Tumblr SEO Guide

Tumblr Seo Optimization

 This Tumblr SEO guide aims to help your Tumblr blog rank better on search engines, specially google since almost everyone uses it, all this without paying to get visitors. If this is the first time you hear the word SEO, click on the link to find out more.

Is Tumblr SEO friendly?. I’ve seen pages rank very well for keywords that were not included in the url, title or description, probably because they were receiving links from external sources that not only give them importance, but also indicated what the page was all about.  In the end is all about how much information you provide the Search Engine on a particular site, page or post. I will update this Tumblr SEO guide to keep it up-to-date, since Tumblr may decide that the following changes could be made from the customize control panel in the near future.

Tumblr SEO Guide

1. When writing a post, don’t forget to:
   • Set a custom post URL. Write a brief phrase chain of words, connected by dashes.  Example /post/136456/my-example-post.  Try to get rid of words like the, and, or and keep the useful keywords that identify your specific post.
   • Write the title including the main keyword/s that identify your article.
2. When adding images, photos and pictures, always include a description in your tumblr pop up window.
3. When adding a link in your post, always include a description that is related to both your content and the content you are pointing to.
4. <title> tag change. This way the title for your post shows up on this tag
Go to Customize > Theme > Enable Custom HTML and look for the <title> tag , that ends with </title>.  It should look like this <title>{Title}{block:PostTitle} &bull; {PostTitle}{/block:PostTitle}</title>
5. <meta name=”description” content=”Example”>Meta Tag. Make this change to give the search engine a brief but focused idea what the page is all about.
Look for the meta tag description (always within your theme’s html).  It must look like this <meta name=”description” content=”{MetaDescription}” /> .  If it’s not there, you must include this line of code always before the </head> tag, always making sure not to mix it with anything else.  I’ve read some articles that tell you to include the custom tumblr tag {block:PostSummary}, this tag throws an error on the header, so dont use it.
6. <meta name=”keywords” content=”Keyword1, Keyword2, etc”>.  I don’t think this tag will make a difference since it’s no longer consired of much importance by google.
Look for the meta tag, and change it to this <meta name=”keywords” content=”{block:Permalink}{block:Posts}{block:Tags}{Tag}, {/block:Tags}{/block:Posts}{/block:Permalink}” />. If it is not included in your Tumblr theme, then paste it below the meta description tag
7. Create and submit a sitemap.xml file to google webmaster tools. This is to make clear to the search engine where each piece of your website is located within the structure.
The sitemap file is supposed to be already included in your Tumblr.  It is located here yourtumblr.tumblr.com/sitemap.xml or yourtumblr.tumblr.com/sitemap1.xml.  You need to visit these pages to find out which is the right one.  Sign up to google webmaster tools and add your sitemap there (after adding your site).
8. Set up your custom domain name.  This could make your url a bit more relevant as long as it has keywords in it.

All these changes will sure help your Tumblr SEO improve, but having your own domain and website hosted is the way to go if you need better results.  Remember that your tumblr is just one subdomain amongts millions of others within tumblr.com. Leave your comments if you think there is something else that can be done to improve your Tumblr SEO.