Should You Write Blog Posts On The Weekend?
So if you didn’t already know, most internet traffic is on Mondays and then trails off from there with the biggest drop over the weekend. So how do you respond? Here’s my interpretation of the drop and how a blogger should respond:
The “at-work” Readers
A large amount of people only do their internet “stuff” during the week. So generally you’ll have lower numbers over the weekend, monday will be a boost as the “at-work” readers catch up and then the rest of the week should be ‘about normal’.
Studies show that most people stop following a blog when they feel like they have missed too much. Their RSS reader has 10 unread articles and they feel like they are not reading your stuff. For the at-workers by Monday they have 3 articles to catch up on, from each of their subscriptions… if they don’t read yours they’ll have 4 unread tomorrow and it isn’t looking good.
This poses the question:
Should I Even Publish Posts On The Weekend?
Well don’t forget there are still people who are on the internet on the weekend so if you arent posting fresh content on the weekend you are missing out on a chunk of potential traffic. Not too mention, there’s less competition, so its easier to stand out..
So here is my approach to the weekends:
Write Shorter Thought Provoking Posts
Shorter because its easier to for the at-workers to catch up (and easier to write). Thought provoking because the weekend readers have more time on their hands and a thought provoking idea is more likely to generate discussion (read Starting The Conversation for why more discussion is a good thing). For the weekend readers who have time on their hands a thought provoking article also creates a desire to know more (and they have time to pursue it), so include a link to another post on your blog and get them started.
Make Sure Monday Is A Winner
With the returning traffic on Monday you had better grab the attention of your RSS readers. Not to mention that this is the best time to promote your stuff, so don’t miss the opportunity!
How do you treat weekends?
Interesting research you're quoting; I actually find Tuesdays to be the heaviest traffic day, but other than that the general pattern as you've laid it out is the same. It could be that Monday is also a work catch-up day and not until Tuesday do people relax a bit more and look at other stuff on the internet. That said, about weekends, I haven't been systematic about it. Sometimes I have a Sunday post (after all, in Asia and Australia their Monday starts during our Sunday); sometimes a Saturday post. But yes, something shorter with links to other great articles in your blog is a good idea.
Nice post, I retweeted it!
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Cheers. And yeah you need to think about what time zone the majority of your readership is in. I am in NZ but most of my readers are in the US so I publish for a US time zone not an NZ one.
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For those of you who post regularly, how long does it take to author a blog post? I guess I'm looking for half personal answers as well as if you've got an idea of how long it takes professional bloggers like those writing for Weblogs, Inc.
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
It usually takes me about 30mins to write a post but sometimes there is more work in research.
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smalltowngirl Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 5:36 am
It generally takes me about an hour to complete a post, but that includes doing production on and uploading 2-3 photos per blog. I've always been a fast writer though.
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Interesting – I had never really thought about it like that? I tend to post when I have time !!
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i believe that everyone should post a blog or should I say several blogs on the weekend. If I post blogs I usually do them during the weekend reason for this it gives me the necessary time to brainstorm my blog posts ideas. Everyone that works a traditional 9 to 5 job and owns a blog can than do it during the weekend where they can relax andf blog at the same time.
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All bloggers supposed to take rest on sunday so that they will start blogging frommonday onwards as usual ,positng on weekend also is a good thing to bring readers to site on sunday also.
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:27 am
The more rest days you can have the better! ha But yes having a quality fresh post on Monday is a great way to kick off your week.
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I do series on the weekend; the Saturday pieces are because I'm naturally in a position to write those articles Friday nights, while the Sunday posts are part of a series with pretty heavy draw that I originally debuted as an occasional feature. It works out pretty well, since even the people who don't show up on Sunday know to look for the weekly articles the next time they drop by.
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Nice approach. I like the way you are connecting with your readers on a regular schedule, great way to get people coming back to the site.
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nice point there ravyn I do the same thing because it makes it that much easier going into the weekdays by continuing in with this method
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Being a screenwriter I had intended my blog to be about what's happening. New scripts, contest placements, options, sales, pretty much weaving through the film industry. Now I'm thinking there is a lot more I can do with it. Approaches to topics, concepts, what gets people interested in even seeing a movie, etc., etc. I'm writing anytime day or night every day, so it helps to know when to put up the major blogs. That is a huge bonus.
Thanks again, Tim.
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Glad it helped!
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I have a new blog and see a strong drop in readership during weekends so this article makes perfect sense.
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This is an amazing article – so intellectual, and helpful. I sadly find myself posting in droves on the weekend, when I'm generally not too busy, but perhaps I could turn that around!
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Well you can write all your posts in the weekend but schedule them to be published during the week. Check out 5 Easy Steps To Set Your Blog On Auto-Pilot for a how-to.
