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[@EMOTIONTHEORY]

I've *just* started using Tumblr - link: emotiontheory.tumblr.com

Before Tumblr, I was using my own wordpress powered website (I still do, I'm just trying out Tumblr for blogging instead) - link: http://www.emotiontheory.com/blog

(Feel free to critique or make suggestions on my use of either one)

OK, so, many indie devs use Tumblr as their blog platform rather than having it hosted on their own dot com.

I can see some merits to this. Tumblr is popular, so features like Favoriting and Sharing are native to the platform and popular among its users. It's also no-nonsense easy-to-use.

This is just my speculation though. Outside of devs simply *liking* Tumblr, are there any specific reasons to using it instead of your own wordpress powered one?

Do tumblr blogs inherently gain more views and activity?

Is there a greater chance of people browsing to stumble upon your blog? SEO?

Is it more lightweight, making load times faster and thus increasing activity?

Please discuss the merits of Tumblr and why you chose to use it... or, discuss the opposite!

[[bk]door.maus]

I'm interested in this as well!

I know one of my articles on my website was (or maybe still is) pretty popular as far as visitors finding it via Google/search engines (basically hardware accelerated vector graphics using the Loop-Blinn algorithm). Currently I'm about to revamp my website/portfolio, but I'd like to start posting technical musings about various things I've come across doing what I do...

Though since it's all probably only somewhat game related and very technical, Tumblr may not be a good platform? I mean, the stuff I rarely has pictures or videos to go with it. It's a lot of low level technical stuff.

I shall resume lurking.

[cynicalsandel]

It's just more convenient for me to follow a tumblr I like. I'm not gonna bookmark your wordpress site no matter how great your game or articles are.

[Moth]

Speaking of having your own dot com, you can actually set up your Tumblr account to use a domain name.

As far as platform specific advantages go, Tumblr is a lot like Twitter- it's something you have to learn the ins and outs of if you want to be popular on the service itself. I wouldn't say a tumblr blog is a replacement for a proper personal website, whether or not you use wordpress.

[Tuba]

Tumblr works more like twitter, people can follow you and see your updates on their timeline, it's more "dynamic", I guess.

Also simpler to use and for users to share your content.

So, I would recomend it for a devlog and promoting your game while it's in development phase.

[@EMOTIONTHEORY]

I feel happy blogging on Tumblr!

Everybody employs YouTube for videos and Twitter for tweets and so on. The way I see it is that Tumblr fits among those networks as The Blogging Platform.

Allowing people to follow, like, and share blogs is huge. On a wordpress powered site you could link to a Wordpress.com account through Jetpack and have people follow you through that. Wordpress.com and Tumblr are very similar in that respect, but I feel Tumblr has more gamers & devs. I don't think I have ANY followers through jetpack.

Like Moth said, I certainly don't think it's a replacement for a website. But this allows a website to be more of a beautiful static page with links to your social networks, your blog, and your games.

Anyway, thanks for the responses! I guess I'll continue to use Tumblr - possibly even migrate my old posts to it. Then I'll have my BLOG link to it from my dot com. Perhaps I'll even have a widget or plugin that shows Tumblr posts, or at least previews or something like that on my site.

What do you guys think?

[xier]

We're in the process of revamping our tumblr presence as well.

When you are starting to create your community I think using platforms like tumblr for blogging is great for all those points everyone list. You can easily like it, share it, comment on it, etc .. and as cynicalsandel said - most likely not going to bookmark your wordpress site no matter how good the content. You have access to a massive amount of people who are using this platform, and you are presenting your material in a very accessible manner.

But when that community is established, I think you would want to have people hanging around on your own domain opposed to other places. You want to start driving the traffic to your own site, and blogging on your own personal .com will help that. Also this gives your fans more stuff to do while they are visiting your site, and gives them a chance to get to know who the creators are.

[Paragonyx]

I have used Tumblr in the past for other endeavors. It's quick and easy to setup. And it's hosted on their own server so no need to get all technical.

However, I have a strong preference for Wordpress. And not the one hosted on their server (.com) but the one where you host it on your own.

But I am going to tell you why I prefer it from a MARKETING standpoint. Perception is very important in business. In this day and age, where you have a bunch of tools and resources, there is no good reason NOT to have your own custom website. Wordpress is not that hard to setup and themes are inexpensive. Having your own dot com makes others take you more seriously.

