44 comments

Boost Your Blog Traffic With Tumblr

boost blog traffic tumblr

One of the fastest growing social networks in the world right now is not Facebook or Twitter. Instead, it is Tumblr. In the past year alone, Oscar de la Renta, Tory Burch, Gucci, Kate Spade and Modcloth have all created Tumblrs as extensions of their Twitter, Facebook and main sites. In the four years since its inception, Tumblr has proven to be a key player in the arsenal of tools used by fashion bloggers to both promote their content and become more involved within the blogging community.

With an easy to use interface, platform that supports high-resolution images, and built-in community that repeatedly shares content, bloggers are using Tumblr microblogs to supplement blogs on traditional platforms such as Blogger and WordPress. Approximately 180 of the top 1,000 Tumblr blogs are fashion related, and what’s more, fashion-related Tumblr posts are reblogged on a much greater scale than general Tumblr posts and therefore much more likely to go viral. As a result, chances are high that a Tumblr microblog could lead to explosive traffic to your Blogger, WordPress, or self-hosted site.

There are many ways to use Tumblr both to promote blog posts and increase traffic:

  • Repackaging content: Some Tumblr users excerpt existing posts and photos with a link back to their blogs. Much like Twitter or Facebook, Tumblr is an excellent way to drive traffic back to your blog without a heavy investment in new content creation. In addition, Tumblr allows you to create an ‘about’ and ‘contact’ page for your Tumblr blog, which makes it easier for your current and future readers to find out more info about you and your blog.
  • Reblogging content: Tumblr is largely about posting and reblogging visual content between members. Consistently uploading content on Tumblr permits you to easily grab the attention of Tumblr users who might not know about your blog. The more content you upload, and the more people you interact with, the more will interact with you.
  • Posting original content: Tumblr can be used as a platform to expand topics you weren’t able to fully explore in a blog post. Whether you’d like to include more images; discuss fashion inspiration behind a specific outfit; or flush out a concept you felt restrained to explore on your blog, Tumblr is the perfect platform to do so.
  • Redirecting users: Though re-blogging is already built-in, Tumblr gives followers the ability to join you on a variety of available media. Tumblr provides options for users to include their own domain name, set up RSS feeds from other blogs, and import videos from personal YouTube, Twitter, and Flickr accounts. Users can also include bookmarks from Digg, Delicious, and StumbleUpon. In addition, Tumblr microblogs can be linked to Google analytics in order to track traffic sources, bounce rate, and time spent on pages.

Do you have a Tumblr account? Do you blog on Tumblr, or use a traditional platform such as WordPress or Blogger? Or have you created a supplemental Tumblr to a blog?

 

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44 Responses

  1. Denisa

    I’ve been using tumblr for about a year as an extension to my main blog and indeed it’s a great way to drive traffic back to your blog & more. Nevertheless, you have to invest time in it and engage your followers to reach full potential:)

    Reply
  2. Grace - Stripes & Sequins

    I’ve thought about this but it just seems like one more thing to keep track of. Maybe, though!

    Reply
  3. Shay

    This is sooooo true. i would say a good 85% of my traffic comes from my tumblr. Its the best thing ever. It gives the chance to connect with my followers who dont have a blogger or a google account, but my message is still getting out there. I don’t know where my blog would be without my tumblr

    xoxo
    Shay

    Reply
    • Shay H

      this is totally unrelated, but we have the same name! I never see anyone else named Shay, and never spelled this way!

      Reply
      • Shai

        Another unrelated comment— mine is spelled Shai and pronounced “shy” but people (especially in Starbucks) keep mispelling it “SHAY.” Haha

  5. Erin

    I heard someone say this at the IFB conference and thought it was a great idea! It also works well with Instagram or Pinterest.

    Reply
  6. Amy

    I have a personal tumblr that’s been pretty much just reblogged stuff of interest and not soley fashion. Having read this and being a fan of tumblr, I’m tempted to make a shiny new tumblr to feat primarily my blog content from blogger and little snippits from other fashion blogs of note.

