Imagine this.
You spent hours writing your next blog post. You believe this one has the potential to drive traffic to your website. The one that will go viral on social media.
It's been optimized for search and checked for grammatical errors. It's ready to go live.
Then you stop.
Should you publish it now? Is posting blog posts on a weekend a good idea?
"When is the best time to publish a blog post?" is the most frequently asked question by content marketers and bloggers.
In this blog post, we'll take the guesswork out for you!
We're going to look into different studies and find out the best time to publish your article. We'll also discuss how often you should publish. Plus we'll offer you a few tips to maximize your post's impact.
But before we find out the best time to post, you need to take a look at your audience and your blog analytics.
What Time Of Day Are Your
Readers Accessing Your Site?
Your blog is accessible globally. There will be people online to browse your content 24/7. But only a small percentage will actually read it. That's why you need to know the perfect timing to hit publish.
It needs to be at a time when your readers are generally online. So first, you need to figure out your website's geography.
It's important to know your ideal readers and when they are most likely to be online. This will help you determine the best time to publish a blog post. Take advantage of your peak times to maximize impact.
Of course, there are a few pros and cons to publishing during peak times.
We'll talk more about that in a minute. But first, we'll give you a short roundup of the best publishing time according to this study by KISSmetrics.
The Best Time To Post For
Traffic, Comments, And Shares
What do you want to achieve upon hitting publish?
Do you want more traffic? How about social shares? Or do you want to boost engagement and comments?
Aside from your audience, you also need to look into your goals when figuring out the best posting time.
Peak Publishing Times For Site Traffic
According to the study, the best time to publish is at 11 a.m. EST. on a Monday.
This makes sense because people usually check emails and prepare for work in the morning. But as lunchtime approaches, they're likely to check what's new on their favorite blogs.
Traffic might spike again on Fridays and after work hours between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. EST. But it's best to avoid publishing during weekends.
There's a high chance that your readers will have other plans on Saturday and Sunday.
Peak Blog Commenting Time
Want to know what your readers think about your latest blog post?
Then the best day to publish a blog post is on Saturday. This is based on the study by Dan Zarella. He also observed that blogs generally get the most comments at around 9 a.m.
We can see the logic behind these results. On Saturday morning, readers have more time to read their favorite blogs. They also have time to comment on it.
Peak Publishing Time For Social Shares
According to the study by TrackMaven, blog posts published during non-peak hours have a higher chance of getting more social engagement and shares.
For instance, posts published on the weekends received more social shares. A similar trend is observed for posts published during non-peak evening hours between 9 p.m. EST to 2 a.m. EST.
This isn't surprising. Why?
Because if you publish during peak time, your post will be buried under a slew of other social media posts. Publishing during non peak hours means a lesser number of published posts.
So consider posting during non peak hours. Your audience will most likely read and share your content.
But what about the day of the week? When are the best days to post?
To answer this question, we'll take a look at Noah Kagan and BuzzSumo's study. After analyzing over 100 million popular articles, they discovered that different days of the week have a different impact on social shares.
According to their data, the best post days are on Mondays and Tuesdays. Here's a simple breakdown:
When considering these data, it's good to remember that social media is a different beast. Social platforms allow you to boost your brand voice.
Of course, there are other factors to consider to make a blog post successful. Publishing at the right time and day are only some of them. You also need to take into account the length, images, post type, and more.
The studies discussed in this post only provide suggestions on the best time to publish blog posts. It's important to note that it's not a perfect science.
This leads us to question whether posting during peak hours is truly beneficial for your blog.
The Pros And Cons of Posting
During Peak Activity Hours
There is no right answer to this question. But we'll give you a few pros and cons to posting during peak activity times.
Pros
Cons
So what should you do now?
Conduct your own testing.
Just because something works on other blogs doesn't mean it'll work best for you.
So take your time and run your own tests.
Here's a tip: Use Google Analytics to understand your traffic patterns. Check reports for page views and visits.
Here are a few other things you can look into with this tools:
Plus Google Analytics also shows you how your traffic changes throughout the week. You can also compare the results when you publish blog posts on different times and days of the week.
Experiment and observe results. Look at how it affects your own traffic, comments, and social shares. In doing so, you'll determine which times work best for you.
But timing isn’t everything. You also need to consistently provide high-quality blog posts.
In the following section, we'll give you a few tips to maximize your post's impact. But before that, we'll discuss how often you should publish on your blog.
How Often Should You Post On Your Blog?
Don't fall for the false belief about content marketing - that your posts need to go viral as soon as they're published.
This is especially true with social media. You can re-share the blog posts that did extremely well.
Remember that you have a growing audience. There will be new people who will discover your content. Who knows? They might not have seen your best work yet!
With that said, your blogging frequency will again depend on your goals. Here are a few basic tips for common blog goals:
Boost Organic Traffic
Do you want to boost your page views and website clicks? Then post more frequently.
For example, you're a small blog with a limited team. It can be challenging to produce quality content daily. Consider posting at least 3x a week.
So plan ahead. Here are a few tips:
Don't force yourself to constantly publish content. You might end up posting something that isn't helpful for your readers.
For bigger blogs with a content marketing team, then they have the means to pump out more blog posts. I've found a good goal to post blog articles is 3x a week.
Increase Brand Awareness
If your goal is to let everyone know what your blog is about, then the key is to produce diverse content.
Focus more on creating a voice for your brand. With that said, you don't need to publish as frequently as compared to when you want to boost organic traffic. So if you're a small business, consider publishing at least once a week.
Here are a few tips:
There are other factors you need to take into account when considering your blogging frequency. For one, you need to consider your resources. Another factor is your writing speed. Then you also need to consider your audience's preferences.
You now have an idea of the best publishing times. You also know how many times a week you should blog.
But the most important question is: what do you do after you hit publish?
What To Do After Publishing A
Blog Post To Increase Shareability
Reread Your Post
Obviously, you've proofread your work even before hitting publish.
But no matter how careful you are, there will still be a few mistakes. Rereading your post once it goes live gives you "fresh eyes" to catch spelling, grammar, or formatting mistakes.
Here are a few other things you need to check:
Send Out A Teaser Email
If you have an email list, then promote your post by sending a "teaser". Avoid sending out your entire blog post!
Why?
Because it won't drive traffic to your site. Think about it. If your subscriber receives your entire post in an email, they won't have a reason to visit your blog. More importantly, it's harder for them to share your content.
A simple teaser will create a hook that'll encourage click through to your site.
Post On Social Media
Share your content on various social media platforms. From Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, you have plenty of options to choose from.
When posting an article, make sure to add an interesting copy. This will make your readers look twice and encourage them to read more. Tell them why they need to read your content; why it's valuable to them.
It’s also a good idea to add an image. In fact, social media posts with an image or video get more shares and engagement.
Here are a few tips to make your content evergreen on social media:
Reach Out To Other Blogs
If you want more eyes on your content, you'll need to reach out to other blogs. Get backlinks from high-quality blogs in your industry. In doing so, you'll also improve your chances of ranking on Google.
How do you find other blog owners? How can you get them to link to you?
For one, you need to do your homework. Search for similar topics on Google. Another option is to find blogs that accept guest posting. Make sure that you reach out to blogs within the same niche.
In Conclusion
The suggestions listed in this post are beneficial to a certain point. Ultimately, you'll have to look into your own analytic results. Rely on your own data and take cues from your readers.
The best tip we can give is to follow these guidelines for a few months and observe your results. Do you see significant changes? Did you experience a spike in traffic?
To maximize impact, modify your strategy so it works best for you. Discover your best day and times. Lastly, determine your blogging frequency that will render the results you want.