SEO
12 SEO Best Practices to Improve Rankings in 2023
If you want to increase the SEO performance of your website, the best place to start is by implementing SEO best practices.
Here are 12 essential SEO best practices to help you level up your website’s performance.
| SEO Best Practices: Impact vs. Difficulty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Impact | Difficulty | |
| Match content with search intent | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Create click-worthy title tags and meta descriptions | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Improve your site’s user experience | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Target topics with search traffic potential | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ |
| Use your target keyword in three places | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Use a short and descriptive URL | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ |
| Optimize images for SEO to get additional traffic | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Add internal links from other relevant pages | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Cover everything searchers want to know | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Get more backlinks to build authority | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Get good scores to pass Core Web Vitals | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Use HTTPS to secure your site | ⭐⭐ | ⭐ |
Search intent is the underlying reason for a user’s search in Google. It’s important because Google’s main job is to provide the best result for its user’s search queries.
You’ll stand the best chance of ranking in Google if you align your page with searchers’ intent. Therefore, aligning your pages to the user’s search intent is crucial.
For example, look at the search results for “how to make a protein shake.”
There are no products to purchase in this search result. That’s because searchers are looking to learn, not to buy.
The opposite is true for a query like “buy protein powder.”
People aren’t looking for a protein shake recipe; they want to buy some powder. This is why most of the top 10 results are e-commerce category pages, not blog posts.
Looking at Google’s top results like this can tell you a lot about the intent behind a query, which helps you understand what kind of content to create if you want to rank.
Let’s look at a less obvious keyword like “best eye cream,” which gets an estimated 31K monthly searches in the U.S.
For an eye cream retailer, it may seem perfectly logical to try to rank a product page for this keyword. However, the search results tell a different story:
Almost all of the search results are blog posts listing top recommendations, not product pages.
To stand any chance of ranking for this keyword, you should follow suit.
Catering to search intent goes way beyond creating a certain type of content. You also need to consider the content format and angle.
Learn more about these in our guide to optimizing for search intent.
Your title tags and meta descriptions act as your virtual shop front on Google’s search results.
They usually look like this:
Users will be less likely to click on your search result if they’re unenticing.
Sidenote.
Google doesn’t always show the defined title and description in the search results. Sometimes, it rewrites the title and chooses a more appropriate description from the page for the snippet.
How can you improve your click-through rate (CTR)?
First, keep your title tag under 60 characters and your descriptions under 150 characters. This helps to avoid truncation.
Second, align your title and description with the search intent.
For instance, almost all of the “best headphones” results specify the year in their titles and descriptions.
This is because people want lists of up-to-date recommendations, as new headphones are constantly released.
Third, use power words to entice the click—without being “clickbaity.”
Read more about how to craft the perfect title tag, or watch this video:
User experience (UX) focuses on your site’s usability and how visitors interact and experience it.
UX is important for SEO because if your website is not pleasant to use, visitors will leave your website.
If users do this consistently from your homepage, it’ll develop a high bounce rate.
To improve your UX and stop users from leaving your website quickly, try testing the following:
- Visual appeal – Can your website’s visual appeal be improved?
- Easy to navigate – Is the website’s structure well designed and easy to navigate?
- Intrusive pop-ups – Are there any intrusive pop-ups that may harm the user experience?
- Too many ads – Are the ads distracting from the main content?
- Mobile friendly – Is your website easy to use on a mobile device?
The key to improving your UX is to focus on your visitors’ expectations. Ask yourself what they expect from your website.
Trying to rank for keywords nobody’s searching for is a fool’s errand. You won’t get traffic even if you rank number one.
For example, say you sell software tutorials. It won’t make sense to target “how do I make font larger in coffee cup html editor” because it has no search volume:
And the top-ranking page gets zero organic traffic:
To find topics people are searching for, you need a keyword research tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer. Enter a broad topic as your “seed” keyword and go to the Matching terms report.
For example, if you have a coffee affiliate site, you may enter “coffee” as your seed.
You’ll notice that the keyword ideas are sorted by their estimated monthly search volumes, so it’s easy to find the ones people are searching for.
That said, there are a lot of ideas here (over 3.7M), and not all will make sense for your site.
