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Complete Guide to Creating a

Bloghi!hi!hi!hi!hi!hi!hi!

S N A P S H O TThinkWorks

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What is Tumblr? 3The Benefits 4How to Create a Tumblr 6 Step1:Createyouraccount 6 Step2:AddinganewposttoyourTumblrblog7 Step3:YourTheme 8Content 10 Photographs/Pictures/Illustrations 10 Quotes 11 JoininonTumblr-specifictrends,events

andmemes 12 GetmorefollowerswithTumblrSearch 13When to Post on Tumblr 17SEO Best Practices 18Technical SEO Recommendations 21Analytics 25Connect Your Google Analytics Account 27Other Considerations 28 URLandcustomdomainname 28 MakeyourTumblrmoreaccessibleto

non-Tumblrusers 29Summary 32

Contents

Rodica Maria LazarContentMarketingExecutive

Latitude Digital Marketing

Author

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What is Tumblr?Tumblr isamicrobloggingandsocialnetworkingplatformthatallowsuserstopostsmallsnippetsofcontentquicklyandefficiently.Tumblristhehomeofshort,‘digestible’content.

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Thekey benefitofhavingaTumblraccountforyourbrandisthatitcanimprove your search ranking.Ithasahighauthoritywithinsearchengines,easilymakingpostsmorevisibleonceoptimisedfortherightkeywords.Tumblrisalsoapowerfulwayofbuilding linkstoprominentindustryleaders.WhenyoulinktoacontactthroughTumblrandfollowthem,you’reverylikelytobefollowedback,againbeneficialtoacquiringprominence in search engines.

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This guide provide you with:

1. Astepbystepprocessonhowto setupaTumblrblogfromscratch

2. Recommendationsforthe type of content suitablefor theTumblrblog

3. SearchEngineOptimisation(SEO) bestpractices

4. Otherconsiderations

1.

2.

3.

4.

The Benefits

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The key benefit of having a Tumblr account for your brand is that it

can improve your search ranking

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How to Create a Tumblr Step 1: Create your accountCreatingaTumblraccounttakesno morethan30seconds.Allyouneed istoadd:

1.Youremailsaddress

2.Apassword

3.Yourusername

Oncethat’sdone,you’llbeaskedtofollowthreeblogs.Youcansearchforindustryrelevantblogsbyhashtagornameinthesearchbar.

NowyoucancustomiseyourblogbychoosingaBackgroundImage,ProfileImage,TitleandDescription.Click‘Make it’tocontinue.MakesureyourTumblrblogisalignedwiththethemeandstyleofyourwebsitetohaveconsistencyacrossallonlinechannels.

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How to Create a Tumblr Step 2: Adding a new post to your Tumblr blogYoucanchoosebetweenready-madetemplatesfortext,photos,videos,audio,quotes,linksandchattranscripts.Mostthemestakeadvantageofthedifferencesbetweentheseposttypesandimplementspecialformattingforeachone.

1. Clickontheiconlabelled‘text’ontheupperlefthandsideofyour blogdashboard.

2. Add a titletoyourpostinthesectionlabelled‘title’atthetopofthepage.

3. Begintypingthetextforyourpostinthesectionlabelled‘post’.

4.Addcustom URLbypressingthesettingsbuttonontheupperrightcorner.

5.Addtherelevant tagsforthepost.

6. Saveyourpostasa‘draft’ormakeit‘private’(insteadofpublishing);chooseoneoftheseoptionsfromthedropdownmenuontheupperrighthandsideofthepagelabelled‘publish now’forfurthereditingorscheduling.

7.Click‘Post’atthebottomofthebox.

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How to Create a Tumblr Step 3: Your themeWithTumblr’sthemelibraryincreasingdailyandthemesseparatedbymorethan15categoriesencompassinghundredsofthemes,youneedtoconsidernotonlystylebutalsofunctionality.

