Since last 10 years I have used WordPress solely as my blogging platform. Using tumblr is like migrating to a different world altogether.
Here are some of the basic SEO things one needs to do as soon as you start a new tumblr
Custom Domain and SSL
Tumblr provides a great free and optimized webhosting option. You can top that by adding a custom domain to look more professional. So instead of using ankur.tumblr.com I can now use my own custom domain ankur.tech
What’s more once you have added a custom domain Tumblr will automatically issue you a HTTPS certificate powered by LetsEncrypt. I didn’t have to send any request. Everything was done behind the scenes, automagically. For this domain, it took around 3 hours and I received an email from Tumblr when SSL got issued.
The SSL certificate will get auto-renewed every 3 months so it is a set-it-and-forget-it type thing. For enhanced optimization, all Tumblr powered sites run on http/2
Google Search Console
The first thing you should do, after starting a tumblr and receiving an SSL certificate, is to add your site to Google Search Console (GSE).
If for some reason, you can’t use the domain verification method while adding your site to GSE, you can use the meta tag verification method. Grab the meta tag from CSE, go to the Tumblr dashboard, Edit HTML and add the tag under <head> tag. Ensure that the tag doesn’t come between {block:Hidden}{/block:Hidden} tags.
Tumblr Sitemaps
Tumblr automatically generates two types of XML sitemaps for your site.
- Post Sitemap: This can be found at /sitemap1.xml. For example: For this site, the post sitemap is located at https://www.ankur.tech/sitemap1.xml
- Page Site Map: This can be found at /sitemap-pages.xml. For example: For this site, the page sitemap is located at https://www.ankur.tech/sitemap-pages.xml
Now just take these two URLs and add them to GSE console.
Google Analytics
Adding Google Analytics to Tumblr is a breeze. Once you have created a new property on Google Analytics, just grab your site’s GA id and add it to the Tumblr dashboard available under Edit Theme.
That’s it. You have a basic setup for your SEO done. The Google Analytics will start collecting data soon and Tumblr will auto submit the sitemap as soon as a new post is published.
This article was first published at https://www.ankur.tech/post/166210863460/tumblr-seo-sitemaps-gse-analytics