For example, there’s no point in trying to rank for “coffee cake recipe” with a coffee affiliate site, as there’s no way to monetize the content. It doesn’t matter that it gets an estimated 60K monthly searches:
This is where the filters come in handy.
For example, if you wanted to find classic “best [whatever]” affiliate keywords, you could just add the word “best” to the “Include” filter:
You could then filter for keywords with low Keyword Difficulty (KD) scores to hone in on easy-to-rank-for keywords:
Basically, relevant keywords with Traffic Potential that you can actually rank for are what you’re looking for.
If you want to identify low-KD keywords in bulk, you can also use Keywords Explorer.
Here’s how you do it:
- Enter a broad topic into Keywords Explorer’s search bar
- Head to the Matching terms report
- Select Phrase match on the toggle
- Filter for keywords with a Keyword Difficulty score under 20
If the suggestions aren’t that relevant, use an “Include” filter to narrow things down. For example, let’s filter our list to include only keywords with the word “best.”
You can then check the SERP to assess difficulty and competitiveness further.
A target keyword is the main keyword that describes the focus or topic of your page.
You should use this keyword in three places:
A. Title tag
Google says to write title tags that accurately describe the page’s content. If you’re targeting a specific keyword or phrase, this should do precisely that.
It also demonstrates to searchers that your page offers what they want, as it aligns with their query.
Is this a hugely important ranking factor? Probably not, but it’s still worth including.
That’s why we do it with almost all our blog posts:
Just don’t shoehorn the keyword in if it doesn’t make sense. Readability always comes first.
For example, if your target keyword is “kitchen cabinets cheap,” that doesn’t make sense as a title tag. Don’t be afraid to rearrange things or add in stop words so it makes sense—Google is smart enough to understand what you mean.
B. Heading (H1)
Every page should be wrapped in an H1 tag and include your target keyword where it makes sense.
C. URL
Google says to use words in URLs relevant to your page’s content.
Unless the keyword you’re targeting is unusually long, using that as the slug is the best way to do this.
URLs in SEO play a crucial role in informing users and search engines about the content and structure of a webpage.
Google says to avoid using long URLs because they may intimidate searchers.
Therefore, using the exact target query as the URL isn’t always best practice.
Just imagine your target keyword is “how to get rid of a tooth abscess without going to the dentist.” Not only is that a mouthful (no pun intended), but it’s also going to get truncated in the search results:
Removing stop words and unnecessary details will give you something shorter and sweeter while keeping the important words.
That said, don’t be afraid to describe your page more succinctly where needed.
Note that if your CMS already has a predefined, ugly URL structure, it’s not a huge deal. And it’s certainly not worth jumping through countless hoops to fix. Google is showing the full URL for fewer and fewer results these days anyway.
Image optimization for SEO is the process of ensuring your images are optimized for search.
It’s important to optimize images because they can show in Google Images and drive additional search traffic to your site.
Don’t overlook the importance of Google Images. It’s sent us over 5.5K clicks in the past three months:
Optimizing file names is simple. Just describe your image in words and separate those words with hyphens.
Here’s an example:
Filename: number-one-handsome-man.jpg
For alt tags, do the same—but use spaces, not hyphens.
<img src="https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-best-practices/.../number-one-handsome-man.jpg" alt="the world's most handsome man">
Alt text isn’t only important for Google but also for visitors.
If an image fails to load, the browser shows the alt tag to explain what the image should have been:
Plus, around 8.1M Americans have vision impairments and may use a screen reader. These devices read alt tags out loud.
Internal links are links from one page to another within your website. They’re used for internal navigation, allowing visitors to move from A to B.
They’re important because they have a special role in SEO. Generally speaking, the more links a page has—from external and internal sources—the higher its PageRank. This is the foundation of Google’s ranking algorithm and remains important today.
Internal links also help Google understand what a page is about.
Luckily, most CMSes add internal links to new webpages from at least one other page by default. This may be on the menu bar, on the blog homepage, or somewhere else.
However, it’s good practice to add internal links from other relevant pages whenever you publish something new.
To do this, search Site Audit’s Page Explorer for the topic you are searching for.
In this example, I’ve entered the keyword “lsi” into the search box and set the dropdown to “Page text.”
This will find mentions of a keyword or topic on your site in the same way that a Google site: search would do. These are relevant places to add internal links.