Eventhoughthereareaconsiderableamountoffreethemesavailable,thepaidonestendtohavemorefeatureswithpricingaround£30–£60.

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Things to keep in mind:

1.Themajorityofthethemeshaveaverynarrowcontentarea ofaround800pixels.

2.ThemesarecustomizablethroughCSSandHTML.Clickonthe‘Customize’linkfromyourdashboardandthenclickon‘Theme’and‘Custom HTML.’Thisisalsohowyoucancreateathemefromscratch.Youcanlinktoanexternalstylesheettoo(Tumblrhasastaticfileuploaderforuploadingthemeassets–whichcouldbeusefulifdecidingtoadaptyourTumblrblogtoyourwebsitetheme).

If you’re getting overwhelmed with the choice of themes, have a look at these recommendations:

www.tripwiremagazine.com/2013/01/best-tumblr-themes.html

www.mashable.com/2011/07/03/best-tumblr-themes/

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Content Photographs/ Pictures/ IllustrationsWhatworkswellonTumblris creative pictures.Somemightrequiregraphicdesignskills,soifyouhavetheresourcein-house,makeuseofit.Also,ifyouaregoodwithDSLRs,getsnapping!HavealookatCoca-Cola’s pagebelowforasimple,creativeandwellexecutedblog.

Itdoesn’tmatterifyouuseaNikoncamera,Photoshop,orMicrosoftPaintforyourimagery,butyoudohavetobegood,orhiresomeonewhois!

Brandedandstyledwithcompanycolours

Goodvarietyofbrandedimageryandcontent

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Content QuotesIt’samazinghowyoucantakeoneline,andinstantlyboostitsperceivedvalueby‘packaging’itnicelyandsharingit.Asistrueformostsocialnetworks,peoplelikeprettyimages.

ImagebyLuke Choice

ImagebyWells Collins

ImagebyJosé Bernabé

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Content Join in on Tumblr-specific trends, events and memesExamplesoftheseincludeTumblr Tuesdaysandrecommendedblogs.TumblrTuesdayisthedaytorecommendyourfavouriteblogs,similartoTwitter’s#FollowFridayhashtag.

Tumblrhasabuilt-inrecommendationenginethatfeedsthedirectorylistingsofblogsthatarerecommendedtoeachuseraswellastherecommendedtumblelogsthatshowupinyourdashboard’ssidebar.

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#TumblrTuesdays

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Content Get more followers with Tumblr SearchTumblrSearchisagreatwaytofindgreatcontentandincreaseyourfollowernumbersaswell.SearchingisactuallyprettyeasytodoonTumblrsinceitonlyrequirestwosteps:Postingattherighttimeandusingtherighttags.

Let’s see how search works on Tumblr:

Search Tumblr

UnlikeGooglesearch,Tumblr search relies on tagsandnotyourtypicalsearchengineoptimisationtrickslikekeywords.

Whatthismeansisyouneedtofigureouthowtousetagscorrectlyifyouwanttobetheonewhoshowsupinthosesearches.

## tag

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Tumblr Search is a great way to

find great content and increase your follower numbers

as well.

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How to use Tumblr tagging

Tagsareusedtoexplainandcategoriseyourcontent,givingtheusertheabilitytocategorisebasedonsemantics.Tagsareeasytoimplementinyourposts.Justcreatesometagsintheboxthatsitsbelowthetext/imageofyourpost.

Alwayschoosetagsthatarerelevanttothecontentofyourpost.Tumblr,likeallsocialnetworks,willviewexcessiveuseoftagsasspamandcanbanyourblog.

Theoptimumamountoftagsissomewherebetween7and12, thiswillensureyoudrawanetwideenoughtocatchalotofsearches,withoutlookinglikeyouarespamming.

It’salsoimportanttorealisethatthismeansyoushouldprobablybepostingalotofcontent.

