The Perfect Posting Time Is When YOUR Audience Is Online

You've probably seen the posts telling you want time is 'the perfect time' to post your content for the maximum amount of pageviews, and you've more than likely seen those posts partnered with facts and figures, numbers proving that one time is the best, or another time is the worst, and as much as I love those posts and admire the writers who published them, I'm about to address the bull standing in a crowded field and tell you it's not about what time specific social networks get the most traffic, or when people are most likely to click rather than just browse.

Here comes the big myth busting fact.

Get ready..

The perfect time to post your content is when your audience is online to see it.

Tadah.

Seems kind of obvious now when you think about, doesn't it?

Truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter at what point in the day Twitter gets the most activity, be it early in the morning while people procrastinate going to work, or late at night when people scroll away when they should be sleeping. It doesn't matter that Facebook is a high value, low volume social site, where people want high quality posts less frequently that other platforms. It doesn't matter that Pinterest is a womans hideaway where 1 out of 5 women use it, making up 80% of it's demographic. None of those facts and figures are actually important when it comes to your optimal posting time (although I do love a good 'ol fact find).

What is important is knowing what time your audience is online, and posting content to suit them.

There is no magic trick.

The BIG numbers aren't what matters to your small area of the internet. What matters is your audience.

Okay, say you're right Amanda, how the heck do I find out when MY audience is online?

I'm really pleased you asked, as there are a lot of handy tools out there that take note of your audience, when they're online, where their accessing your site from, how they're accessing it, what time they're most active, where and how they're interacting with your site most, whether or not they linger or bounce, and a whole boat load of more information, information you could seriously only dream of having. Not only is this information 100% free, but it's all yours.

The Tools With The Information On YOUR Audience

Google Analytics

I'm a huge advocate of Google Analytics, and since I threw in the towel with my lying Blogspot Stats, I've learnt so much, not just about my blog, but about all the super awesome things Google Analytics can tell me about my blog, and who's been on it. Here's a few of my favourite features that will help you help your audience.

Where Your Audience Is Located: Audience - Geo - Location

Checking out where you're audience lives (although not in a stalking-type way) is a great way of instanding your audience, and what times your audience is likely to be operating in. Almost 67% of my pageviews come from the US, and although I'm a UK blogger, I cater to my US audience more in terms of posting times than I do anywhere else in the world. It also pays to check out how time zones differ and how that affects your posting time too. I personally aim for the 'check before bed-time' hours, or the 'I'm late for work, but oh, is that Twitter notification' hours, and it serves me well.

How Your Audience Finds New Content - Acquisition - All Traffic - Channels

I love to check out where my audience come from in terms of reading my content, and taking a look at my Channels and whether people are finding me through referrals, social media, organic search or interacting with content because of emails and my newsletter, it's all vital in knowing how to pitch your content, and where to spend your time posting updates about it.

Think about where you spend the most time looking for and checking out new posts. Do you like to peruse your emails when 'pop', an email from your favourite bloggers comes in just as you're clearing out the junk, or do you like to scroll through social media only to find your top blogger has just posting their fabulous new post right as you've logged on? Being front and centre of your audience's attention when they have the most to spare is the best way to get your content seen, and it works.

For me personal, Social Media is king when it comes to driving traffic to my blog and content, and it goes a long way in explaining why I spend a lot of time promoting my content on it than anywhere else. However, this feature can also encourage you to work harder on getting your audience to see your content in new ways, hence I'm working hard on growing my reach through Organic Search Results, and also through Email. Knowing not only when to post, but where to post, is vital.

How Long Your Audience Stays On Your Site - Audience - Overview - Avg. Session Duration

If you had a few minutes spare, would you bother to read a blog post, knowing that you might not be able to absorb yourself completely into the post, and might miss something important while quickly scrolling through, or would you need  good ten minutes to really appreciate the content your reading. What it comes down to is time, specifically, the length of time someone is staying on your site for, and how good the experience is during that time.

On average, my audience spends around 3 and a half minutes on my blog during any one session. Knowing that fact allows me to create content that not only is readable within those few minutes, but encourages somebody to back later and check it out more thoroughly when they have more time to spare.

It's great to know where your audience is landing on your site from, and it's great to tailor your fresh content posting to the time zone that visits your site most, but it's extremely important to know how long somebody will be checking you out for, and how to make the most of it. It's the reason why short, snappy paragraphs are popular with almost every new piece of content out there, and it's the reason that visuals like infographics and general blog graphics are doing so well on sites like Pinterest and Twitter. Some say you shouldn't tailor your site to your audience, but in a world that wants everything how we want it, when we want it, it's not a bad idea.

Bit.ly

Bit.ly is a new tool I've started using to track the links I post on social media and how well people are interacting with them, how often, at what times, and where they've clicked from. In terms of checking out the consumer, this is the tool for the job.

It's perfect for seeing when your audience has clicked your link, at the exact time they clicked it, and from where, which is absolutely perfect when you're trying to establish when your audience is online and the most active. You can get the lowdown on not only how people are accessing the link, but what device their using, or wht system, for example IOS or Android, or Windows vs Linux, allowing you intense information to use as you wish. For me, it's more a case of what and when my audience like to go into a click frenzy, and that suits me just fine.

'But what if I don't have an audience yet? How do I FIND an audience?'

If you want people to check out your content, you have to find them, and give them it.

Sounds like a headache, am I right?

It's really a lot easier than it sounds.

Think about where you spend the most time checking out other peoples content. Do you spend a lot of time on a specific network, interacting with a regular group of people? Or are you a people watcher, reading updates but never really jumping in and saying hello? Whatever type of person you are, your audience is somewhere waiting for you, and all you have to do is find them.

If you're a foodie blogger and haven't really got yourself noticed in the big scene, try joining Pinterest Group Boards where other foodies share their content. What's the worst that can happen? If one board says no, try another one - someone somewhere will accept you. If you're a BIG Twitter user, get using those hashtags and make sure your content is reaching people. If you have posts featuring or about a certain brand (all be it a nice post, don't be nasty now), tag them in it, get yourself so much deserved notice and put yourself out there. Join Twitter chats, or photography challenges on Instagram, or better still, do it all and see which one brings in the best audience.

In the end, you're the person that knows your audience best. You know what content they love, you know what they most about you, you know when they interact with you most, and with the help of these tools, you know when best to post your content to your audience. As good as knowing when Twitter is most active, or knowing exactly what days Pinterest users are likely to visit your site on, the best, and most helpful piece of information you can have is knowing when your audience is around to check out your content.

Do you cater your posting time to your audience?