Google wants to rank the best content for searchers, and that’s the content that covers everything they want to know.
Here are a couple of ways to find out what those things might be:
A. Look for common subtopics on the top-ranking pages
You can identify common subtopics by opening two or three top-ranking pages, opening up Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar, and clicking on the “Content” tab.
I’ve run a search for “things to do in london,” and I can see that both the Tripadvisor page and Lonely Planet page mention the Tower of London as the top attraction to visit.
Here’s the content structure of the Tripadvisor page:
And here’s the same for the Lonely Planet page:
We can see that the common subtopic between the two is the “Tower of London.”
This is likely something searchers expect and want to see on a list of things to do in London because multiple top-ranking pages talk about it.
B. Run a content gap analysis
You can run a content gap analysis if you want to take things further.
To do this:
Paste the URLs of three top-ranking pages into Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool. Leave the bottom field blank and hit “Show keywords.”
Then, if you set the “Intersect” to “2,” this shows queries that at least two of the targets rank for. These are probably important subtopics if more than one page is already ranking for them.
There are 222 interesting variations here of “things to do in london,” such as “things to see in london,” “what to see in london,” and “must see in london.”
This shows that sightseeing is one of the things searchers are interested in doing in London, and they want recommendations.
These are just a few subtopics you can cover to make your content more thorough.
Backlinks are votes of confidence in your website. They are the foundation of Google’s algorithm and remain one of the most important Google ranking factors.
Google confirms this on its “How Search Works” page, where it says this:
If other prominent websites on the subject link to the page, that’s a good sign that the information is high quality.
But don’t take Google’s word for it…
Our study of over 1 billion webpages shows a clear correlation between organic traffic and the number of websites linking to a page:
Just remember that this is about quality, not just quantity.
You should aim to build backlinks from authoritative and relevant pages and websites.
Watch this video to see what makes a high-quality backlink:
Core Web Vitals are website performance metrics introduced by Google to measure and evaluate user experience.
These are the core metrics that you should benchmark against:
When monitoring these metrics, start by using Google Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report.
If you need more data, check out the Performance report in Ahrefs’ Site Audit.
Fixing these issues can be complicated, so your best bet is usually to ask a developer (or an SEO expert) to fix them.
Here are some general tips to help keep your pages optimized for speed and usability:
- Use a CDN – Most sites live on one server in one location. So, for some visitors, data has to travel long distances before it appears in their browsers. This is slow. CDNs solve this by copying critical resources like images to a network of servers around the globe so that resources are always loaded locally.
- Compress images – Image files are big, which makes them load slowly. Compressing images decreases the file size, which makes them faster to load. You just need to balance size with quality.
- Use lazy-loading – Lazy-loading defers the loading of offscreen resources until you need them. This means that the browser doesn’t need to load all of the images on a page before it’s usable.
- Use an optimized theme – Choose a well-optimized website theme with efficient code. Run the theme demo through Google’s Pagespeed Insights tool to check.
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) indicates that the site is using an SSL certificate. It means your data is encrypted as it passes from your browser to the website’s server.
It’s been a Google ranking factor since 2014, so it’s still important.
You can tell if your site is already using HTTPS by checking the loading bar in your browser. If there’s a “lock” icon before the URL, then you’re good.
If not, you need to install an SSL certificate.
Lots of web hosts offer these in their packages. If yours doesn’t, you can pick one up for free from Let’s Encrypt.
The good news is that switching to HTTPS is a one-time job. Once installed, every page on your site should be secure—including those you publish in the future.
Next steps
Implementing these 12 SEO best practices is a great starting point to ranking higher on Google, but you’ll need to monitor your progress, be consistent in your delivery and, most importantly, be patient.
Results don’t always come immediately—but if you trust the process and consistently try to improve your SEO, you should see incremental results in time.
SEO
OpenAI Investigates ‘Lazy’ GPT-4 Complaints On Google Reviews, X
OpenAI, the company that launched ChatGPT a little over a year ago, has recently taken to social media to address concerns regarding the “lazy” performance of GPT-4 on social media and Google Reviews.
This move comes after growing user feedback online, which even includes a one-star review on the company’s Google Reviews.
OpenAI Gives Insight Into Training Chat Models, Performance Evaluations, And A/B Testing
OpenAI, through its @ChatGPTapp Twitter account, detailed the complexities involved in training chat models.