Themorecontentyoupostandthemorerelevantthetags,themoreyouwillappearinsearches!#apple#fruit#healthy#Green

#MyBreakfast

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The optimum amount of tags is somewhere

between 7 and 12, this will ensure you

draw a net wide enough to catch a lot of searches, without looking like you are

spamming.

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When to Post on TumblrAstheTumblrcrowdtendstobeyounger,typicallyunder30yearsold, itmeansthebesttimetopostisnotgoingtobethesameasonTwitter, forexample.

Tumblrpostsgetthemosttractionwhentheyarepostedonaschedulethatmatchestheschedulesofhighschoolorcollegestudents,whichmeanspostinganywherebetweenlateeveningtoearlymorning(8PMto2AM).

There are three other times that are optimal:

BeforeSchool(7pm) AtLunchTime RightBeforeDinner

Youwillhavetotestthisoutforyourownbrandandfindouttheoptimaltimetopostaccordingtoyourfollowers,marketandtimezone.

SearchingonTumblrwillshowresultsforthemostrecentcontent-notthemostoptimised.IfyoupostcontentwhenpeopleareonTumblrandactuallysearching,youwillincreaseyouroddsofshowingupinthetopspotandgetfound.

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SEO Best Practices Yourmostimportantkeyword,thewordthatyouwantyourblogtobebasedon,shouldappearin:

1. TheURLoftheblog

2. Thetitle oftheblog

3. Thedescription oftheblog

Step 1

Openyourblogandonthetoprightcornerofthepage,youwillseetwooptions,‘Customise’and‘Dashboard.’Click‘Customise,’andyouwillberedirectedtothe‘Edit’pageofyourblog.

Step 2

Atthetopleft,thereisabuttonthatsays‘Edit HTML.’

Exit Edit theme

Custom themeEdit HTML

Saved

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SEO Best Practices TheHTMLfilemightlookcomplicatedforthosewhoarenotusedtoit,howeverfeelfreetoignoreeverythingandsearchfor<head> (pressCTRL+Ftoopenasearchbar).

Rightunderwhereyousee<head>(shouldbetowardsthetopofthepage),pastethefollowingcode(afterdecidingonadefinitemetadescriptionandpagetitle).

IfyouwantyourlatestblogposttobeshownundertheURLonsearch(insteadofthemetadescription),justcopyandpastethiscodein:

<head>

<title>{Title}</title>

<link rel=“shortcut icon” href=“{Favicon}”>

<link rel=“alternate” type=“application/rss+xml” href=“{RSS}”>

{block: Description}

<meta name=“description” content=“{MetaDescription}” />

{/block: Description}

<title> {block:PostSummary}{PostSummary} {block:PostSummary} {Title} </title>

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SEO Best Practices Step 3

Anotherimportantpartisthetitleoftheblogitself.Onceyouaredonewiththeabove,gobacktothepreviouspage.Youwillreturntothemaincustomisesection,andnoticeablockthatsays‘Title.’That’swhereyouaddthetitleofyourblog.

APPEARANCE OPTIONS

Title

Description

Avatar

?

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Technical SEO Recommendations HerearetherulesofengagementandcodesnippetstomakeyourTumblrthememoreSEOfriendly.

Step 1: Settings and Coding

Underthe‘Advanced Settings’menu,turnonthe‘Use Descriptive URLs’option,whichallowsyoutoincludesomekeywordsinyourpermalinkURL.Makesureyouaddafewwords(suchastheposttitle)inthisfieldwhencreatingeachpost.

Furtherdownthatmenu,doublecheckthatthe‘Allow search engines to index your tumblelog’and‘Ping the Blogosphere’optionsarebothticked.

YoushouldalsoregisteryourblogwithGoogleWebmasterCentral.Toverifyyourblog,you’llbegivenasnippetofHTMLtopasteintheheadsectionofthepage.

