Changing My Posting Times
As you may or may not have noticed, I have been posting at a different time this week and not at my regular time. The reason for this was simply to experiment a little with my posting times and see if they make a positive or negative difference on my stats.
I also thought it would be an interesting experiment to write about since so many of you seem interested in the posts I write about blogging and WordPress. Since this will be the last post for the week, I thought I would share the results of this little experiment of mine:
Views:
I was hoping for an increase in views although I did expect a drop especially on the first day. I actually experienced an increase in views on Monday (the first day) when I posted at an earlier time but I experienced a slight decrease on Tuesday. On Tuesdays I post a blogging advice post which is generally my most viewed post of the week but this week was slightly less viewed than usual.
Wednesday was great. I post poetry on Wednesdays and my poetry posts generally do well anyway but this one did great and got more views than usual. However, this may be because I switched the posting time and made it one more hour earlier. So, on Monday I posted at 8pm and on Wednesday at 7pm.
Thursday and Friday have done pretty much the same as last week. There were no major changes in views on either days.
Comments:
When it came to comments, again there were no major changes on most days. Monday’s QOTD post got about the same amount of comments as the weeks before. Tuesdays post got slightly less comments which was expected since it also got less views.
Wednesdays post did well as I mentioned with the views and so as expected there was an increase in comments too. I got about twenty more comments on my post this week than I had gotten last week. Thursday was good too and got about 20 more comments which isn’t too much but better than the week before.
Yesterday’s (Friday’s) post did poorly compared to the week before. There were about 30 less comments compared to the week before but I had expected this drop because it was a very specific post that not all my followers would be interested in. I had talked about Only Murder’s In The Buildings last post and that is not a show the majority of my followers watch.
Likes:
Most of my likes remained almost exactly the apart from my Tuesday post about backlinks which had less likes then I expected. My OMITB post did have less likes too. But I just posted that and hopefully it will get more over time. And again, it’s a super specific post so most people may not even be interested in reading it. This is probably why it has less likes.
Personal Changes:
Personally, I found posting so many hours earlier than usual to be annoying. I am somewhat of an immutable person when it comes to my schedule. I like doing things in a certain way at a certain time and any change in my schedule irritates me.
Not only were there no changes but it was also extremely annoying to have to reply to comments and complete posts so early. I’m a night owl and I like doing these things in the evening once I am done with work. Because of posting earlier, I had to do all these things earlier which was unnecessarily stressful.
Conclusion
The change in posting times did not make that much of a difference if I’m being honest. It made a slight difference with my poetry post but that was about it. Is the poetry community on WordPress filled with early birds? Let me know if you’re part of the poetry community!
I will be sticking to posting at my usual times and not earlier because this did not work for me. I wanted to quit and start posting later again but to be honest I hate quitting even when it’s for my own good so I stuck with it.
These results are a bit premature since the week isn’t up yet but I factored that in when I was looking at my stats. So don’t worry it’s something I’ve taken into consideration.
I also wanted to let you guys know that a couple of followers have told me that they woke up to find they were no longer following me. They had not knowingly unfollowed me and had to re-follow me. So. if I disappear off your Reader for a couple of days please check and make sure you’re still following me.
I hope this post was informative and let me know your thoughts about my pretty unsuccessful experiment in the comments below. And let me know if my changes in posting times effected you at all.
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This is great! Thank you for this! I actually changed my posting day this week from Saturday mornings to Friday mornings and have noticed a little, but not huge difference in views or likes. However, just created my blog this summer.
Have you seen an increment or decrement?
And what’s your ideal time to blog? Like according to what country? 🙂
I’m in the central us, and posted around 9am on a Friday this week instead of a similar time on Saturday .. I saw a slight increase in likes and views by just posting a day earlier! I do like to post in the morning so I can move on to the next entry and really focus on that.
Interesting!!
Thanks for sharing.
Have you tried sat evening and Sundays?
No problem! I have not yet.. but that’s a good thought too… Maybe I’ll post at different times for a few more weeks and see what happens 🙂
Please share the results, that would be helpful. Best wishes
I will try my hardest to remember to do so!
I would be interested in reading about the results too!
Okay! I will put a reminder to myself in my phone 🙂
unfortunately i just post randomly
Time matter alot try to find out the best time for your post
also on social media it matter alot
https://digitalnasib.com/what-is-the-best-time-for-posting-on-social-media/
Thank you! 🙂
you are welcome
Thanks so much! Yeah things like that help sometimes. If you post once a week it would be a good idea to see what your best day/time is (you can find that in your “insights”) and post at that time for the best results.