Screenshot from X, December 2023The organization highlighted that the process is not a “clean industrial process” and that variations in training runs can lead to noticeable differences in the AI’s personality, creative style, and political bias.
Thorough AI model testing includes offline evaluation metrics and online A/B tests. The final decision to release a new model is based on a data-driven approach to improve the “real” user experience.
OpenAI’s Google Review Score Affected By GPT-4 Performance, Billing Issues
This explanation comes after weeks of user feedback about GPT-4 becoming worse on social media networks like X.
Idk if anyone else has noticed this, but GPT-4 Turbo performance is significantly worse than GPT-4 standard.
I know it’s in preview right now but it’s significantly worse.
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) November 8, 2023
There has been discussion if GPT-4 has become “lazy” recently. My anecdotal testing suggests it may be true.
I repeated a sequence of old analyses I did with Code Interpreter. GPT-4 still knows what to do, but keeps telling me to do the work. One step is now many & some are odd. pic.twitter.com/OhGAMtd3Zq
— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) November 28, 2023
Complaints also appeared in OpenAI’s community forums.
Screenshot from OpenAI, December 2023The experience led one user to leave a one-star rating for OpenAI via Google Reviews. Other complaints regarded accounts, billing, and the artificial nature of AI.
Screenshot from Google Reviews, December 2023A recent user on Product Hunt gave OpenAI a rating that also appears to be related to GPT-4 worsening.
Screenshot from Product Hunt, December 2023GPT-4 isn’t the only issue that local reviewers complain about. On Yelp, OpenAI has a one-star rating for ChatGPT 3.5 performance.
OpenAI is now only 3.8 stars on Google Maps and a dismal 1 star on Yelp!
GPT-4’s degradation has really hurt their rating. Hope the business survives.https://t.co/RF8uJH1WQ5 pic.twitter.com/OghAZLCiVu
— Nate Chan (@nathanwchan) December 9, 2023
The complaint:
Screenshot from Yelp, December 2023In related OpenAI news, the review with the most likes aligns with recent rumors about a volatile workplace, alleging that OpenAI is a “Cutthroat environment. Not friendly. Toxic workers.”
Screenshot from Google Reviews, December 2023The reviews voted the most helpful on Glassdoor about OpenAI suggested that employee frustration and product development issues stem from the company’s shift in focus on profits.
Screenshots from Glassdoor, December 2023This incident provides a unique outlook on how customer and employee experiences can impact any business through local reviews and business ratings platforms.
Screenshot from Google, December 2023Google SGE Highlights Positive Google Reviews
In addition to occasional complaints, Google reviewers acknowledged the revolutionary impact of OpenAI’s technology on various fields.
The most positive review mentions about the company appear in Google SGE (Search Generative Experience).
Screenshot from Google SGE, December 2023Conclusion
OpenAI’s recent insights into training chat models and response to public feedback about GPT-4 performance illustrate AI technology’s dynamic and evolving nature and its impact on those who depend on the AI platform.
Especially the people who just received an invitation to join ChatGPT Plus after being waitlisted while OpenAI paused new subscriptions and upgrades. Or those developing GPTs for the upcoming GPT Store launch.
As AI advances, professionals in these fields must remain agile, informed, and responsive to technological developments and the public’s reception of these advancements.
Featured image: Tada Images/Shutterstock
SEO
ChatGPT Plus Upgrades Paused; Waitlisted Users Receive Invites
ChatGPT Plus subscriptions and upgrades remain paused after a surge in demand for new features created outages.
Some users who signed up for the waitlist have received invites to join ChatGPT Plus.
This has resulted in a few shares of the link that is accessible for everyone. For now.
Found a hack to skip chatGPT plus wait list.
Follow the steps
– login to ChatGPT
– now if you click on upgrade
– Signup for waitlist(may not be necessary)
– now change the URL to https://t.co/4izOdNzarG
– Wallah you are in for payment #ChatGPT4 #hack #GPT4 #GPTPlus pic.twitter.com/J1GizlrOAx— Ashish Mohite is building Notionpack Capture (@_ashishmohite) December 8, 2023
RELATED: GPT Store Set To Launch In 2024 After ‘Unexpected’ Delays
In addition to the invites, signs that more people are getting access to GPTs include an introductory screen popping up on free ChatGPT accounts.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, December 2023Unfortunately, they still aren’t accessible without a Plus subscription.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, December 2023You can sign up for the waitlist by clicking on the option to upgrade in the left sidebar of ChatGPT on a desktop browser.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, December 2023OpenAI also suggests ChatGPT Enterprise for those who need more capabilities, as outlined in the pricing plans below.