    Reply
  7. Madeleine Gallay

    Not sure that it matters whether one is following a blogger on tumblr, blogger, wordpress, type pad, or foursquare.

    Think they are all search engine friendly, depending on your SEO concerns.

    A platform, so far, is just another platform. I read some tumblers and just wondering whether bloglovin’ html can be used.

    I think bloglovin’ is the essential thing. Irritated with networked blogs and trying to escape that one.

    Pinterest and Instagram and Yelp have friends or followers too.

    Arggh.

    Reply
  8. Heather Fonseca

    I started a tumblr after reading another post on it here on IFB, and although I do like it and post daily through the queue feature I have not found it feeds any traffic to my regular blog.

    Reply
  9. Christy Lorio

    I have a Tumblr, honestly I mostly just reblog since I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram where I have way more followers than Tumblr. There are only so many hours in the day that you can update 3,456 social networks!

    Reply
  12. Courtney

    I like Tumblr. It’s in my top 20 referrers, but I mostly use it because, well, it’s fun!

    Reply
    • Sabrina

      Agreed!I started a Tumblr to supplement my blog, there’s lots of things I see that I’d like to post about, but are things like pictures and videos that don’t merit a full post on my blog. It’s great because it’s so easy to share stuff.

      Reply
  13. mediamarmalade

    This is really interesting. i’ve been looking into my blog traffic and the more its increasing the more i’m intereseted in additional ways to promote it.

    I may look in to getting a tumbler account now 🙂

    www.mediamarmalade.com

    xx

    Reply
  14. thesleepingfawn

    i’ve put a link on my tumblr so that my followers have easy access to my blogspot. i would say most of my followers/page views are from the darlings who follow my tumblr.

    Reply
  16. Ferg

    This is so true. From twitter, fb, tumblr and even my blog itself, they are all connected to each other. Trackbacks and pingbacks bring the traffic. Great article Elissa!

    Reply
  17. martha

    I use it this way too 🙂 It does not mean huge ammounts of traffic, but you will surely have a lot more followers !

    Reply
  18. Jennifer

    My actual blog is on Tumblr, with my own domain name. I just love how easy it is, and I didn’t have the same experience with Blogger or WordPress initially. By the time I realized “most” bloggers use one of the other ones, I had a ton of content that I don’t want to part with. I’ve looked into migrating, but I just don’t feel comfortable on the other platforms so it disincentivizes it for me.

    Reply
  19. kimmiepooh

    I actually had a tumblr before I started my blog (via blogspot) but my posts are linked to tumblr via RSS feed.

    I use tumblr to reblog, and to post content that I might not want to fully explore on my main site. Sometimes I’ll see an editorial and will only like one look from it so I’ll post that on Tumblr instead of doing a write up on it. I do plan on doing more article/text posts on tumblr though. both platforms are fun; I really couldn’t see myself having one without the other. 🙂

    Reply
    • Heidi/The Closet Coach

      I do the same thing–my blog is for longer, more thought-out posts and Tumblr is for more quick hits. They complement each other.

      Reply
  20. Sandra

    I used to have tumblr as my main blog but when I switched to blogger I stopped updating my tumblr. You really find lots of great images and inspiration there! I just might have to work on re-updating my old tumblr now 😀

    Reply
  21. Harlequin

    I don’t even promote my tumblr on my blog, but I promote my blog on my tumblr, and I can testify, people will always visit. Tumblr promotes that “let’s go out and find things” daze we all get into when we’re on the internet, it’s very helpful.

    Reply
  22. Danielle

    I use Tumblr as a primary blog platform & find it very functional & user friendly. Images are high quality on both PC & smartphones. Not to mention a great stream of traffic!

    Reply
  23. ada_al

    since i started blogging almost one year ago, i used Tumblr as my main blog. Indeed it’s an easier to interact with other bloggers, not only fashion-related ones which is really great, not limitating your exploring options!

    Reply
  24. KARACTER

    I totally agree with this! Tumblr has definitely helped direct traffic to my Blogger. It has the same feel as my blog and sometimes the same photos, but over all is a collection of images that inspire me!

