What Timezone Should I Set My Website in?

This question comes up time and time again, and for good reason. After all, you may find that some of your site visitors come from different parts of the world, where night turns into day and vice versa. So if you’re wondering what timezone to set your website in, continue reading.

UTC Versus EST

One of the most asked questions about timezones concerns the differences between UTC and EST. If you’re not familiar, here’s a short explanation. Basically, UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the time kept by the international community. It is also known as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), UT (Universal Time), and ZULU (Zurich Local Time).

As for the Eastern timezone (EST), it stands for Eastern Standard Time and it is used in North America. In other words, if you are targeting an American audience, then setting your website to be in the EST timezone is a good idea. Otherwise, you may want to consider using UTC.

Pacific Timezone Versus CPT

Another common question about timezones refers to the differences between the Pacific Timezone and the Central Timezone (CPT). The Pacific Timezone, as you may imagine, covers the western portion of North America, including California, Oregon, and Washington. CPT, on the other hand, spans the central part of the US, including Texas, Oklahoma, and parts of the Midwest. So if you’re looking to reach an audience in the central US, then you may want to set your website to be in the CPT timezone. Otherwise, you may choose to use the Pacific timezone.

The Bottom Line

Choosing the right timezone for your website can be tricky. On the one hand, you may want to set your website to be in the same timezone as your audience. After all, if you’re delivering local news, then it makes sense to target the local community’s timezone. The trouble is, sometimes the local timezone doesn’t match the timezone of your website’s IP address. For example, if you’re based in Los Angeles and your website’s IP address is 103.3.132.229, then you may want to consider setting your website to be in the Pacific Timezone. Similarly, if you’re based in New York and your website’s IP address is 198.101.123.53, then you may want to set it to be in the Eastern Timezone.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting you ditch your current timezone or that you need to set your website in a different timezone than your area code. What I’m trying to illustrate is that sometimes it’s tricky to determine the timezone that your website should be in, especially if you’re not technology-savvy or if you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about digital marketing. So if you find yourself asking the question ‘what timezone should my website be in?’, then hopefully this post will help you out.