Best Time to Blog.

Hand drawn vector illustration set of social media sign and symbol doodles elements. Isolated on white background - stock vector
I recently read a blog post titled A Scientific Guide to Posting Tweets, Facebook Posts, Emails and Blog Posts at the Best Times, by Belle Beth Cooper. The post had me thinking about the random nature of my blog posts. I have been trying to post once a week. For a while that used to be on Monday, but as my posts began to require more research it slipped to later in the week, with a few last desperate attempts on Sundays.

I had not really noticed if the day or time I posted affected the amount of views or comments. I was thinking the number of views or comments had more to do with the topic of the post. Like if I reviewed a current film or talked about television science-fiction I usually get more hits and comments than when I review a book. When I write about ebook sales, the number of comments seems to increase too.

But what other factors affect the number of views or comments on my posts. One factor that seems to limit comments is the perceived difficulty of making comments on Blogger due to the authentication process. But having being inundated by spam when I remove it, I’ve decided to keep it on. Another factor that might affect the number of views my blog gets is the time I post.
           

Best Time to Post.

 

According to Cooper’s post, 70% of people read blogs in the morning. My blog is aimed at readers and writers of science-fiction, and a fair few of my social media connections are writers. I can imagine many of those writers being procrastinators, like me, so they would probably read blogs in the morning.

Cooper’s post says Monday is the highest traffic day, with 11am being the highest traffic hour. But she warns that if a lot of blogs post at this time, a post is more likely to be lost in the noise.

Cooper’s research also shows that comments are usually highest on Saturdays and around 9 am on most days.

I had a look at my stats for Blogger over the past month. My traffic is greatest on the day I post and the day after. No other day stood out. There is no real pattern. My posting time varied from morning to evening too, and I have not noticed the time of day I post having any effect on views. My comments also seem to be highest on the day after I post.

Plugging a Post.


I plug my posts on Facebook and Twitter and in a few other places. According to Cooper’s research, 18% more people engage with Facebook on Thursdays and Fridays. Friday is one day when I seem to get more comments on my status updates. Early afternoon is supposedly the best time to post.

Cooper’s research also found evidence that 32% more people engage with Facebook on the weekends. I would have to disagree with this as Facebook is definitely quieter for me on weekends. Perhaps many of my writer friends are following the traditional alcoholism path, so they are too hung-over to engage with Facebook on the weekends.

The blog post says that getting other users to engage in a discussion after dinner on Facebook is a long shot.

I tweet, but not very much. I generally only use it to plug a blog post or article I have up on the Divine website.  I view Twitter as a platform where the majority of users are just plugging something.

So when is the best time to plug something on Twitter? According to Cooper’s post, many people are using their mobiles to access Twitter when they commute. So the best time to get a tweet noticed would probably be 7.30 am to 9.00 am or 5 pm to 6.30 pm.

If I want to increase my blog traffic it seems I should be posting on Mondays at 11 am while plugging that post on Facebook on Friday afternoons and on Twitter during commute times. 

So when do you read blogs? And when do you engage most with Facebook? And if you bother with Twitter, when do you make time to follow links in tweets?

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