Screenshot from OpenAI, December 2023Why Are ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions Paused?
According to a post on X by OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, the recent surge in usage following the DevDay developers conference has led to capacity challenges, resulting in the decision to pause ChatGPT Plus signups.
we are pausing new ChatGPT Plus sign-ups for a bit 🙁
the surge in usage post devday has exceeded our capacity and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience.
you can still sign-up to be notified within the app when subs reopen.
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 15, 2023
The decision to pause new ChatGPT signups follows a week where OpenAI services – including ChatGPT and the API – experienced a series of outages related to high-demand and DDoS attacks.
Demand for ChatGPT Plus resulted in eBay listings supposedly offering one or more months of the premium subscription.
chatgpt plus accounts selling ebay for a premium 🫡🇺🇸 https://t.co/VdN8tuexKM pic.twitter.com/W522NGHsRV
— surya (@sdand) November 15, 2023
When Will ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions Resume?
So far, we don’t have any official word on when ChatGPT Plus subscriptions will resume. We know the GPT Store is set to open early next year after recent boardroom drama led to “unexpected delays.”
Therefore, we hope that OpenAI will onboard waitlisted users in time to try out all of the GPTs created by OpenAI and community builders.
What Are GPTs?
GPTs allow users to create one or more personalized ChatGPT experiences based on a specific set of instructions, knowledge files, and actions.
Search marketers with ChatGPT Plus can try GPTs for helpful content assessment and learning SEO.
Two SEO GPTs I’ve created for assessment + learning 👀👇
1. Content Helpfulness and Quality SEO Analyzer: Assess a page content helpfulness, relevance, and quality for your targeted query based on Google’s guidelines vs your competitors and get tips: https://t.co/LsoP2UhF4N pic.twitter.com/O77MHiqwOq
— Aleyda Solis 🕊️ (@aleyda) November 12, 2023
2. The https://t.co/IFmKxxVDpW SEO Teacher: A friendly SEO expert teacher who will help you to learn SEO using reliable https://t.co/sCZ03C7fzq resources: https://t.co/UrMPUYwblH
I hope they’re helpful 🙌🤩
PS: Love how GPT opens up to SO much opportunity 🤯 pic.twitter.com/yqKozcZTDc
— Aleyda Solis 🕊️ (@aleyda) November 12, 2023
There are also GPTs for analyzing Google Search Console data.
oh wow. I think this GPT works.
Export data from GSC comparing keyword rankings before and after an update and upload it to ChatGPT and it will spit out this scatter plot for you.
It’s an easy way to see if most of your keyword declined or improved.
This site was impacted by… pic.twitter.com/wFGSnonqoZ
— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) November 9, 2023
And GPTs that will let you chat with analytics data from 20 platforms, including Google Ads, GA4, and Facebook.
Google search has indexed hundreds of public GPTs. According to an alleged list of GPT statistics in a GitHub repository, DALL-E, the top GPT from OpenAI, has received 5,620,981 visits since its launch last month. Included in the top 20 GPTs is Canva, with 291,349 views.
Weighing The Benefits Of The Pause
Ideally, this means that developers working on building GPTs and using the API should encounter fewer issues (like being unable to save GPT drafts).
But it could also mean a temporary decrease in new users of GPTs since they are only available to Plus subscribers – including the ones I tested for learning about ranking factors and gaining insights on E-E-A-T from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, November 2023Featured image: Robert Way/Shutterstock
SEO
The Best Times To Post On Social Media In 2024
Marketers worldwide know the importance of having a solid social media marketing strategy – and a key part of this is finding the best times to post on social media.
The old adage ‘timing is everything’ holds especially true in the world of social media, where the difference between a post that fades into obscurity and one that goes viral can often be just a matter of when it was shared.
With an always-growing array of social platforms hosting billions of users worldwide, it has never been more challenging to stand above the noise and make your voice heard on social.