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Great article
I have also found a drop at the weekends. Thursdays too have been low traffic days. Optimizing my blogs has made a big difference to organic search traffic with an overall increase of around 40% and mondays have definately been the biggest traffic day.
I usually write my posts at the weekend and schedule them for Mondays and Wednesdays which seems to be working out quite well.
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Odd that Thursdays are slow, I wonder whether it comes back up on Friday..
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Alana Reply:
April 29th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Yeah, I don't really know why, but it does pick up a little on Fridays, down again after that until Sunday night or early Monday morning.
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Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Very odd. Maybe you just have a lot of visitors who like to visit on Fridays? Or your Friday posts are better? lol
Tim Scullin Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Although after reading through your blog you don’t post on Fridays that frequently so it must be some weird anomaly within your traffic. Maybe you use an effective promotion technique on Fridays, or a bad one on Thursdays.. Find out what it is and you could improve your overall traffic. Good luck!
Hi
Thanks for visiting my blog and for your comment! I post quite randomly on that particular blog, my other blogs are the ones I tend to schedule. I only started blogging in January so I haven’t really started promoting my blogs yet or building backlinks. Maybe when I do traffic will pick up on the slower days.
Your blog has been a great resource
Thanks again!
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Even if you decide not to post on weekends, you should definitely write some content to post at a later date. You can take advantage of the down time and write a few posts should you ever need backups, or plan out your posts for the week.
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This is interesting to watch and good to take note of. The seasons play a role in readership too. Last year I noticed that during the summer Sundays received the least page views, while during the winter those numbers increased substantially. I don't usually publish posts on the weekend. I post early in the week, either Sunday or Monday evening and then either Wednesday or Thursday evening.
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Tim Scullin Reply:
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Interesting findings, good to know, people are more likely to be online when its cold/rainy I guess? Makes sense.
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I tend to do my research on the weekends for my stories, and build in the time to write 1-2 blogs on Saturdays and Sundays. Usually I have enough content from the weekend's research to fill at least one more spot during the week. Like MLDina points out, I sometimes write a blog on Saturday afternoon and wait to publish it until early in the week when I know I'll be too busy with my day job to write a new post.
Interestingly, my readers aren't reading in a predictable pattern re: days of the week. Instead, I'm finding that Sundays, Mondays or Tuesdays are my highest traffic days, with Thursdays coming in after that. Fridays are my lowest traffic.
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Writing at the weekend and scheduling the posts to be published during the week is something that's been suggested to me several times recently, and I'm going to start doing it soon. I also like your suggestion of building up a store of posts that can be published when I've not got time to write.
Great post — keep it up!
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You should write posts on the weekend, however, one's that are shorter in length while still being meaningful. I would definitely agree with the suggestion that you prepare posts beforehand for weekend publishing.
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I generally post 4-5 days a week. I HAVE noticed that Sunday is actually one day of the week when people who work play "catch-up" and are online.
For those who don't post every single day, take heart. I subscribe to many blogs and cannot read every one every day, so I actually appreciate bloggers who don't post seven days a week : )
I think there is room for versatility, yes?
Karen
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Very nice point. weekend are always bad days for me because my traffic comes down to 75% of total. Otherwise I try to add atleast 5-7 post a day. But I don't update my blog on Weekend. It's btr to take rest like my readers. :)
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For me Tuesday is the consistently best day. Weekdays are, by far, the best but it seems that I have a traffic surge every Tuesday [some as much as double the other 6 days of the week.] I agree that it is best to put a thought provoking blog on during the weekends. I usually try to give a practical application assignment on Monday's blog [here is something to do to build your business this week] and a blog that tells them to look at more foundational business development ideas over the weekend [on my Friday blog posting.]
You do present an interesting idea about weekend posts. I think I will consider periodic weekend posts to shake it up a bit.
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I do think that generally the best blog to write articles for blog is on weekends. Because of course, it's not a working day. And since it's not a working day, a lot of people go online.
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Definitely agree. WHen I'm not freelance writing, I'm updating my writing blog, basketball blog, or flash arcade. The sports blog doesn't see the lull on the weekend that the arcade and writing blog does though. Great info!
Cheers,
James
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This is a really useful article, Tim. I had no idea that the web traffic peaked on Mondays. I’ve been posting most of my stuff towards the end of the week, so am going to try switching that around and trying earlier. I also like the idea from one of the comments about writing different kinds of things at the weekends. Or indeed of posting different kinds of things at the weekends. Stuff to play with here, I think!
.-= Christine Livingston´s last blog ..What you ought to know about working for yourself =-.
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Hey very nice blog!!….I’m an instant fan, I have bookmarked you and I’ll be checking back on a regular….See ya
I’m Out! :)
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