    Reply
  25. Heidi/The Closet Coach

    I definitely find Tumblr a fun supplement to my blog, Twitter and Facebook pages. It’s sort of a hybrid of all of them: quick thoughts and following a la Twitter, content re-sharing a la Facebook and content creation like a blog.

    Plus you can set up Polyvore to directly publish your sets to Tumblr.

    Reply
  26. Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly

    It is difficult to manage your online presence across so many channels, but I can see where I can better leverage Tumblr to explore a topic in a way that is more reliant on the visual and allow my ‘main site’ to be the place where all the social media channels point to.

    Reply
  27. Sandee Royalty

    I sooo agree!!! I have been on Tumblr for a year now and have found that it directs readers to my blog posts because I have them fed directly to tumblr. I also have them sent to twitter and get readers from that also. I know that I enjoy looking at tumblr so I figured my readers would too!
    xoxox,
    Sandee

    Reply
  28. Mary

    When I first joined tumblr (early on) I didn’t use it for over a year. I’ve gotten really into it (for fun) over the last year though. I have it set up to automatically reblog my new posts from my domain. I also go over old posts & bring new traffic in.

    I have a much smaller following on tumblr than twitter (my favorite social networking site) but tumblr drives more traffic to my blog. I think this is because we share interests. So just because my twitter/FB friends might like me it doesn’t mean they like the same clothing or movies but those on tumblr may.

    Plus I try to choose a relevant image if I can. For instance I had blogged a huge celeb photo post & needed to make a collage using only 4 pics. I thought about which would be most popular with my followers & used those. It’s been one of my most reblogged posts.

    I actually have an old site that I haven’t updated in forever because it’s on a difficult to use platform. I’ve decided when I revamp it to just do it on tumblr as it always had a community feel & tumblr really promotes that.

    Reply
  29. Isabelle

    Hello! I’ve been a using a personal tumblr for a while, and I managed to get quite a number of followers. Recently I created one new account for my blog, but I can’t get new followers 🙁

    here’s the link:

    Reply
  30. Nicole

    I have a tumble with 100 + followers but it doesn’t match with my blog on fashion… Hmmm :p yeah idefinatly think that tumblr is going viral 🙂

    Sunrisestars.tumblr.com

    Reply
  31. Lou Jones

    I love tumblr – as long as you use # correctly and always include a link for your image to redirect any clicks on it to your blog, it will help you to increase your traffic. I recently posted a pic of a McQueen bag on mine, and the official McQ tumblr account “liked” it, so it just goes to show who’s searching the tags and linking in on there x

    Reply
  32. Nuala

    I used to run a fashion blog over at Tumblr under a different name, but I found there was no real sense of community, so I switched over to WordPress and started my latest project, NualaStyle. Having said that, I really miss the ability to be able to reblog and “love” others’ posts. I think Tumblr is better for blogs that are 80% or more just photos. It’s not longer primarily a writer’s blogging platform.

    Reply
  33. Marche' Robinson

    I have a tumblr to supplement my blog and I get a lot of traffic from it. But, bot my blog and tumblr are relatively new so I hope to build traffic for both. I like tumblr bc it’s like a giant inspiration board for me. My blog has more of my thoughts so each appeal to different people for different reasons.

    Reply
  36. Jolie Goodnight

    I love my tumblr! It serves as a great organizer for future blog posts on my blogspot account. I use my tumblr for inspiration and as a holding place for my future blog posts.

    http://lajoliemaisonette.tumblr.com/

    Reply
  37. Jaida

    I’ve only repackaged some of my content a few times on my Tumblr account, but I’m on Tumblr more than my own blog most of the time so this is a great way I could boost up the traffic! Thanks for this article!

    Reply
  38. maxtraffic

    Thank you. Just joined tumblr and left a post. This is what, I was looking for..

    Your article is as relevant to the exact topic and nicely presented. Learned, and will be helpful. will be defiantly helpful, thank you for making the effort.

    Reply
  39. Teri

    Asking questions are actually nice thing if you are not understanding anything completely, but this article presents fastidious understanding even.

    Reply