To determine the best times to post on social media in 2024, we reviewed original data from leading social media management tools.
It’s important to note that the data from these sources present a variety of findings and suggestions, which underscore the fact that social media is an ever-evolving landscape. The most crucial thing is understanding the behavior of your own target audience.
Let’s dive in.
The Best Times To Post On Social Media
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| Sprout Social | Tuesday and Wednesday | 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Local |
| Hootsuite | Monday | 12 p.m. EST |
| CoSchedule | Friday, Wednesday, and Monday (in that order) | 7 p.m. Local |
- Best times to post on social media: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- Best days to post on social media: Monday and Wednesday.
- Worst days to post on social media: Saturday and Sunday.
Determining an ideal time for posting on social media in general is complicated, as each platform is different, with unique users, features, and communities.
When deciding which social media platforms to focus on, you should think carefully about your brand’s target audience and overarching goals.
If you’re looking to reach a network of professionals, LinkedIn might be a good fit; if your brand is hoping to speak to Gen Z consumers, you might consider TikTok or Snapchat.
This explains why – when analyzing data from Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and CoSchedule on the best overall times to post on social media – we can draw some similarities but also see a variety of recommendations.
Weekdays emerge as a clear winner. CoSchedule and Sprout Social both highlight Wednesday as a good day, with Hootsuite and CoSchedule also highlighting Mondays as a strong day for engagement.
The most common time range among the sources is in the morning to mid-afternoon, with CoSchedule providing some very specific suggestions for post-timing.
Both CoSchedule and Sprout Social agree on avoiding Saturdays and Sundays.
The Best Times To Post On Facebook
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| Sprout Social | Monday to Thursday | 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Local |
| Hootsuite | Monday and Tuesday | 1 p.m. EST |
| CoSchedule | Friday, Wednesday, and Monday (in that order) | 9 a.m. Local |
- Best times to post on Facebook: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
- Best days to post on Facebook: Weekdays.
- Worst day to post on Facebook: Sunday.
Facebook remains the most used social media platform in the world, with the largest advertising market share (16%).
While it’s experienced a shift in user demographics over recent years – now catering to older users – its popularity continues to climb, and its potential as a brand marketing tool cannot be disputed.
Regarding the best times to post on Facebook, all of our sources agree that weekdays are best. Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and CoSchdule all name Monday as a great day to engage on Facebook, along with calling out various other days of the week.
There is a general consensus that Sundays should be avoided.
The sources vary in their suggestions for optimal time slots, but generally speaking, early to mid-morning seems to be the most popular selection.
The Best Times To Post On YouTube
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| SocialPilot | Sunday | 2-4 p.m. EST |
| HubSpot | Friday and Saturday | 6-9 p.m. Local |
- Best times to post on YouTube: 2-4 p.m. on weekdays and 9-11 a.m. on weekends.
- Best days to post on YouTube: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- Worst day to post on YouTube: Tuesday.
As the second most visited site in the world and the second most used social platform globally, YouTube offers an unparalleled opportunity for brands and individuals to connect with audiences through video.
And with its continued expansion – by introducing features like YouTube Shorts, initiatives like expanding the ways creators can get paid on the platform, and its increasing popularity as a search engine – the platform shows no signs of slowing.
YouTube is no longer just a video-sharing site; it’s a robust marketing tool that empowers businesses to raise brand awareness and drive meaningful engagement.
Finding recent data on the best times to post on YouTube proved harder than for some other channels, so these recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt.
While HubSpot suggests Friday and Saturday are the strongest days to publish on YouTube, SocialPilot specifically calls out Sunday as the most engaging day – so it’s worth experimenting with all three.
SocialPilot doesn’t specifically name the worst day, but according to HubSpot, you’d be wise to steer clear of Tuesday.
Both sources suggest the afternoon as an effective time for posting during the week. SocialPilot specifies that publishing in the mornings on weekends (9-11 a.m.) is effective, so this is important to bear in mind.
The Best Times To Post On Instagram
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| Sprout Social | Tuesday and Wednesday | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Local |
| Hootsuite | Wednesday | 2 p.m. EST |
| HubSpot | Saturday | 6-9 p.m. Local |
| CoSchedule | Wednesday, Friday, and Tuesday (in that order) |
9 a.m. Local |
| Later | Monday | 4 a.m. Local |
- Best times to post on Instagram: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Best day to post on Instagram: Wednesday.
