The Science of Social Timing Part 3: Timing and Blogging

THE SCIENCE of SOCIAL TIMING PART 3 Timing & Blogging Timing is everything, and maintaining a blog is no exception to the rule. Learning when your audience is tuning in, and therefore when to post, is mandatory for any successful blog. In the third and final part of this series we're going to explore how timing can affect your blog readership. Data courtesy of Dan Zarrella (@danzarrella) and searchengineland.com (@sengineland). Note: the data below is presented in Eastern Time (EST) unless otherwise noted. POSTING TIME PROS AND CONS Post submissions during high-activity hours (day time) PROS CONS Content gets buried by other posts. Loses prominence due to noise. More visitors. NEWS NEWS NEWS YOUR POST More comments Higher bounce rate due to noise. and engagement. NEWS NEWS YOUR POST Post submissions during low-activity hours (night time) PROS CONS Less noise. More prominence. 1 Fewer visitors. YOUR POST NEWS Easier front page promotion. Fewer comments and engagement. YOUR POST WHEN DO USERS READ BLOGS? KEY TAKEAWAY V THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF USERS READ BLOGS IN THE 80% MORNING 40% - The chart to the left tells us when users report reading blogs. Most users read blogs throughout the day-not just at one specific time. 70% of users say that they read blogs (among other times) in the morning. 0% Morning Afternoon Evening Night AM Hours PM Hours MEN VS. WOMEN: READING BLOGS AT NIGHT KEY TAKEAWAY 60% MEN A A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF MEN READ 30% BLOGS IN THE EVENING AND NIGHT 0% Men Women Men Women Evenir Night BLOG VIEWS BY DAY KEY TAKEAWAY V THE AVERAGE BLOG USUALLY GETS THE MOST TRAFFIC ON 140 MONDAY 70 Sunday Wednesday Saturday BLOG VIEWS BY HOUR KEY TAKEAWAY V THE AVERAGE BLOG USUALLY GETS THE MOST TRAFFIC AROUND 200 I| AM 100 12AM 6AM 12PM 6PM 11PM COMMENTS BY DAY KEY TAKEAWAY V THE AVERAGE BLOG USUALLY GETS THE MOST COMMENTS ON SATURDAY Sunday Wednesday Saturday COMMENTS BY HOUR ΚΕΥ ΤΑΚEAWAY V THE AVERAGE BLOG USUALLY GETS THE MOST COMMENTS AROUND 9 AM 4.5 12AM 6AM 12PM 6PM 11PM LINKS BY DAY KEY TAKEAWAY V THE AVERAGE BLOG USUALLY GETS THE MOST INBOUND LINKS ON 1.4 MONDAY & THURSDAY 0.7 Sunday Wednesday Saturday LINKS BY HOUR ΚΕΥΤΑΚEAWAY V THE AVERAGE BLOG USUALLY GETS 3.5 THE MOST INBOUND LINKS AROUND 7 AM 1.8 12AM 6AM 12PM 6PM 11PM LINKS & TRAFFIC BY POSTING FREQUENCY KEY TAKEAWAY > If you post more than once per day, your chances of getting more unique views and inbound links are greater. 30ок 15OK Unique views Inbound Links per month Unique views Inbound Links per month Fewer than 1 post per day More than 1 post per day UNIQUE VIEWS BY POSTS PER DAY KEY TAKEAWAY > The vertical coordinate represents the number of unique views per month. And the horizontal coordinate represents the number of posts per day. According to the data, as the number of posts-per-day increases, the number of unique views per month also increases. 1.8M 0.9M 15 23 30 DATA COURTESY OF AKISSmetrics @danzarrella, @sengineland PEOPLE PAY YOU. NOT PAGEVIEWS. KISSmetrics is a powerful web analytics solution that helps you make smarter business decisions. Learn more at kissmetrics.com