Best Time to Publish a Blog Post You Want to Go Viral

What is the best time to publish a blog post? This is what you are probably wondering once you complete a blog post and are ready to hit publish. However, you might be wondering when the perfect time is to publish it. Especially if you want your blog post to become popular or even go viral! Your blog posts should reflect your commitment to your blog, so choosing the right day and time to post is one step in the right direction. This article will tell you the best time to post your blogs and the best days to post your blogs. 

Best Time to Post Blogs

If you have amazing, well-written blog content, it will mean nothing unless you have an audience to read it. If no one is reading your blog content, then it might seem useless to post the content. To make your blog content matter, you need to consider when you’re posting. It’s even better to learn when the right times are for you to publish your blog content.

What are Your Goals?

The best time to publish your blog post might depend on your specific goals. Before you start thinking about the specifics in your posting habits, take some time to consider your goals. Why are you posting? Is your goal to receive as many social shares as you can? What your goals are will influence when the best time and day is to blog post. Because different companies have different goals, there really is no right answer to the “best time” to post. The best time to post will depend on your audience, location, and demographics. Discovering the best time will take time and practice. 

Scheduling Your Blog Posts

You might be thinking that time of day to post doesn’t have a significant impact on your blog. However, timing has a big impact on how successful your posts are. Because people are habitual creatures, they tend to do certain things at the same time every day in regard to their schedule. This also means they will check blogs at certain times, so it’s a good idea to check when your traffic is at its highest.

Who is Your Audience?

Who your target audience is will also be a critical factor in deciding when the best time for you to post blog content. For example, your traffic might be from the audience you weren’t expecting. If you wanted teachers, for example, to read your blog, you probably don’t want to publish your posts during the school day hours. You could potentially lose traffic from posting at the wrong time of day. So, when you’re thinking about what hours would be the best to blog post, keep your target audience in mind.

Consider Peak and Non-Peak Hours

You should also consider the peak and non-peak hours of posting, or when traffic is at its highest or lowest. There are also several pros and cons to posting content during those key peak and non-peak hours. If you’re looking at posting at peak hours, some of the pros include more visitors, views, social shares, and comments. On the other hand, the cons for posting at peak hours include your posts getting buried by other publications, readers skimming, and your posts losing prominence. 

If you decide to post during the non-peak hours, there are also some pros and cons to look out for. Posting during these hours is less competitive, giving you more exposure for your blog post, and also easier to promote your content through social media. However, you’ll also have fewer visitors and less engagement from those visitors. 

The Most Popular Times to Publish Blog Posts

A few times to look into as you begin your experiment to find successful blog publishing times to maximize their results include:

• 11 a.m.: At this time, blog posts receive the highest traffic. This makes sense as lunchtime is approaching.  
• Morning: Between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. tend to be high-traffic for your blog as they’re the time before people start their workday.
• Lunch: 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. is another traffic spike as people are at lunch and are taking a work break.
• After work: Between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. is another traffic spike before traffic starts to taper off. 

These are some of the times that seem to have the most traffic for blogs, on average. That doesn’t necessarily mean that these times will attract the most traffic for your specific blog. Again, when your blog attracts the most traffic will depend on your content, target audience, location, and demographics. You can use these suggested times for your blog posting as a starting point for finding the perfect times that are specific to your blog and its targeted audience. If you find that some of the times show more progress than others, make a note of those and continue changing your times to see if there are times that show even more promise. 

What is the Best Day to Post a Blog?

Sunday

Going back to the previous example, if your main goal is to get social shares, Sunday is one of the least popular publishing days, while, at the same time, one of the most socially active ones. Because weekends tend to be the days that few businesses blog, there is less competition to deal with, but, at the same time, you’ll have more active readers.

Saturday Morning

Blogs are also more likely to get the most comments and responses on Saturday morning, as it’s the weekend, and they have more time to think. 

Monday

Another great day to publish posts is on Mondays during the late morning hours. The reason for Monday is because people are looking for something interesting to read to keep their attention after their weekend is over and they’re back to work.

On the other hand, when it comes to your audience reading your blog, most people tend to read blogs in the morning. According to a study conducted by social scientist, Dan Zarrella, 70 percent of participants read blogs in the morning hours.

