Channel · Pinterest
Pinterest counts outbound clicks. It stops at the door.
This is the channel where a post keeps working long after it was published, often carried by other people. All the more reason to know not how many left, but how many bought.
What Pinterest measures, and how far
Five points, as they read in the official help center. What it doesn't say is noted below.
| The question | What the help says |
|---|---|
| Where to add the address | When creating the pin: "Link: if you have one, add a link to let Pinterest members learn more" |
| What Pinterest counts | Outbound clicks — "total number of times users took an action that sent them to a destination on or off Pinterest" |
| Starting when | "Outbound clicks are measured from the date the link was added" — not from the pin date |
| How far back | "Customized data periods for the last 18 months", and estimates for "the last 48 hours", "subject to change" |
| Who circulates your link | Not just you: a filter distinguishes "Pins created or saved by others from your claimed accounts" |
What we won't write: the much-discussed pin lifespan. Pinterest publishes no such figure, and we won't copy the ones circulating on blogs. The only duration recorded is their stats window — eighteen months. We also have not recorded what Pinterest does with a redirect placed between a pin and a claimed site: the source is the authority, not us.
Checked on September 12, 2026 in Pinterest help, « Pinterest Analytics » — the original page. Platforms change their rules: if what you see no longer matches, the source wins.
Checked on September 12, 2026 in Pinterest help, « Créer une Épingle à partir d'une image ou d'une vidéo » — the original page. Platforms change their rules: if what you see no longer matches, the source wins.
The gesture, all at once
Create Pin → "Link" field
Subtraq
Channel: Pinterest
You paste the address once, in the field Pinterest provides for it. Then the destination changes on your end — without touching the pin — and every click stays tied to the pin that produced it.
What the lifespan changes
A pin from a year ago, a sale from this morning
Pinterest's help says it about pins from old campaigns: saved by others, they "can therefore keep earning impressions and engagement." In other words, a pin's work doesn't stop on the day it's published — and your offer has changed since then.
That's exactly where a link with a changeable destination earns its keep: last year's pin keeps sending people, and you decide today where to. The click history doesn't reset, and today's sale stays tied to the pin that brought it.
The same logic applies on Instagram for the bio link — a fixed link, a destination that moves — with this difference that on Pinterest, each pin can carry its own.
Channel: Pinterest
When you create the link, you choose its channel — where you are going to share it. Pinterest becomes a row in the overview, with its clicks, leads, and sales; and each pin a row beneath it, if you gave it its own link.
The three objections
"Pinterest already gives me outbound clicks."
"My pins get reshared by others — I lose track."
"I've claimed my website — does a short link break that?"
Frequently asked questions
Where do you put the link on a pin?
In the dedicated field at creation. Pinterest's help, recorded September 12, 2026, reads: "Link: if you have one, add a link to let Pinterest members learn more." We are not describing the screens that follow, as we have not recorded them.
Does Pinterest count clicks on a pin published before I added a link?
Its note is explicit: "outbound clicks are measured from the date the link was added." Adding a link today to an old pin doesn't recover the past — on Pinterest's side as on ours, tracking starts when the link exists.
How far back do Pinterest's stats go?
Up to eighteen months for custom periods, according to the help, with real-time estimates for the last forty-eight hours — which the same page calls "subject to change."
How long does a pin keep bringing traffic?
We found no figure published by Pinterest, and we won't copy ones circulating online. What the help says, and what we can write: a pin saved by others can keep earning impressions and engagement. That's exactly why a link with a changeable destination beats a fixed address.
Do I need a different link for each pin?
Yes, if you want to know which pin sells. One link tells you what Pinterest brings in overall; one per pin tells you which one to make again — and ten images imported at once means ten pins, so ten candidates.
What about a client whose account I manage?
Their workspace is separate: their links, their clicks, their sales, their report. You see everything; they see only theirs.
Checked on September 12, 2026 in Pinterest help, « Revendiquer votre site Web » — the original page. Platforms change their rules: if what you see no longer matches, the source wins.
Your next pin, measured.
Create the link, paste it in the pin's Link field, publish. The outbound clicks will stay Pinterest's — the sales, you'll have those too.
Create a free accountHow clicks are attributed by channel is explained on the attribution page.