When’s The Best Time to Publish a Blog Post?

Quick...how many business resolutions did you read recently citing content creation as critical to your success in the coming year? Probably too many, am I right? 

Perhaps the only thing worse than incredibly obvious resolutions are the ones also grounded in theory rather than strategy. 

"You should make more money in 2014!"

Great. Wouldn't we all? But...how? 

In order to assist you in your content creation endeavors this year, we've collected data in order to provide you with actionable advice on the best times to publish a blog post. 

The Best Time to Publish A Blog Post

When you're talking about the best times to publish your blog posts, there's several areas you need to consider:

• Day
• Time 
• Links 
• Views

Each of these areas may yield similar or differing results, the key is identifying common denominators in order to execute the most effective strategy possible. 

Day

Read any article on the importance of content creation, and you're sure to come away with how important it is to create and publish content every day. And while I'm certainly not advocating anything to the contrary, simply scheduling out posts randomly without first understanding data is a fast track to mediocrity. 

By understanding which days accrue the highest volume of blog traffic, you can better position your best, lead generating content on these days. 

According to the collective data of KiSSmetrics and HubSpot's Dan Zarrella, the average blog post gets the most amount of traffic on Mondays. 

What this means: After decompressing all weekend, people are generally most interested in getting a jump start on the week with some self-help content. Position your most resourceful content for earlier in the week, as often times as the week wears on, so do the pressures for getting more work done, therefore readership dips slightly toward the end of the week. 

Time

Common sense would dictate that the best time to post a blog article would be when people are most engaged in recreational behavior, most notably before or after work.

Not the case. 

While traffic sees a notable increase between 10 am - 1 pm, the average blog post usually gets the most traffic around 11 am. 

So how does the rest of the day stack up against the highly-coveted morning slots? As the chart below indicates, while there may be a steady drop off in traffic as the day wears on, it's still worth exploring the variations of content that may work in these time slots. 

For example, while a simple How-to article may not work in the evening hours, a detailed news jack may be just what your audience is looking for after being in the dark all day at work. 

What this means: The noticeable spike in traffic around the lunch break is expected, so take advantage of this time slot for a potential afternoon post (or perhaps your daily one.) While it's worth noting that traffic maintains a steady volume in the hours before and after 11 am, adjust your publishing schedule accordingly. 

Frequency 

Ah, the age old question, "how often should I be blogging?" 

To quote Dan Zarrella in The Science of Marketing, "more than you are right now."

The chart below clearly conveys the importance of quantity when it comes to your business blogging strategy. However, for some reason many marketers, business owners, and other "experts" maintain that quantity is the opposite of quality. 

This couldn't be further from the truth. The most successful organizations are able to ensure both and essentially function as a media company in their industry would. High quality, resourceful content at a high volume. 

The results are clear.

The Right Content at The Right Time

While the first priority should be creating content that acts as a utility for your audience, publishing it at the right time is paramount in spreading your message. 

It's important to note that not all blog posts – or industries for that matter – are created equal. Play around with different time slots in order to uncover what days and times work best for you.