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Technical SEO RecommendationsCreate an XML sitemap and submit it

Tumblrletsyoucreateasitemap,whichisgreatforsearchenginespidersthatcrawlyoursite.Butifyouwanttospeeduptheprocessandget spiderscrawlingyoursiteimmediately,you’llneedtosubmitthesitemap todirectories.

Here’s how to do that:

•GotoGoogleWebmasterTools

•AddyourTumblrblog

•Addyoursitemap

Theprocessisthesamefor Yahoo!SiteExplorer.

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Technical SEO RecommendationsStep 2: HTML Body

Thenameoftheblogisthemostimportantitemonthefrontpageoftheblog,sowehavetoputthatinaH1 tag(HTMLheading)sothatwhenGooglecrawlsthepage,itwilllandonthetitlefirst.Whenviewingotherpagesonthesite,therewillbeothermoreimportantareasoftext(theposttitle,typically)soyou’llwanttheblognametobea<h2>(secondheader/subheading)onotherpages.

This code does that for you:

{block:IndexPage}<h1 class=“blogtitle”>

<a class=“default” href=“/”>{Title}</a>

</h1>{/block:IndexPage}

{block:PermalinkPage} <h2 class=“blogtitle”>

<a class=“default” href=“/”>{Title}</a>

</h2>{/block:PermalinkPage}

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Technical SEO RecommendationsNowwejustneedtoupdatetheCSStodisplayh1.blogtitleandh2.blogtitleinthesameway.

NB:Youshouldmakesuretoalwaysaddatitlewhencreatingtextposts.Here,theposttitleshouldbe<h2>whenitappearsonanindexpage,<h1>whenit’sonapermalinkpage:

{block:Title}

{block:IndexPage}

<h2><a href=“{Permalink}”>{Title}</a></h2>

{/block:IndexPage}

{block:PermalinkPage}

<h1>{Title}</h1>

{/block:PermalinkPage}

{/block:Title}

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AnalyticsEveryTumblrbloghasananalyticsdashboardyoucanusetoinformyourcontentefforts:

Theactivityscreeniswhereyoucantrackpostviews,notesandfollowers.Ifyouadjustthedaterange,youcanseemoredetail,aswellastogglepaidversusorganicactivitytogetacompleteviewofyourblog’sperformance.Youcanalsoidentifyyourbestandworstperformingcontentbysortingpostsbynotecountorimpressions.

Post Views: Trackhowmanytimespeopleseeyourcontentasitspreadsacrossthenetwork.Youcancomparesponsoredversusorganicactivitytodetermineearnedmediabonusesandfigureoutwhatkindofpostsgetseenthemost!

Posts

Followers

Activity

Customize

Mass Post Editor

12

1

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You can track impressions on:

•WebDashboard(Paid&Earned)

•SponsoredRadar

•MobileDashboard(Paid&Earned)

•Notes:TrackLikesandReblogsearnedbyyouroriginalpoststounderstandchangesinaudienceengagement.Resultsautomaticallyadjusttoyourselectedtime-scale.

•Followers:Viewfollowergrowthcumulatively(defaultsetting)orseechangesovertime.Adjustthetimescaletoviewchangesbyweekor byday.

•TopPosts:Comparetheperformanceofyourtop-performingoriginalpoststogainabetterunderstandingofthecontentthatresonateswiththeTumblrcommunity.

Image Source: http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2013/11272/socialskim-social-media-this-week-including-social-analytics-and-improved-meetings

Analytics

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Connect Your Google Analytics AccountSomeblogthemesallowyoutopasteaGoogleAnalyticsIDintheAppearancesectionofthe“Customize theme”page.Ifyourthemedoesn’tsupportthat,followtheinstructionsbelow:

1.VisitGoogle AnalyticsandloginwithyourGoogleaccount

2.GotoAdmin–Property SettingsandtheTrackingIDisatthetopanditwilllooksomethinglikethis:UA-xxxxxxxx-1

3.Copythecode(selectandCTRL+C)

4.GotoyourTumblraccount

5.ClickEdit Themeandfindthe Google Analytics ID box **

6.Pastethecodeinthere

**KeepinmindnotallthemessupportGoogleAnalyticsintegration.

Tracking code not verified?Don’tpanic,thisjustmeansGoogle’ssystemhasnotprocessedyourdatayet.

