What Time Is Rush Hour? A Complete Guide

What time is rush hour in SEO? Many people find it difficult to answer this apparently simple question. 

No, rush hour in the case of the internet doesn’t refer to peak website traffic periods. It is the periods when the internet usage is at its highest.

Sounds confusing? No worries, I’ve got you covered in this Innocams blog post. Let’s settle this foxing digital matter once for all. 

Let’s roll.

Rush Hour: Meaning

Generally, rush hour refers to 7am to 9am in the morning and 4pm to 6pm in the evening.  These are the periods in weekdays when most people are commuting to and from work.

From this definition of general rush hour, many people jump to the conclusion that rush hour must mean when the traffic to a website peaks in a day. 

This is not correct. 

Before I explain to you the nuances of rush hour in terms of digital marketing, it is important to understand the exact nature of this rush hour and its types in this digital landscape. So here it is:

Internet Rush Hour

There are two types of rush hour in this digital landscape. Internet rush hour and SEO traffic rush hour.

Rush hour on the internet, precisely refers to the time of the day when the internet usage peaks, not traffic to a website.

To put it even more simply, internet rush hour is the period when the majority of web users are online, resulting in slow loading speed due to online traffic congestion.

The general perception of internet rush hour is between 7pm and 11pm local time. 

SEO Traffic Rush Hour

On the other hand, SEO traffic rush hour is when organic traffic to your site is at its highest.

It involves better loading speed, improved SERP ranking and better ROI.

In short, SEO traffic rush hour is highly desirable as it proves your SEO efforts are producing expected results. 

Internet Rush Hour Vs SEO Traffic Rush Hour

Internet rush hour and SEO traffic are two different concepts. While internet rush hour means the period when the use of internet reaches its peak, SEO traffic rush hour means the time when organic traffic to a site is at its highest. 

Here is a breakdown of the key differences between these two concepts:

Internet Rush Hour	SEO Traffic Rush Hour
When the majority of users are online.	When organic traffic to a site is at the highest.
It slows down website performance.	It doesn’t slow down website performance.
It causes potential congestion.	Doesn’t result in congestion.
May detract from the user experience.	Improves the user experience.
May increase the bounce rate.	It doesn’t increase the bounce rate.
Generally between 7 to 11pm.	Has no fixed periods.

Traits of Internet Rush Hour

Let me briefly discuss the key characteristics of internet rush hour so you can easily understand its differences from SEO traffic rush hour.

The Time of the Day

So what time is rush hour for the Internet? Well, it usually occurs between 7 and 11 pm local time when the majority of internet users are at home and surfing. This period is more or less universally accepted as internet rush hour. This time is fixed. 

Slow Loading Speed

One of the main traits of internet rush hour is it reduces page loading speed due to high network congestion. This reduced response time makes tasks like streaming video content, playing online games or surfing the net significantly slower.

Increases Bounce Rate

This sluggish network performance greatly detracts from the user experience, increasing the bounce rate. People usually get fed up with long buffering and try their luck with other websites. This is a great disadvantage of this internet rush hour.

Long Buffering Time

The increased demand for network resources during internet rush hour increases buffering, especially for streaming services that reels under the abnormal network congestion and cannot deliver services quickly. This, again, a potential reason for an increased bounce rate. 

Traits of SEO Traffic Rush Hour

While internet traffic rush hour gives network administrators and SEO executives goosebumps, SEO traffic rush hour puts them on Cloud nine.

So, what time is rush hour in SEO and what happens then? Let’s find out.

SEO traffic rush hour refers to a time when organic traffic to a site reaches a peak due to the fruitful implementation of effective optimisation strategies. Here are the principal characteristics of this particular rush hour:

Increased Organic Traffic

Probably the most important trait of this rush hour is that during this period, organic traffic to a site reaches its highest peak. It proves that the SEO strategies implemented by that site are perfectly doing their jobs and effectively driving traffic to it.

This is, of course, a key objective of any SEO strategist. 

