I’ve had a Tumblr blog for many years now and I’ve learned to love my blog and grow it organically without social media or paid promotion. My niche is travel photography and I post and reblog travel photos that I find interesting. My focus is on the actual photo and not travel articles and thus my blog is a photo blog, called extremelywonderfulplaces. I want to share 10 tips to improve your Tumblr blog!
1) Be consistent – this is a no brainer, but very important. When I first started out, I posted a lot of photos but then I got bored and stopped – but that is when I stopped getting new followers. Now I post regularly but only a few photos and it seems to work in growing my following. Remember that quality over quantity usually works best. Try to post at least once a day.
2) Schedule posts – You can schedule each post manually or use the “add to queue” function and set your own posting schedule. It’s easy to do, read more about queuing here: https://tumblr.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/231481827-Queued-posts
This is helpful because it means people in all time zones will be exposed to your posts, since you can't be logged on all day to post manually.
3) Be authentic – don’t try to copy other successful Tumblr blogs. Post and reblog things that you LIKE! Don’t try to post things just because they are popular and trending. Many people are searching for unique and interesting blogs to follow so make sure that your content reflects you. Trust me when I say that posting things that appealed to me was the best thing I could do. I found many people who like the same type of photos and started to follow my blog.
4) Stick to a niche / theme – this applies if your goal is to have a large following, and not a personal blog. For example, “travel photography” is a popular niche and there are many blogs related to this niche. If I start mixing all kinds of different photos and content into this blog, it will no longer be relevant to that niche and I will likely lose followers.
5) Don’t respond to hate / pointless comments – if people see a lot of public comments and responses on your blog, they will likely lose interest. People usually don’t want to see you arguing and posting responses to trolls and hate comments. If you want to respond to positive comments, do it in private messages.
6) Use a simple layout / theme – Don’t make your blog too complex or too colorful. Having a layout that is simple is often best because then it works well on all browsers and devices. There are many free themes that can improve your blog’s appearance. There are some great themes for sale that are very easy to customize without coding skills. Here is a list of great Tumblr themes.
7) Like other users’ posts often – interaction is the key to success. Liking and reblogging other people’s posts is the best way to get seen. I usually like small bloggers’ posts because the chances of them looking at who ‘liked’ their post is higher. If they visit my blog, they might follow. Comment positive things and encourage fellow users.
8) Vary content source – try to mix reblogged posts, stock photos (click here for a list of royalty free stock photos) and original content. My best tip is to take your own photos with your phone (they don’t need to be pro) and post them every now and then. Make sure to add a link to your page in the ‘source’ section of the blog photo. That way when someone click your photo / text, it will take them straight to your Tumblr blog.
9) Don’t be spammy / follow everyone back – don’t post too much all at once, it can seem spammy or attention seeking. If people see only your posts on their feed, they might get annoyed and unfollow. Also, remember that you don’t have to FOLLOW BACK everyone. Be selective and make sure you don’t follow spam accounts.
10) Always add captions / titles / source / hashtags – keywords and hashtags are the most important on Tumblr. Make sure to properly title your posts. Add interesting descriptions that are not too long (unless it’s an article). Add relevant hashtags (do your hashtag research). Last but not least, make sure you are not copying anybody’s work without giving proper credit and providing the ‘source’ of your content (if available).
There are e-books about the way Tumblr works. My advice is to check google for Tumblr blogging tips.
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