Subscribe to this feed via RSSThey didn’t hold a press conference, or even write a blog post, but Tumblr search got updated yesterday!
etc.
Search is the biggest/primary discovery tool Tumblr has, so it’s kind of a big deal for both searcher, and the searchee. The finders, and the found. The users and… the used.
And the marketers who love to use them.
Let’s break it down.
First, Tumblr did not “fix” search or make it more complete. If you’re looking for full, pattern-match results here, keep waiting. (Though recent job postings lead me to believe they recognize this need.) There’s still lotsa missing content from a Tumblr search results page.
But what’s major is that Tumblr added a couple new types of results:
- related tags
- blog results (entire accounts/blogs that match your query, not just individual posts) <—— #ojo, marketers!
Here’s me searching for “tacos.”
You’ll see Tumblr is suggesting related tags at the top. Technically Tumblr already suggested related terms in some searches, but it was much more in terms of taxonomy. An “advertising” search might suggest “branding.” But here you can see they’re getting really specific. They want to help you hone in, not get jump sideways.
Most interesting to me is the second section, search for blogs (in some ways a proxy for “people”) that are about your query.
Let’s compare this to how Twitter divides up search results for tweets with the word taco in it, and Twitter accounts about tacos.
Content search vs. Account search.
Tumblr’s new blog search option is pretty comparable.
So what’s in it for you? You’re not trying to hear that PR noise.
Tumblr’s new Blog Search should be a tactical tool for your Tumblr to show up in Tumblr search results.
From my tests it looks like they’re searching blog title, blog URL, and something fuzzier that may be blog description, but I haven’t confirmed this.
Are we actually having a conversation about Tumblr SEO?
We are, baby!
Actionable advice: If you have a Tumblr about tacos: ideally you have the word “taco” in your blog title and/or your URL (does not have to be exact match). And description wouldn’t hurt, along with general on-page text. (though that second part is unconfirmed)
Blog (account) search results page:
Content search results page (similar to pre-update results):
Go live your best life.