So smart! It’s a great idea!!
Thanks!
Those are good things to know. I typically am pretty random. I try to post daily, but sometimes life gets in the way. I see a wave. Every 7 days or so, stats drop. I never tried posting at night. Interesting. Thank you for sharing.
try to find out the best time (when the more audience are active)
Yeah it happens. I used to post daily but now I post 5/6 times a week. My stats drop about once a month. Definitely interesting. Thanks for commenting.
I found when I miss blogging, my stats drop, but I am trying not to let blogging rule my life. So, have taken at least a day off. And I run two blogs so it makes it interesting. One I have had since 2007, the other since I was widowed.
Yeah, I imagine it’s a lot more work running two blogs. I get tired running one. It’s important to have a life outside of blogging so it’s good you try to take a day off at least.
I don’t think this an unsuccessful experiment but actually a successful experiment. The main intention was to see what happens when you post at a different time. It showed you some results.
This experiment of yours is very helpful and I’m actually observing it very carefully. I feel, what if it’s also about content? Like you post a variety of content. What if people like to read a certain thing more than the other?
Honestly tho, I love your work, and I read it with complete honesty and dedication.
The time at which you normally post is good because many people especially from usa/uk are active then as it’s evening there (just my assumption).
I feel like you should give one more week to this experiment. This time shuffle things a little more. I know, it’s not my place to teach you anything, but it will your this observation more solid.
Thanks for doing it. I’m saving this post. Because this experiment is not just about your site but in general behaviour of the audience.
Thanks! Yeah it was successful in that way but unfortunately unsuccessful in getting me higher stats.
Content definitely is an external factor I took into account but I posted the same topics almost everyday last week so it wouldn’t make much of a difference. But I know some topics are more popular than others.
I would love to experiment next week to but I don’t have the energy to complete posts so early lol. I’m a night owl 🦉
This experiment is actually very helpful for many people. You are very generous for doing it. Can’t thank you enough.
I feel like when it’s late night in india and early morning. I get maximum traffic from other countries. Usa ,uk for instance.
I will try to publish at late night and will see how it works. I will also let you know. Even a small find can lead to big conclusions I guess. 🙂 Did you have any specific time zone in mind with this experiment?
.
Didn’t know you are batman at night 😛
Thanks and it’s the same for me because it’s morning/afternoon for them when it’s night for us.
I try to get more traffic from US, UK, Canada because that pays the most for WordAds.
I guess the secret is out… I’m Batman 🦇
Yes yes!
Btw this is an interesting idea for a blog.
I believe it would be amazing if you can discuss more on this topic with a blog in future.
Yeah I absolutely agree, will work on that post in the future!
I’m still following you, Pooja, WP didn’t give me the boot. I find that Wednesdays bring the most likes and comments but I have no specific publishing time each day and publish no more than 5 times per day.
Oh good, always love having you here!
Wednesday and Tuesday are best for me. Sometimes Tuesday is better and sometimes Wednesday.
Awww thanks, Pooja! I wonder what takes place that has more people visiting our sites more often on Tuesday and Wednesday…
I know, it’s a bit odd since they are such random days and mid-week.
I’ve been experimenting with my posting schedule too – I call it – posting whenever I have some content 🤣🤣
are you getting views
Lol hopefully the experiment is a success 😂😜
I noticed it that you are posting on different times than usual. Bc I used to read your posts after my school around 2:30 PM ( afternoon) bc then I go to my tuitions.. When you were posting it was around 7:30 or maybe late don’t remember clearly and it was my tution time as well so, it was really hard to read your posts but I wanted to read so I did.
For me your pervious time was perfect.
But it’s fine that you did this experiment and get to know that which time is best for your posts. I hope you get your answer.
Right now it’s 10:21 in India.
try your best time
Oh I see, wow you are so busy with school and tuitions. I used to try to avoid them as much as possible 😂
I’m going back to blogging at that time so hopefully that will work well for you. You’re two and a half hours ahead of me.
Yehhh.
Thanks..I know time difference is the major problem not just for me and you. But for everyone.
Yeah, time difference is annoying sometimes but I think it’s not too bad once you get the hang of it.
Yehh you are right!