Find Out What’s Best for Your Blog

These suggested days of the week can be helpful as you get started with your posting calendar, but you shouldn’t rely solely on them. Each blog audience is different. Depending on who your targeted audience is, they can have their own schedule and habits corresponding with their blog reading schedule. In order to figure out these habits, do more research and experimenting of your own. Don’t stick to the same posting schedule day after day, week after week. You’ll find that your audience’s reaction will change as your blog posting schedule changes. Discovering the perfect blog posting day and time will not be immediate, and it will require patience. 

Track Your Analytics

As you experiment with your blog posting, look at your analytics to see how many people engaged with your posts. One tool you can use to track your results is Google Analytics. After reviewing the results, change it up, or keep it the same if you find the time to be yielding great results. If you need additional help with Google Analytics or with publishing day questions, contact SEO Design Chicago. We have trained experts who are here to help you with all of your blogging needs. 

Feeling Overwhelmed about Blog Publishing Times?

If you feel that creating successful and well-written content for your blog and paying attention to posting days and times is overwhelming, you can consider creating a posting schedule. As you do so, you should incorporate the days and times you post and what type of content you want to post (and what days you’re going to post that specific content). 

One way you can stay on top of your blog posts is to plan ahead. If you already have created an editorial calendar of your content, your business can easily stay on top of creating content. One way your business can stay on top of your blog content is through working on your content days, or even weeks, in advance. This is especially helpful if you don’t have time-sensitive content that you need to have published. By staying on top of your content, you’ll be able to spend extra time looking at your analytics and making necessary changes to your times and days that you publish blog content.

If you still feel overwhelmed, you can also try hiring a content creation company, such as SEO Design Chicago. Content creation companies help lighten the load of your business so you can focus your time and energy elsewhere. For example, if your business publishes blog content multiple times a week, it might be difficult to think of new content ideas or have the next blog post written and ready on time. Here at SEO Design Chicago, we have a content creation marketing team that would be happy to help with your blog content. 

Ready to Publish Your Blog Posts?

If you are struggling with our blog and finding the best times to publish a blog post, perhaps it’s time to hire a blog writing service for your business. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Blog Publishing Times

1. Is there a universal “best time” to publish blog posts that works for everyone?

No, there’s no universal best time that works for all blogs. The optimal publishing time depends on your specific audience, their demographics, location, time zones, and reading habits. While general guidelines suggest peak times like 11 a.m., morning hours (7-9 a.m.), lunch time (12-2 p.m.), and after work (4-6 p.m.), you need to test different times and analyze your own analytics to find what works best for your unique audience.

2. Should I post during peak hours or non-peak hours for better results?

Both have advantages and disadvantages. Peak hours (like 11 a.m. and lunch time) offer more visitors, views, and social shares, but your content may get buried among other publications and readers might skim rather than engage deeply. Non-peak hours have less competition and easier social media promotion, but typically generate fewer visitors and less engagement. Consider your goals when deciding which approach to take.

3. How long should I test different publishing times before determining what works?

Give each time slot at least 2-4 weeks of consistent testing before making conclusions. Publishing habits and audience behavior can vary week to week, so you need enough data to identify patterns. Track your analytics consistently during this period and look for trends in traffic, engagement, comments, and social shares. Be patient – finding your optimal timing requires experimentation and data analysis.

4. What’s the best day of the week to publish blog posts?

Sunday is excellent for social shares due to less competition and more socially active readers. Saturday morning tends to generate the most comments since people have more time to engage thoughtfully. Monday late morning works well because people are looking for interesting content as they return to work. However, these are general guidelines – your specific audience may have different preferences based on their lifestyle and industry.

5. How do I track whether my publishing times are working?

Use Google Analytics to monitor key metrics like page views, time on page, bounce rate, social shares, and comments for posts published at different times. Compare the performance of similar content published at various times and days. Look for patterns in your audience’s engagement behavior and adjust your publishing schedule based on when you see the highest quality engagement, not just traffic volume.

6. Should I consider my audience’s time zone when scheduling posts?

Absolutely. If your audience is primarily in a different time zone than you, schedule your posts according to their peak activity hours, not yours. For example, if you’re on the West Coast but most of your readers are on the East Coast, publish when it’s optimal for East Coast readers. Use scheduling tools to automate posting at the right times for your audience regardless of where you’re located.

7. What should I do if I don’t have time to constantly experiment with posting times?

Create a content calendar and posting schedule based on the general best practices mentioned in the article (11 a.m., morning hours, lunch time, after work, and weekends). Use scheduling tools to automate your posts, then review your analytics monthly rather than daily. If managing content creation and timing feels overwhelming, consider hiring a content creation company that can handle both the writing and optimal timing strategy for your blog.