Most people think successful blogging is about writing, but that’s only part of it. It’s really about decision making. What are you going to write about? How are you going to write it? And finally, when will you post it?

Should it go up first thing Monday morning so people can start their week right? Or is Friday afternoon better because they’re winding down? Maybe Wednesday morning as a mid-week boost?

Not surprisingly, this issue has been studied a lot. The results offer a good starting point. For instance, the highest percentage of visitors read blogs in the morning, according to Hubspot’s Dan Zarella (@danzarella) and searchengineland.com (@senginland) as detailed in a comprehensive Kissmetrics infographic.

Armed with this info, you’re  ready to go? Right? Not exactly.

If you post at the high-volume reading times, the stats say you will have access to more readers. But, everyone else reading the numbers will be posting then too so you will have more competition. In fact, you’re more likely to get engagement and shares during the off-peak times, according to a study by TrackMaven.

There’s another problem with the stats. They’re based on a wide range of blogs and readers, not yours. They can give you a general picture, but they aren’t telling you what your ideal readers are doing. To get a more specific answer, you’ll need to do some background work.

• Who is your ideal reader?
• What are that person’s lifestyles and habits?
• When does he or she have free time?
• When is he or she most likely to be at a computer?
• When is he or she most likely to read your blog?

Here are some ways to get better info:

Ask

Talk to your ideal readers and find out what they want. Put up a survey on your blog or social media.

Experiment

Once you’ve got a general sense of when might be good, try posting blogs at various times and watch the readership level. Do this a few times to eliminate variable such as one post topic being of particular interest.

Promote your blog

This is a way to eliminate some of the guess work. You can push out your blog through your newsletter and your social media channels so it doesn’t matter if people see your post right when you put it up. Of course, this brings about another round of questions about the best time to post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Snapchat. The answer is general the same as for blogs. Start with the studies and then refine based on your goals, audience and experience.

Send the blog out as an email

It will matter less when you put up a blog post if your readers don’t have to go looking for it. If it comes to their in box, they can look at it whenever they have time. Still, you should pay attention to the timing of the email so it doesn’t get buried.

Contact us to find out more about your ideal time to blog or to set up a consultation on improving your online marketing program.