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Other Considerations URL and custom domain nameTumblrgivesyoutwooptionsfortheURLofyourblog:

•HaveafreeTumblrdomainwhichwillbe:yourname.tumblr.com

•Haveacustomdomainnamewhichcanbe:yourname.com(ifavailable)

FordetailsonhowtosetupacustomdomainnamefollowtheinstructionsontheTumblrpagededicatedtothisissue.

yourname.tumblr.com

yourname.com

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Other Considerations Make your Tumblr more accessible to non-Tumblr usersAlotofTumblrusers/brandskeeptheirTumblrblogclosedto non-Tumblrusers.

It’snotagoodstrategytoexpectpeopletoadopttoanewplatforminordertoengagewithyou.WhiletherearemillionsofpeopleonTumblr,therecommendationistomakeyourTumblrblogaccessibletoeveryone.NativeTumblrusersareusedtoengagingwiththeplatformbydoingthingslikebrowsingtheirdashboard,followingandrebloging.Buttooutsiders,thedefaultTumblrlayoutandwaysofengagingmightbetooconfusing,eventuallymakingthemleavetheblog.

YouneedtomakeitaseasyaspossibleforpeopletoconnectwithyourTumblrblog.WhathappensifoneofyourTumblrpostsgoesviralanddrivesatonoftraffictoyourTumblrsite?You’llsurelyloseoutonconvertingnon-Tumblrusersintoregularreadersifyou’redependingonthedefaultTumblr“Follow”button:

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Step 1: Navigation

Tumblrblogsaresimpleandclean,makingnavigationprettyeasy.UserscanseeinaninstantwhataTumblrisallabout.Thelayoutkeepspeoplefocusedonyoursinglestreamofcontent,butonethingpeoplecan’tdoiscrawlthroughyourhistoriccontent.

Thelayoutalsodoesn’thelptohighlightyourbestcontent.

Onewaytoovercomethissetbackistocreatepagesdevotedtocategorieslike‘mustsee’,‘mostreblogged’or‘mostpopular’.Youcanalsocreatecategorypagesgearedaroundthecategoriesonyourblog.

ThegoalistokeeppeopleonyourTumblrblogandreduceyourbouncerate.Creatingcategorieswillhelppeoplenavigateyoursitebymakingitstickier.

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Step 2: Give your readers more options to subscribe

ProvideoptionsforpeopletosubscribeusingRSSoremail.

FortheRSS,GoogleFeedburnercanbeaviablechoice.

Theothersubscribingoptionyoushouldofferisbyemail.Feedburnercanbesetuptoacceptemailsubscriptionforyourcontent,butthereareotherserviceproviderslikeMailChimporAweberwhichareusuallypreferableforanyemailmarketingcampaign.

These services will provide templates to create email sign-up forms:

Theinstallsareeasytoimplementandonceyouhavethemsetup,youprobablywon’ttouchthemeveragain.

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Summary 1. Publishcaptivating contentonyourblog.Thismaysoundobvious,butit

isagreatwayofattractingvisitorstoyourwebsite.

2.Use hashtagsatthebottomofyourposts.Tumblruserscommonlyutilisehashtagstofindnewcontentandpagestoaddtotheirstreams.

3.Searchand follow industry influencers, hashtags and related blogstoincreasetherelevanceofyourpage.

4. Monitor analyticsbyconnectingyourTumblrblogtoGoogleAnalytics.

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Struggling to do it all by yourself? We can help.

Get in touch:

W:www.latitudegroup.comE:hello@latitudegroup.com

UK: 08450212223 Dubai: +97144375737