Wow, there’s a saying “timing is everything” and I guess it probably applies to WordPress as well. And I do see that you’ve started to do a little bit of “backlink”. Thank you for sharing and I think I should do that too with more links to my own and other people’s posts. And actually most of my ideas come from reading other people’s posts, not from my own thoughts. LOL. My own thoughts are usually too boring and I can’t tell my mind to shut up.
ohhhh
Yes, time matters a lot with WP and the algorithm. I always try to add at least one backlink on each post. It’s great for traffic and SEO. You should absolutely do that too.
That’s okay because I get a lot of inspiration from reading your posts too especially the ones with new words. And your short stories are wonderful.
I have learned from my experience that there is no ideal time to post to get maximum reach as every post is of a different mood and topic and has different tags and categories and we don’t know how the WordPress algorithm pushes it. Different time zones across the countries also make it difficult to choose an ideal time to post. Also, everyone has a different taste. One thing you can do is you can post at the same time so that at least your reader knows at what time you post often.
Posting at the same time is definitely incredibly important. I always try to post at the same time.
🙂 That is an interesting experiment that you did there, Pooja G.
I have experimented with posting at different times as well.
In my case, it has not affected my incoming views, likes and comments.
In regards to my weekend post, I never deviate from publishing it at 2030 GMT.
Thanks so much. It doesn’t seem to have affected my views much either except the spike on Wednesday but that may also be because poetry is just more of a popular topic on WP since the poetry community is huge here. 🙂
I was unaware of any poetry group on WordPress but it wouldn’t matter much since I’ve long left those types of questionable groups. I have this issue about my work being stolen or mimicked, then justified by a self-serving complement that is meant to somehow appease me. People are welcome to share my work, so long as they don’t take credit and or profit from it as their own.
I wonder what should be the appropriate action towards the people who steal someone’s work?
Basically, this is a crime.
Theives can create a quandry. What can be done seems too little, what shouldn’t be done seems too harsh. Lifetime payments to the artist sounds appealing, if caught. Thank you for commenting.
At least some kind of payment should be mandatory.
WP might require a parentage.
I’m sure they would.
I don’t think it’s a group, more like a community inside a community. They just all seem to be buddies and it’s so sweet.
I have had my content stolen/mimicked on multiple occasions and it really sucks. I wish WP would be harsher about plagiarism. Taking down the post is simply not enough.
I suppose so long as you’re one of the buddies, you’re in good shape.
I’m not sure exactly how it works but they are quite supportive of each other. I see it on some blogs I follow.
Suportive is good, assuming it applies to everyone equally across the entire spectrum. imo
Not sure if that’s the case, I just think it’s sweet seeing bloggers support one another.
Understood. Personally I support my critics more. They tend to need more understanding and my fans already find me acceptable, no matter how misleading I may be. ☺️
Haha well as a fan I’m glad to hear that 😂
🙂
I schedule all my posts to go out at noon eastern daily. It helps with a busy schedule and to focus more on writing and getting my stuff out there
Oh I see, I don’t think I’ve ever posted that early but I think noon is a great time since people often take their lunch break around that time and check in on WP/socials.
This is an interesting experiment. Thank you for sharing your observations 💜
Thank you so much, glad you found it interesting 💕
Thanks for sharing these observations. I found them useful. Sometimes when I’m too busy, I miss reading some posts or somehow some posts don’t show up on my screen and I end up missing them unintentionally.
That’s a WP glitch.
I have similar issue as well.
Especially for my blogs. They don’t appear on the reader 🤷🏻♂️.
How are you?? Been a while. I really hope you are doing well.
Ah, that’s good to know it’s not just happening to me. Sometimes I’ll wonder what happened to some of the blogs I usually read.
How are you? I’ve been too busy to write blogs.
Ohh great. I’m happy to know you are fine. I hope you are good busy. Good busy is a great busy. I’m great. Keep smiling 😃🙂
Thanks so much. That definitely happens, we all have things going on outside WP and sometimes we’re too busy to catch up. And yes, sometimes the Reader doesn’t show a post it’s supposed to.
Tuesday’s seem to be my best day and I normally post at 8 AM but my best time falls around 11 AM so I’m thinking about re-scheduling my time to 11. I like posting first thing in the morning usually because I’m always excited about my posts. It’s silly but I really do enjoy it! I’m usually on pins and needles waiting for my post to drop. I need to chill haha and just post when it’s best for my readers.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays are best for me. It’s so sweet you’re so excited about posting! I get excited too and check every few minutes to see if there are new likes or comments.