Generates Qualified Leads

Effective SEO strategies always improve the rate of qualified leads as they target only relevant audiences. So the traffic that goes to you during SEO traffic rush hour usually comprises leads that are most likely to convert. 

Generates Conversions and Sales

These qualified leads, as I’ve said, usually provide increased responses to calls-to-action and translate into more conversions and sales. This is the ultimate objective of any SEO campaign which is achieved during this rush hour. 

Higher SERP Ranking

One answer to the question what time is rush hour in SEO traffic can easily be it is a time when your site ranks higher on SERPs for your targeted keywords. 

The effective implementation of your SEO strategies has made it possible for your target audience to find you easily and gently pushing them to the next stage in the sales funnel.

Higher Online Visibility

Since your target audience is now finding you easily in search results, it means your website’s visibility is enhanced during this SEO traffic rush hour. Your every SEO effort is now paying off and yielding the expected ROI. 

How to Facilitate SEO Traffic Rush Hour?

There are multiple factors that can influence the SEO rush hour. The three key drivers are content optimisation, technical optimisation and link building. Here is a brief discussion on these three important SEO factors.

SEO is optimising your pages for search results so they can occupy higher ranks in SERPs and help your target audience find them easily. The following three factors greatly enhance an SEO campaign.

SEO Traffic Rush Hour: Content Optimisation

After a thorough keyword research, you have identified high-performing keywords that will work for you. The next job is to use these keywords in your pages’ content so search engines can show them for your target keywords. 

You need to create high-quality relevant content and incorporate your target keywords in it cleverly so they add to the overall quality of your content. Don’t overdo it. This is what is known as content optimisation. 

SEO Traffic Rush Hour: Technical Optimisation

Now you put your pages’ technical aspects under a microscope to find out areas of improvement and loopholes to plug. 

Technical aspects include sitemap, structured data, page loading speed etc. Every technical aspect of your pages must be optimised for search results so search engines can easily understand what your pages are all about and index them properly. 

SEO Traffic Rush Hour: Link Building

When an authority site in your niche thinks your content will be valuable to its users, it may link its pages to yours. These links coming to you from other domains are called backlinks and search engines consider high-value backlinks a strong ranking signal. 

So get some  good backlinks. You can do guest blogging, adopt skyscraper technique or directly contact thought leaders in your niche. Optimising your GBP will also help. This backlink building process is known as link building. 

If you can do these three things right, your SEO traffic rush hour should come soon. 

How to Cushion the Fall?

Another answer to this question, what time is rush hour in case of the internet, may be it is the time when your users abandon you and go somewhere else. Your bounce rate increases, your page loading speed hits a nadir and nothing seems to be going right for you. 

Unfortunately, internet rush hour is a sad reality. You must live with it and do your best to cushion the network performance fall as best as you can. How to counter this fall? Here is a breakdown of what you can do to offset its bad effects.

Limit Bandwidth-Intensive Tasks

During the internet rush hour, limit tasks that gobbles up bandwidth like streaming HD quality videos, playing heavy online games etc. This should reduce the load on your network resources.

Disconnect Unnecessary Devices

Switch off and disconnect devices that you are not using like tablets, game consoles or smart televisions. This will reduce load on your network.

Use Schedulers for Downloads

Schedule large file downloads for off-peak hours to save network resources during internet rush hour.

Upgrade The Router

Sometimes an outdated router can cause network disturbances. Upgrading to a newer model with better performance may help improve your network speed.

Disable Background Processes

Disable all background processes on your device. These processes unnecessarily eat up valuable network resources and cause slower network speed during internet rush hour.

Conclusion

Discussing what time is rush hour, we’ve found out that there are two types of rush hour: internet rush hour and SEO traffic rush hour.

While internet rush hour detracts from your user experience, SEO traffic rush hour improves it and helps your pages hit the SERP jackpot. 

To mitigate internet rush hour, you can take measures to plug the unnecessary outlets of your network resources and to facilitate SEO traffic rush hour you should optimise your site’s content, technical aspects and build an impressive backlink profile.

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