Best time to post on X: how to find yours instead of trusting a chart
Published By Filippo Pelloia
There is no single best time to post on X: it depends on where an account's readers are and when they open the app. The reliable way to find it is to look at the account's own posts, compare the median views of posts published at different times of day, and test a new time for a few weeks before judging it.
Every chart that names one best hour for everybody is an average of accounts that are not yours. The answer for one account is in that account's own posts, and it takes four steps to get it out.
Why one chart cannot answer
A best-hour chart averages many accounts, with readers in many countries and of many kinds. An account followed mostly from Tokyo and one followed mostly from Lisbon cannot share an hour. Neither can a news account and one that posts photographs on Sundays. The average of all of them describes none of them.
Step 1: see when the account posts now
Start with the habit. Lay the account's recent posts on a grid, the days of the week one way and the 24 hours the other. If the posts sit in a few blocks and the rest of the week is empty, read those empty hours as untested, not as bad.
Step 2: compare by views, not by count
The hour with the most posts is only the hour the account prefers. To learn which hour works, compare what the posts collected. Group them by part of the day and take the median views of each group:
- Night: midnight to 6:00
- Morning: 6:00 to noon
- Afternoon: noon to 18:00
- Evening: 18:00 to midnight
Use the median, not the average: one post that travelled far would otherwise crown its hour all by itself.
Step 3: check there is enough to compare
- At least 8 posts in a part of the day before it enters the comparison.
- At least two parts that pass that test. One group alone has nothing to be better than.
- No post younger than 24 hours. It has not collected its views yet, and it would make the latest slot look weak.
If the account does not reach these numbers, the honest result is that nothing can be said yet. That is an answer too: it tells you to move on to step 4.
Step 4: test a new slot on purpose
- Pick one part of the day the account rarely uses.
- Post there on purpose for a few weeks, the same kind of posts you publish the rest of the time.
- Compare the medians again. Only now do the two groups have enough posts to be set side by side.
Change one thing at a time. If the new slot also gets a new format, you will not know which of the two moved the views.
Mind the time zone
A grid of hours is always drawn in somebody's time zone. X does not say which zone an account lives in, so a tool can only show the hours in yours. When you read another account's week, remember that its 9:00 may be your 15:00.
Common questions
What is the best time to post on X?
There is no time that is best for every account. It depends on who reads the account and when they open X. The time that works is the one at which that account's own posts have collected the most views, measured over several weeks.
Which time zone should I think in?
Your readers', not your own. X does not publish the time zone of an account or of its audience, so start from where you know your readers live and check the result against views.
Is the busiest hour of an account its best hour?
Not necessarily. The busiest hour is when the account posts most, which is a habit. The best hour is when its posts are seen most, which is a result. They can be far apart.
How long should I test a new posting time?
Until there are at least 8 posts in the new slot, each more than 24 hours old. A handful of posts says more about those posts than about the hour.
The X Account Analyzer draws the week an account keeps, names its busiest hour and, when there are enough posts, the part of the day with the most views. It is free and needs no login.