Day: April 10, 2011

blogging

What is the “blogerati”

Since 75% of America’s population resides in the Eastern and Central times zones, you might think 9am Eastern time would be the perfect time to post. But that’s actually a little late. Why?

Because by then, all the blogger’s you’re hoping will link to your content have already committed to other sources or blogs for the day.  You see, there are many bloggers who have a daily commitment to blog about something…. they’re being paid to do it in one way or another, or perhaps they’re even doing it for free.  But, in any event, they ALSO know what I’m saying here — that blogs are best posted in the morning.   

So, many of them scan certain sources (namely other blogs in their industry) for ideas or stories.  So if your blog comes out BEFORE all those other bloggers (the coined term for these people is “blogerati”  – like “paparazzi” for bloggers), then your blog stands a better chance of being the source some of those bloggers use for THEIR blogs.  And that is how links are generated to your blog, and how your blog grows its audience.

So you want to make sure your first blog of the day is early enough to capture the attention of the blogerati, perhaps between the hours of 4-7am Eastern Time.  That also gives the entire day for your content to propagate through the search engines while it is still the most relevant (newest).

Then, if you are following some of this advice I’ve shared over the past week or so, your second and third posting of the day can target other time zones or audiences with the same strategic considerations…

blogging

Best time to blog post

Earlier we revealed that the “best time to blog post” was in the morning.  “The morning?” you might ask. What time zone is THAT?  Well, it depends upon the market you’re trying to reach.  Since I’m American and company Outskirts Press is based in America, my primary target for this audience is American.  Sure, we publish books by authors around the world, but when it comes to a specific social marketing tactic, it is best to target one primary market as well as you can.

For America, that means you should blog according to the Eastern time zone.  Nearly 50% of America’s population resides in the Eastern Time Zone, and in fact, over 75% of the population resides in either the Eastern or Central Time Zone.  Fortunately, and perhaps even coincidentally,  a New Yorker’s 9am is often the same as a Chicagoan’s 8am.

But both those times are a little too late to post your first posting of the day.  I’ll discuss “why” later today…

blogging

Best time to blog

In the recent past postings we have discussed the best way to blog (multiple postings per day, and why), and the best days to post (depends upon the goals for your blog), so now let’s discuss the “best time to blog.”

On a side note, did you know that if you repeat the title of your blog posting within the body of your posting surrounded by quotation marks you increase the chances of Google or Yahoo “scoring” your blog higher for that keyword term or phrase?

It becomes weighted even higher if you also link it somewhere… so, that’s just a little extra thing to consider today as we discuss the “best time to blog.”  (Although it’s better if the link actually goes somewhere relevant, but I didn’t have time to do that for this little example).

I don’t think I’m revealing anything shocking when I suggest the best time to blog is in the morning. But I’ll discuss WHY that is, and provide additional insight to that concept later today….  For instance, the “morning” for who, or where?  The world is big, and round, and the internet is worldwide. One man’s morning is another man’s night…