- Worst day to post on Instagram: Sunday.
From its origins as a photo-sharing platform, Instagram has evolved into one of the most popular social media networks in the world – and an indispensable marketing tool.
With billions of users – 90% of whom are following at least one business – Instagram has become a powerful engine for ecommerce, brand awareness, and community-building.
As a leader in the social media space, Instagram constantly provides new formats and features for users to try out – from Reels to Stories, user quizzes and polls, and more.
We consulted a handful of sources to determine the top posting times for Instagram and came away with a mixed bag of answers.
Wednesday appears to take the cake as the most consistently recommended day, with CoSchedule, Sprout Social, and Hootsuite all suggesting it.
Generally, our sources seem to lean towards weekdays as being strongest for Instagram engagement – with the exception of HubSpot, which recommends Saturday.
In terms of timing, the morning to midday hours seem to be your best bet, especially around 8 a.m. through 1 p.m. HubSpot and Later provide times that significantly differ from other sources, which suggests that effectiveness can vary based on audience and content type.
The Best Times To Post On TikTok
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| Sprout Social | Tuesday and Wednesday | 2-6 p.m. Local |
| Hootsuite | Thursday | 10 p.m. EST |
| SocialPilot | Tuesday and Thursday | 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. EST |
| HubSpot | Friday | 6-9 p.m. Local |
- Best time to post on TikTok: Inconclusive.
- Best day to post on TikTok: Tuesday.
- Worst day to post on TikTok: Inconclusive.
While it’s a relative newcomer to the fold, TikTok has quickly become one of the most beloved social platforms worldwide – and is drawing brands in increasing numbers.
With the average user spending nearly 54 minutes on the app daily, it’s hard to beat the hold that TikTok has among audiences. By optimizing your presence there, you can stand to generate some impressive returns on your marketing efforts.
So, what’s the best time to post on TikTok? The jury is out on this one – and it may take extra experimentation on your part to find the sweet spot that engages your audience.
Tuesday seems to rise to the top among the sources we consulted, with Wednesdays and Thursdays also getting recommendations. Generally speaking, it looks like midweek is a good time to test out your TikTok content, but there are plenty of discrepancies in the data.
While HubSpot named Friday as the best day, it also highlighted that Saturdays and Thursdays are strong for B2B brands, and Saturdays and Sundays work well for B2C brands.
Sprout Social found Sunday to be the worst performing day, while Monday and Tuesday are the worst days, according to HubSpot.
We also find a mix of recommended time slots, from early morning to mid-afternoon and also evening being suggested.
The Best Times To Post On Snapchat
Snapchat, the pioneer of ephemeral social media content (and the inspiration behind Instagram Stories), provides unique opportunities to reach younger demographics.
It differs from other platforms in how it works and the type of content that engages there. Snapchat typically centers around showcasing real-time experiences and authentic behind-the-scenes content versus polished marketing content.
This makes Snapchat an advantageous yet often underutilized tool in digital marketing. But it should not be overlooked, especially given that the platform continues to innovate.
While we have seen 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. cited as the best times to post on Snapchat in various secondary sources around the internet, we have found no recent original data to either confirm or refute this.
Given this, we would recommend testing out different times and days based on the behaviors and lifestyles of your target audience and then iterating based on your results (which is what you should be doing across the board, regardless!)
The Best Times To Post On Pinterest
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| Sprout Social | Wednesday to Friday | 1-3 p.m. Local |
| HubSpot | Friday | 3-6 p.m. Local |
| CoSchedule | Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (in that order) |
8 p.m. Local |
- Best times to post on Pinterest: 3-6 p.m.
- Best day to post on Pinterest: Friday.
- Worst day to post on Pinterest: Sunday.
Pinterest, once thought of as a simple inspiration board-style site, has today become a crucial player in the world of ecommerce.
Businesses can leverage Pinterest to showcase their products and drive conversions, but also to grow and expand brand awareness and sentiment.
Success on Pinterest can be found through sharing brand-specific imagery, optimizing for mobile, and appealing to your audience’s sense of aspiration and inspiration.