Same ☺️
Good experiment. I normally post at night when I am relaxed.
Thanks. I prefer posting at night too, it’s just easier for me.
I actually think this experiment was a success because you got to do something out of your routine (posting at different times) and also learnt a thing or two about your audience.
Thanks and yeah in that way it was definitely successful.
Interesting! I used to post in the evening a lot but favor the mornings now. I see a lot of traffic with poetry in the morning too.
Hi, kirsten, how are you? 😊
Can you please share from which country you get traffic according to usa’s morning? 😃
Hi Devang, I’m great thank you, how are you?
I usually get a lot of traffic from the US in the morning, around 6am to 11am. 🙂
Yeah, maybe poets are morning people lol!
Haha for real!
By the way, I can’t see your site on my Reader anymore even when I search for it.
Thank you for telling me! I’m talking to WP Support now. Always something going on. 😑
I just finished talking to them because my socials weren’t connecting to my WP. It really is something new every day 😒
Ahh that stinks! They just told me they have to look deeper into my issue with the Reader and consult with colleagues about it. They’ll follow up via email. Good thing I didn’t post anything lol. Now is a great time to take a break, I think.
Well, hopefully they get it fixed soon. Haha maybe the universe is telling you to take a break 😂
thanks for sharing your results, quite interesting. Was it also part of your plan to respond to comments at a different time than usual? I generally post at night, but no specific time, but as far as replying to comments and reading other blogs, I do that whenever I get a chance…
Thanks so much. I usually respond to comments at random times but like to be done before I publish my next post. It was annoying to do that earlier than usual.
it is amazing how we become such creatures of habit, and any disruption to that can be hard to deal with…
I am such a creature of habit it’s kind of a problem for me. It’s so weird that we’re that way when change is so constant in our lives.
I am a fan of routines as well…
It feels nice for things to stay the same I guess.
agreed…
It’s nice to try new things, successful or unsuccessful. It gives one experience. Also, I didn’t really notice the change. I almost always see your post whenever I come online.
Thanks and glad it didn’t effect your viewing of my posts.
Now I’m totally confused. I looked at the listing for a particular tag on the Reader. It seemed to be totally chronological and not by popularity or interest. This for me made a big problem because if my post is of special interest in a particular country or area I would want it to appear at a time in their time zone that is convenient to them. I’m in New York so if my target is for 9am in Ukraine, for example, I would have to post at 2am here. And so on for Noon in various countries, or evening in various etc. So I tried using the “Schedule feature” on the editor to post when I wanted but to have it appear at a time that was more convenient for the potential recipient. I tried scheduling the post to appear at 20 different times to cover all time zones. That did nothing, and now I think it might be considered spam. On the other hand if you look at the tag for poetry on the reader, it depends on when you wake up what’s feasible to scroll through. It can be overwhelming if you get up at the wrong time: just posted, posted 5 minutes ago, etc and it could be hundreds not in the target area.
As to your posting, you could just post at your favorite time, but in the editing section you could just click on “post immediately” and with the pop-up option schedule when it should appear.
Yes, that’s how all the tag pages are. They go chronologically not according to your interest or by popularity. It’s a bit annoying and would be better if it was by interest.
Thanks so much for the tip. I will definitely be trying that out.
Most comments here are positive. I do agree with them.
Someone has learned using immutable.😉
Haha glad you noticed that, immutable is quickly becoming one of my favourite words 😬
For me personally, for the people whose blogs I read on a regular basis, it doesn’t matter what time they make their posts. I simply start reading through the latest new post in the WP reader right back to the last post I read previously. Sometimes it does take me a while to get through all the posts I haven’t read and occasionally I miss a few, but eventually I will get to them 😊.
That’s great and a good way to make sure you read all the blogs you follow. I’m sure it takes a while when you’re not caught up. It takes me ages to catch up.
I’m glad you wrote about posting times. I like to write one day in advance and schedule my posts for the following day. I wrote a post last Sunday and accidentally posted it immediately — rather than Monday morning. I took it down and scheduled it for the next day and it got only 4 views as opposed to my normal 75 to 100. Is that because it didn’t show up on Reader? Or if someone clicked on it on Sunday they got a bad link?
Thanks. I do the same and schedule in advance although I finish the post on the same day it’s supposed to go up. It’s because it shows up on the Reader at the time you originally post and not after. That has happened to me before. And yes, those who use email may have clicked and got an error since you took it down.
