Pin is another way into a page that is already good, so revisit what you already have before building from zero.

How do you measure long-term website traffic?

Look for qualified actions, meaning visits that come from real interest, rather than counting impressions alone. The figure to watch most is how many people click through to your website and then do something useful there, so pair your Pinterest analytics with your website analytics when you can. Because this kind of traffic builds gradually, compare one month with the next instead of one day with the next.

None of this is a promise. How much traffic a library of Pins earns depends on what you sell, how crowded your topic is, the time of year and how steadily you keep adding to it.

What if you would rather not run it yourself?

Long-term traffic takes steady publishing, which is where many owners run out of time. Monthly Pinterest Management is a done-for-you service that covers keyword research, content planning, custom branded pin graphics, scheduling and a monthly analytics review. It is billed month to month with no minimum commitment, though three to six months is the recommended runway to see traction. To see how it compares with the other services, read Pinterest Management Services: What They Include.