Thursday, May 12, 2011

I've been thinking...

No don't panic, just yet. I was just thinking about my personal Blog Rules.


Something occurred to me that I should have thought about earlier...


Something involving time-zones...


See... most of my followers are from the US, which means that they/you are more than a few hours behind me. It made me think that I might have been a little stupid to post in the mornings. Because it means that my posts show up on readers at night. Between 1 am and 4/5 am, in fact. Not a great way to catch new readers. Or to stay fresh.


At the same time, I want to post at a time when my European readers can read as well... So... when, I wonder, will work best?


I'll be experimenting over the next few days to see if changing post times will have an effect on my stats. Starting Monday.


Anyone want to shoot with your time-zones and times you prefer to read?


It would help me tremendously.

26 comments:

  1. Well, I'm sticking to my time zone and that's that :P I can't be bothered having to figure out when everyone else is awake ;) So far it seems to work out quite well. With Blogfests and the like, I'm always one of the first to post :P

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  2. It's six am here - I think time zone-wise I'm at GMT-7 or something like that. Most of the blogs I read, regardless of where they are in the world, go up between midnight and eight am for me. Even a lot in the US set them to auto post in those times.

    I love it because it's what I do to wake up instead of reading the newspaper ^_^. My blog reader is full of all sorts of wonderfulness in the am. Just my opinion.

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  3. I usually set my posts for around 3AM PST-8. That happens to be around 6AM in NYC, and even later in other parts of the world :D

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  4. I'm in the MDT zone (Colorado US) and I've always caught you when I'm up and going in the morning -- 6-8AM. That's probably 6 or 7 hours after you post, but I've always liked reading you after a few people have commented.

    Most traffic here hits during that 6-8AM time frame...then again, 2-3 hours later.

    Hope that helps :~)

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  5. I am in the US Pacific, and I do my blog rounds either in the morning or evening. I usually auto schedule my posts to go up around noon GMT. I've worked out that it works best that way for my readers.

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  6. I'm in the Chicago area (CDT). I check Google Reader several times a day, but there are more posts in the morning. I also schedule my posts to go live around midnight my time, since it seems the blogosphere is most active in the morning.

    Post whenever works for you.

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  7. I say post when you want. People will find your blog anyway.

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  8. I find posting 6:30am-7am UK time can catch the late night US followers, so maybe you could alternate and see which works best? :O)

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  9. The international effect of the Internet means there really aren't any optimum time zones for posting. But, realizing that *most* of my audience is in the U.S., I generally schedule my posts for 6 a.m., MST. That means the post is live on the west coast at 5 and the east coast at 8.

    As for my own preferred reading times, I generally log in to scan blogs around 10 a.m. MST.

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  10. I too have the same problem, Misha, as I am in India and most of my followers are from all over the world. Lets stick to our schedule, our lovely followers will find our blogs anyways.

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  11. I live in the US (central time) and generally read blogs in the afternoon. Your posts usually show up at about 1 or 2 in the morning for me. It's not much of a problem though since I still read your posts the next day :)

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  12. Pacific for me and I read midday or late afternoon. That would explain why you say good morning on twitter as I'm usually winding down for bed ;)

    But as for posting, do it whenever. It seems day of the week is usually more important that what time of day.

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  13. My time zone is GMT -5; but I usually try to read posts going back for an entire day, so no matter when someone posts I see it.

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  14. I am European and I think follower can publish Cundo want,
    As you read, either morning or evening, the question
    is that post and give you time to read.
    a pleasure to go to say hello.
    happy weekend.

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  15. Misha, doesn't matter...I only read on the evenings here in Texas so you're good with me anytime you publish.

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  16. Yep, figured my comment would have disappeared in the Blogapocalypse as I saw it referred to on Rusty's blog :P So here to say hi again. lol. And yeah, like I said before, I'm sticking to my time zone. hehe

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  17. Just keep posting when you do! I think most people here read either at night or early morning. (Darn life getting in the way!)

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  18. Misha, I've settled on posting at 14h00 our time (South Africa). That's early morning in the US and mid morning in Europe and evening in Aus. No time will be perfect, but I also supplement it by tweeting about the new blog post across several hours (e.g. just before I switch off at night which is early evening in the US/Canada.) It works satisfactorily for me because I usually only post once a week so I'm not spamming everyone with 100s of self-promo tweets etc.
    Judy, South Africa

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  19. Follow your own schedule, people will find your blog.I post sometimes in the evening, sometimes at night, as most of my followers are from the U.S, I did think of changing the time, but I didn't.

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  20. Hello new 'Bloggy Friend' here!

    I don't think you need to worry so much about accommodating other time zones because if for example I have you on my blog list, every time there's a new post, the blog name will jump to the top of the list. This way I will know to stop by and check out what's new.

    At least that's how I keep track of blogs anyways.

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  21. Yeah, what Sophie said. My blog roll puts the people with the latest post at the top. I read whenever I see there is a new post.

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  22. not all comment instantly after you post.
    thus, you shall stick to your own schedule.

    you first.

    bless you.

    check out short story slam and make a submission today.

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  23. I'm local, UK, and it doesn't seem to matter what time of the day or night I blog. If people want to read your blog, they will do. Just keep blogging. :-)

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  24. It doesn't matter to me. I just read all the newest posts on my Dashboard when I have time to. And I start with oldest posts first, so, having it show up at night my time makes you one of the first on my list. ^^

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  25. Ricardo, that's a thing I still need to work out... When can I read my people's post?

    Thanks for letting me know, Chuck! :-)

    Hehehe hi Trisha. I'm also sticking to my time-zone (refuse to lease sleep over this), but I just want to adapt my post times to suit more people...

    True Devin, but as a rule, people aren't going to stick around until 2 am to read what I have to say. ;-P

    Judy, I tried that yesterday... seems to attract more hits, I'm going to check it out this week to make sure. Thanks for the tip!

    Rachna, that's my issue. Most of the readers are US, so I'm posting at times that they are still sleeping.

    Hi Sophie! Welcome to my blog! I did that too at one stage, but I know from experience that people stop reading posts beyond an age of their chice because they follow too many blogs to read them all.

    Thanks for stopping by, Joe! (See above for reply :-P)

    Bluebell, true, but me first says that I should attract more readers. Posting at a time when no one is up to read it is a tad... stupid of me.

    Rosalind, they won't read my blog if they can't find it between the hundreds of old ones waiting on the reader. :-(

    Hahaha Brooke, how many blogs do you follow? If I started from the oldest post, I'd never be able to finish reading. :-D

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  26. I really don't think it matters. After all, your followers will follow you no matter what time you post- I think consistency is what really makes a difference.
    Sara

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