Thank you for the explanation. I guess if I make a mistake with the scheduling, I should leave it alone.
Yeah I usually do that too.
Interesting once again thank you! I have settled into a rhythm of posting a blog entry twice a week, and on the days in between posting a (shorter) tweet on my associated twitter platform. This seems to mean I can reach slightly different follower communities, within a schedule that’s achievable considering everything else that’s going on in my life. I guess it’s about finding that sustainable rhythm that works for each of us.
Thanks so much! I agree, it’s definitely about finding what works best for us. I think it’s different for each person.
Interesting! I’ve always been curious about whether or not it would make a big difference. Since many of my posts are done for work, there was never a set time for me to post them other than whenever I got a nod of approval.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks! I see, you probably post more randomly. I did that too until about three years ago.
By the way, your comment just says “someone” so I’m not sure who this is or your site’s name.
Interesting, I will try to publish blog a bit late then. Thanks for the valuable information. Also, waiting for your next poem. 👻🙋🏻🙋🏻♀️💀
Sorry this comment was supposed to be in response to Kirsten’s response. I’m sorry it came out this way 🙏🏼
You’re welcome, coming soon haha.
Tbh I’m one of those reader who enjoy everything whatever their favourite writer/poet/blogger gives them. I will notice how and when you post them.
I wonder if you follow similar pattern every week or shuffle. Time to find out. 😁
Thanks, I always enjoy multiple topics too. Haha guess you’ll find out. 😜
I’ve switched up my time for about two months now and have noticed a huge increase.
That’s so great, it definitely helps to try new things.
Sure does!
😊
I as a poet am an early bird. I tried experimenting with posting in time too, but it didn’t matter a lot when I posted. I discovered however the later you post the less your stats will be that day.
Oh I see, so you probably get better stats early in the day.
Nice experiment, It is always good to shake things a bit and see the results.
Thanks so much and yeah I totally agree.
This is interesting since I never paid much attention to when I post and whether it impacts the views. Of course, I’m not even sure I’m posting for the views, but it might be a good thing to pay attention to and see how it changes based on when I’m posting. As a new follower, I’m enjoying your blog. I know this isn’t about depression, but read a couple of those and appreciated the discussion.
Yes, it does help a lot to post at certain times. Boosts the views a lot.
Thank you so much, glad to hear that. I think it’s important to talk about mental health openly.
Thanks for sharing your views! I only post late at night to get most of our readers which are from the states, so that works best for us, but I understand how difficult it is to change schedule!
I usually do that too and post late at night but thought I would switch it up for a week. I think I’ll stick with late night though!
love your professional take and doing what works for you. for whatever reason i post at 8 a.m. when possible. I do see poets posting around 6 or 6:30 a.m but different time zones.. It’s all a wash for me.. xo 💖💖
Thanks so much and yeah poetry is great before 9am from what I’ve seen. Poets seem to love mornings lol! 😂
Seems to be but not me.. lol. 💖
😂
Alright Pooja thank you for letting us know what happened in your posting times. I believe that change is needed for growth and just for trying out new things. Have a great day🙏
Thanks and I absolutely agree. Change is so necessary. Have a great day too 😊
Thankyou for sharing this wonderful post. Posting at specific times could help your blog page massively especially if you are targeting certain members of your audience but also the time differences can play a huge factor so it’s a experiment that can change from week to week depending on public holidays etc but I realize subtle changes are needed to continue to grow. I must admit I do post randomly at times which is most likely why my views and likes are very up and down but reading post like these gives me much food for thought!!! Thanks again P
Thanks so much. I think specific times definitely help a lot depending on the topic. Yeah that does happen when you post randomly but it’s hard to always get a post up on schedule!
Very interesting! I think that in the end the important thing is that it is a sustainable routine for you, so even if the views, likes and comments had been slightly better, it would have been better for you to keep with your usual blogging routine! But I really wonder why there is such a difference on some days!
Thanks so much! I so agree, I think the main thing is that posting later just works best for me and my schedule. I have no idea why Tuesdays and Wednesdays are so popular especially since they’re mid-week!
I have to preschedule everything or it just wont happen. Early bird here, but I write during the mid day.
I preschedule too because like you that’s the only way I can post on time. I’m a night owl though. And sorry for the late reply this comment was stuck in my spam.
No worries at all!