Tumblr is an effective and underutilized tool for business marketing. When a good search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is employed, your Tumblr account will be peppered with keywords and links that make it more attractive to search engines and the indexes they use to decide where your page will be ranked. A good Tumblr page will also be cross-promoted through your linked social media accounts for maximum marketing output.
Domain Name
After you have activated a new Tumblr account, the first thing you’ll be prompted to do is create a new, unique domain name. This has SEO written all over it. Your domain name is one of the key items search engines look for when classifying your page. Make sure it’s relevant and targeted to the right keywords.
URLs
Every new post on Tumblr has to have a unique URL to be indexed by Google. This is a commonly overlooked SEO goldmine. Tumblr will remove all spaces and replace them with hyphens. Consider using the post’s title for the URL, and use this opportunity to include relevant keywords (never engage in keyword stuffing). Avoid using dead words such as “and” and “the,” which are ignored by the search engines. Make every letter in your URL count toward SEO.
Image Descriptions
One of the most overlooked avenues for making your Tumblr account appear high in the rankings is the verbiage chosen for image descriptions. Every time you upload an image to your Tumblr blog, you are required to include a brief description. The search engines look only for text and not the content of your image. Make sure to use keywords that are relevant to your overall blog and business – not just relevant to that specific image.
Links
If keywords are the right hand of SEO, links are the left. Your blog – preferably each individual post – should have a few links to credible, active web pages. This is where social media marketing comes in. Adding links provides you with a double opportunity. Not only do they make your page more credible and likely to be ranked higher, but they give you a chance to point your readers to your Twitter, Facebook, website, and other accounts.
With a good SEO strategy, your Tumblr page can do wonders for your marketing plan.
Great Tumblr Examples
Tumblr’s incredible popularity is based on the fact that it is basic, easy to use, customizable, and built to be powered by SEO for social media marketing. It’s important to utilize every opportunity – from URLs to image descriptions – to get your page ranked higher and become interwoven into your other social media accounts.
Andrew Lisa is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles. He writes about social media, marketing, and profiles top business leaders.
Tumblr photo from Shutterstock.