If you are looking for a quick and easy way to start a blog, you can't go wrong with Tumblr. It is very easy to publish all kinds of content for the world to see and it is completely free.
We will guide you through the simple steps to create a blog with Tumblr and give you some tips that will help you on the path to blog stardom.
What is Tumblr?
Tumblr takes its name from tumblelog: a stream of blog-type awareness that focuses on short messages, often created from media such as audio, images and quotes.
Two young Americans named David Karp and Marco Arment saw that the tumblelogs were growing in popularity and decided to capitalize on it by launching Tumblr in 2007, a platform that allowed users to create their own tumblelogs for free. The site had 75,000 users in two weeks.
The term tumblelog has almost completely disappeared. Today, Tumblr marks itself as a blog service and has more than 465 million blogs and five hundred million monthly visitors.
Users can create their own blogs to share whatever they want with the world. They can also follow people and see those messages in a feed.
Most likely, you've seen a Tumblr blog before without realizing it. Even Taylor Swift has one!
How to create a Tumblr account
One of the most beautiful things about Tumblr is that anyone can register and create a blog. A registration in Tumblr is easy and you don't need any technical knowledge and it can be ready and running in minutes. Do you want proof? Let's make one now!
First, go to the main Tumblr page. Click Start and enter an email, password and username. Your username informs your blog URL (username.tumblr.com), but don't worry, you can change your username (and URL) later if necessary. Click on Register.
Next, indicate your age – you need to be 16 years old or older if you are in an EU country, if you are not 13 years old or older (and accept the Terms of Service). Click Next. You may also have to prove that you are not a robot. Then click on almost done!
Now, choose five or more topics that interest you. Some of them will be expanded to perfect them. For example, the games are divided into Nintendo, Xbox, PS4 and PC. You can select all this if you wish. Do not worry too much about this stage. When finished, click Next.
You will be taken to your Tumblr board. You can return to this page at any time by clicking on the Tumblr icon in the upper left. At the top of the control panel page, you can search Tumblr and access areas such as the inbox and settings. Feel free to explore.
You will see that your feed has been pre-populated with messages, based on your interests. Click Follow next to someone's username if you want to add that blog to your feed permanently. Alternatively, search for a specific person and click on the Follow button on your blog.
Tumblr will occasionally appear with useful tips on this board page to guide you, so be careful with them.
How to customize your Tumblr blog
Before making your first entry, it is important that your Tumblr blog be more personal and reflect your style. It's time for customization!
Click on the account icon in the upper right (it's a person's silhouette) and click on Edit appearance. Note that here you can click on the pencil icon to change your username. For now, click Edit theme.
Under the Appearance options, you will find all kinds of things to customize. Give your blog a title, choose an avatar, adjust the background color and much more. Remember to click Save once you are satisfied with the changes.
If you want to make an extra effort, you can change the subject completely. Click Browse topics and you can browse all kinds of different presentations that you can click to preview instantly.
Note that some of them come with a price tag: you can avoid it by clicking on the All themes drop-down menu and selecting Free themes. When you find a topic you like, select it and click Use.
How to make a Tumblr Post
Now is the time for good things. Put on your belt, you're going to make your first post on Tumblr.
To start, navigate back to the dashboard. At the top there is a panel that lists all the different types of content: text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio and video. Click on the one you want.
Whichever you choose, you will be given contextualized fields. For example, select Video and you can upload your own video or link it from a place like YouTube. Or click Quote and you can enter the legendary words and attribute a source.
At the bottom of each message you can add tags. Start writing in this area and it will offer you the ones that are commonly used. This helps people find your message and, therefore, can increase the number of followers of your blog, so think about what people might be looking for if that matters to you.
When ready, click Publish. It will start up immediately and you will see it appear on the dashboard. If you made a mistake, click on the tooth icon and click Edit or Delete.
How to Reblog, like and comment on Tumblr
A popular feature of Tumblr is reblocking. If you are familiar with retweets on Twitter, this works the same way. You can re-register someone's message to put it on your own blog and highlight it to your own followers.
To do this, navigate to the message and click on the relog icon (they are two opposite arrows). You can add your own content to appear next to the original message and some tags. When ready, click Reblog.
If you want to comment on the message itself, instead of re-registering it, simply click on the comment icon (it's a speech bubble), say what you like and click Reply.
Alternatively, if you have nothing to say, but still want to show your appreciation, click on the similar icon (it's a heart.) That user will receive a notification that you liked his message.
More Excellent Tumblr Tips
Hopefully, now you're running on Tumblr, following your friends and celebrity idols, with your own stylish blog that contains exciting messages.