Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Best Time to Post

Image: healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the guys I follow on Twitter was asking me if I had any advice for Bloggers. I can’t claim credit for this one, but it is a good tip nonetheless. I learned it from another blogger, who probably learned it from another blogger and so on and so forth.

The blogging tip was this:

Always use a scheduled post time set to 11:59pm. 

Why 11:59pm?

First, we have to look at the facts. Most blogs are read during the day while people are at work. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. We have to accept reality as it is. There are two major times people check blogs and their feed readers: when they first come into the office, and at lunchtime. Some may also check during an afternoon break if one is provided. I remember a reader of my blog once telling me that when his boss took a smoke break, he felt like he should take a blog break.

Second, if you read this blog then it is likely that you speak English, and that you write in English, so you are looking for an English speaking audience. That audience predominately lives in North America (USA and Canada), England, and Australia. 11:59pm

By posting at 11:59pm, you are going to catch Australia just as they are going to lunch. That’s an ideal time for them to be checking blogs. Most feed readers that people use to follow blogs list their content from newest to oldest. Since most of the other blog authors are asleep at 11:59pm, your post will at the top, or very near to the top of the feed reader as England, Canada and the USA are enjoying their first cup of coffee and checking their feeds.

1 comment:

Martyn Chamberlin said...

Dude this is ingenious. I love it. I'll have to try this out some time.

For me, it seems like mid-morning on a Saturday gets the best open rate. It goes back to what you're saying here - you have to catch folks when they're not working. It's incredible how adjusting the time you publish can make a big difference in the number of readers and engagement.