Recently I’ve talked about ways to encourage commenting on your blog, five things every blogger should keep near their desk, tips to increase your feed numbers and the key to a good post. Today I’m not going to talk about how you can improve your writing skills or give you a sure fire way to increase the number of comments you receive. Today I’m going to talk about when you should release your posts.
This may seem like a strange topic to some but I find it very interesting. When I was talking with Darren from Problogger during his impromptu video session I asked him when he released his posts and why. His answer was quite simple, he releases his best posts around 6:00 EST time and then subsequently releases his other posts later on in the day. But the main question I’d like to answer today is ‘When should YOU release your posts?’
Have a consistent posting time
One thing that I really enjoy from a lot of blogs that I subscribe to is their consistent posting schedule. A lot of blogs will pick a specific time during the day and release an article every day (or every few days) at that specific time. I think this helps your blog out in a number of ways. The first way is that if people know you post at a certain time every day, they’ll come visit your site in anticipation to that post.
The second way that posting consistently helps is that it’ll help you build your reputation as a blogger. If you post every day at noon people will know that you’re very serious about blogging. A quote from RomanceTracker “a bad blogging reputation can follow you around for years”. Posting consistently is almost a must if you want to grow your reputation.
So when should you post?
When you post is really up to you and your niche. If you’re trying to blog to business people you should release your best posts when you think they’ll read it. Lets say the average business person wakes up at 6am, turns on his computer and looks at his feeds by 6:30am and then leaves for work. You’re going to want to release your posts so that they’re awaiting that person when they wake up. Ben over at BloggingExperiment says that you should post when it’s ideal for your visitors. Release your posts when you think your audience is listening.
What if the posts aren’t ready?
I’ve seen a few people that have released posts a little quick and then gone later and edited them. I would have to say that this method is not a great one to follow. If you release a post that is only 70% done, your readers are going to see this and see that you don’t put 100% effort into everything you do. Make sure your posts are ready to be released before you release them. If you release them too early you could loose your readers and this isn’t what you want. It’s better to post a little later than normal and have the post 100% done than having the post only 70% done but staying consistent.
Final Thoughts
Choosing when to release your posts is really important in capturing your audience. Research the readers in your niche and figure out what time is best to post. If a really popular blog posts at a certain time, maybe you should too. Posting consistently is an excellent way to increase your readership and your reputation as a blogger, however, make sure to finish your work before you post. Release posts that aren’t totally complete is a great way to loose you’re readers.
If you guys have anything to add to this list or think a few of my points are waaay off feel free to spill your thoughts in the comments below.
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December 7th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
I have done this experiment on my blog and I have seen the optimal time is 9AM. But it might be different for each blogger. Good post by the way.
December 7th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Shamim, Have you found any other times during the day that are good to post? Thanks for your input
December 15th, 2007 at 2:34 am
I’m not quite getting this in a logical sense. Aside from having new posts consistently there when readers do their reading, via RSS, checking email, or actually hitting sites, what does the actual time matter? In your business person example, as long as the post is there when they check in, the actual time you post it is largely irrelevant, isn’t it? This is aside from maybe waiting until folks have given up for the day, so they don’t catch it on the last check of the day and maybe skip commenting. It seems more an issue of new post window than a specific necessary time you should post.