The Timeline for Getting Pinterest Traffic, Explained

Have you ever been told “Have patience, Pinterest is a long term strategy”?

That’s pretty broad and doesn’t explain anything, does it? As if Pinterest isn’t confusing enough! If you’re considering Pinterest for your business, it’s good to know what to expect before you dive in. Let’s unpack what makes Pinterest a long term game so you get a better idea of how Pinterest works.

Let’s start off by saying that Pinterest is a long term strategy because it takes months to see results, but once you start growing, it often starts working in the background without much effort. That’s the quick and simple answer, but hang on- let me explain this a little further.

When you get started on Pinterest, things build slowly. If you’re starting from scratch, building boards and saving pins needs to happen gradually and strategically so you don’t trip the spam filter. Spammers ruin everything don’t they? More-so, Pinterest takes time to index your pins properly. The algorithm has to figure out what your account, boards, and pins are all about and then categorize them under the right search terms. This helps it connect the right users to your content.

Indexing your pins seems to be the biggest lag in getting instant gratification. At the time of me writing this, I’ve seen people report that it can take 2 months to properly index a pin. I’ve also seen two weeks. So, yeah, the algorithm can be a little tricky to predict.

Pinterest is slow to build, and slow to index (think 4-6 weeks). It’s kind of like making a long term investment in the stock market. But what’s your ROI (return on investment)? Once pins are published, anyone can search for them, see them, save them, share them, and click on them for years. They start being distributed among Pinterest users, and more and more people start moving from Pinterest to your website- you now have a captive audience that you can grow organically. If you happen to get a ranking pin under certain keywords, it’s almost like your pin is on the first page of Google.

For the clients I’ve started from scratch, they have all seen consistent growth starting around month three, but there’s a nice “boom” that happens around month 6. Many other managers have reported that 6 months is a sweet spot for seasoning an account and seeing really good results. This is also why I like to work on 6 month contracts- it’s really easy to get discouraged 2-3 months in when you feel like there’s a lot of effort with little results. If I just described you, hang tight and keep going.

If you are looking for immediate gratification, Pinterest is not for you. Organic marketing takes time to establish on any platform, and Pinterest is no exception. But if you want organic marketing that continues to bring in new leads in the background, get yourself a Business Pinterest account and start building! If you would like to keep getting updates on the Pinterest algorithm, or techniques I use with my clients, be sure to subscribe to my email list so I can keep you in the loop!

Pin patiently my friend,

Sarah

Why Pinterest is a Long Term Game

Why Pinterest is a Long Term Game