Friday, alongside other weekdays, is consistently mentioned as a strong day among our sources. On the other end, Sunday is commonly named as the least effective day for posting on Pinterest.
When it comes to the most fruitful posting time on the platform, it appears that the late afternoon to early evening, specifically around 3-6 p.m., is optimal for best engagement.
The Best Times To Post On X (Twitter)
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| Sprout Social | Tuesday to Thursday | 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Local |
| Hootsuite | Monday and Wednesday | 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. EST |
| CoSchedule | Wednesday, Tuesday, and Friday (in that order) | 9 a.m. Local |
| HubSpot | Friday and Wednesday (in that order) | 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Local |
- Best times to post on X (Twitter): 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- Best days to post on X (Twitter): Wednesday and Friday.
- Worst day to post on X (Twitter): Sunday.
X (formerly known as Twitter) has long been a place for marketers to connect and engage with their audience, join trending conversations, and build community.
The real-time nature of X (Twitter) differentiates it from other social platforms and allows for spur-of-the-moment and reactionary marketing moves. And with CEO Elon Musk’s big plans for the app, it’s undoubtedly a space to watch.
When looking for the top days to post among the sources we consulted, Wednesday and Friday are most often mentioned – with Sprout Social specifying Tuesday through Thursday.
Hootsuite nominates Monday and Wednesday as the top days, proving that weekdays reign supreme on X (Twitter).
Like many other platforms, Sunday seems to be the least effective day for post-engagement.
Looking for the best times to post on X (Twitter)?
Late morning, from around 9 a.m. to noon, seems to be the most recommended time – though, as always, this will differ based on your specific audience and the type of content you are sharing.
We always recommend testing and experimenting to see what works for you.
The Best Times To Post On LinkedIn
| Source | Day Of Week | Time To Post |
| Sprout Social | Tuesday to Thursday | 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Local |
| Hootsuite | Monday | 4 p.m. EST |
| CoSchedule | Thursday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (in that order) | 10 a.m. Local |
| HubSpot | Monday, Wednesday, and Tuesday (in that order) | 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Local |
- Best times to post on LinkedIn: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- Best days to post on LinkedIn: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
- Worst days to post on LinkedIn: Weekends.
Though first and foremost a platform for professionals, LinkedIn has picked up steam in recent years, becoming a hub of engagement and a frontrunner among social media networks.
It’s also an essential tool for businesses that want to reach business executives and decision-makers, as well as potential candidates.
Done right, LinkedIn content can go a long way in building a public perception of your brand and providing deep value to your target audience.
Digging into the data, we can see that weekdays provide the biggest opportunities for engagement on LinkedIn, which is hardly surprising. Tuesdays through Thursdays are often mentioned as the top days, with Mondays also highlighted by Hootsuite and HubSpot.
All of our sources agree that weekends are less effective for LinkedIn posts.
If you’re searching for the right time, you might try your hand at posting from late morning to mid-afternoon, based on what these sources discovered.
But (and not to sound like a broken record) your results may differ based on your brand, niche, target audience, and content.
What Is The Best Time For You To Post On Social Media?
Finding the best times to post on social media requires a delicate blend of testing, experimentation, and personal analytics.
And it never hurts to start your journey with industry insights like the ones we’ve covered in this article.
By aligning your content strategy with your target audience and trying out different posting strategies – taking into account these recommended time slots – you will be able to determine what works best for you and significantly enhance your social media presence and engagement.
Sources of data, November 2023.
All data above was taken from the sources below.
Each platform conducted its own extensive research, analyzing millions of posts across various social networks to find the times when users are most engaged.
Sources:
- Sprout Social analyzed nearly 2 billion engagements across 400,000 social profiles.
- Hootsuite analyzed thousands of social media posts using an audience of 8 million followers. For its Instagram updates, it analyzed over 30,000 posts.
- CoSchedule analyzed more than 35 million posts from more than 30,000 organizations.
- SocialPilot studied over 50,000 YouTube accounts and over 50,000 TikTok accounts to compile its data.
- Later analyzed over 11 million Instagram posts.
- HubSpot surveyed over 1,000 global marketers to discern the best times to post on social media. For its Instagram-specific data, it partnered with Mention to analyze over 37 million posts.
More resources:
Featured Image: Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock
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