Yes, Tumblr allows you to change the font and colors and what not but at the end of the day, it still looks like a Tumblr blog. You want to be doing everything you can, in this competitive industry, to stand out. From your website to your logo to your business card and ultimately, the game itself. It's all part of a package. The presentation is very important. Just like in job interviews, you want to "dress for success." Except that in our case, the employer is the customer who will buy our game. Give your studio as much of a chance to succeed as possible.

Businesses know this. It is the game we must play.

- Alexis

Paragonyx.com | Paragonyx's Facebook | Paragonyx's Twitter | Paragonyx's Tumblr

[Paragonyx]

We're in the process of revamping our tumblr presence as well.

When you are starting to create your community I think using platforms like tumblr for blogging is great for all those points everyone list. You can easily like it, share it, comment on it, etc .. and as cynicalsandel said - most likely not going to bookmark your wordpress site no matter how good the content. You have access to a massive amount of people who are using this platform, and you are presenting your material in a very accessible manner.

But when that community is established, I think you would want to have people hanging around on your own domain opposed to other places. You want to start driving the traffic to your own site, and blogging on your own personal .com will help that. Also this gives your fans more stuff to do while they are visiting your site, and gives them a chance to get to know who the creators are.

Well said.

You want potential customers to hang around your web properties, like your website, Twitter, Twitch, etc. Ultimately, you want them to subscribe to a newsletter you may have or follow one of your social profiles. Keep in mind that Tumblr promotes other blogs and this is not a good thing if you want them to take a certain action on your blog as they'll leave to the next thing they see.

[Moth]

You want potential customers to hang around your web properties, like your website, Twitter, Twitch, etc.
[...] Tumblr promotes other blogs

Tumblr is similar to Twitter in a lot of ways, the difference is Twitter is very micro blogging in comparison. However as far as Tumblr promoting other blogs goes, there's no difference from Twitter. Twitter and Tumblr both have ads on their front page dashboards for users looking at their feeds, and neither service has ads when you're browsing peoples' actual blogs. If you consider Twitter and Twitch (which also has its own advertisements) to be considered web properties, Tumblr fits right in as another.

Yes, Tumblr allows you to change the font and colors and what not but at the end of the day, it still looks like a Tumblr blog.

Not gonna say don't set your own personal hosting up, but you have complete control over what your tumblr page looks like, you can put ads and scripts and stuff on it, you can take stuff out like the follow button, et cetera. I've seen some blogs which use their own domain that I never would have guessed were tumblr-hosted at first glance.

I think tiny indies have a better shot at exposure if they learn to make proper use of Tumblr. For example, Paragonyx, you put a lot of work into your inaugural blog post, but if you have analytics, how many people have seen it? When I post something on Tumblr, I can tag it with relevant tags and get people interested in indie stuff or part of indie development to see it right off the bat, not to mention the fact it also shows up on the dashboards of many committed followers who are interested in my work. If I posted these kinds of things on a personal blog on my own web space, it would get a miniscule fraction of the viewership and response I get on Tumblr. For me, using Tumblr is a lot more productive than not, my posts would be like shouting in the dark otherwise... which is what a lot of indie developers' blogs sadly amount to.

[Paragonyx]

You want potential customers to hang around your web properties, like your website, Twitter, Twitch, etc.
[...] Tumblr promotes other blogs

Tumblr is similar to Twitter in a lot of ways, the difference is Twitter is very micro blogging in comparison. However as far as Tumblr promoting other blogs goes, there's no difference from Twitter. Twitter and Tumblr both have ads on their front page dashboards for users looking at their feeds, and neither service has ads when you're browsing peoples' actual blogs. If you consider Twitter and Twitch (which also has its own advertisements) to be considered web properties, Tumblr fits right in as another.

Yes, Tumblr allows you to change the font and colors and what not but at the end of the day, it still looks like a Tumblr blog.

Not gonna say don't set your own personal hosting up, but you have complete control over what your tumblr page looks like, you can put ads and scripts and stuff on it, you can take stuff out like the follow button, et cetera. I've seen some blogs which use their own domain that I never would have guessed were tumblr-hosted at first glance.

I think tiny indies have a better shot at exposure if they learn to make proper use of Tumblr. For example, Paragonyx, you put a lot of work into your inaugural blog post, but if you have analytics, how many people have seen it? When I post something on Tumblr, I can tag it with relevant tags and get people interested in indie stuff or part of indie development to see it right off the bat, not to mention the fact it also shows up on the dashboards of many committed followers who are interested in my work. If I posted these kinds of things on a personal blog on my own web space, it would get a miniscule fraction of the viewership and response I get on Tumblr. For me, using Tumblr is a lot more productive than not, my posts would be like shouting in the dark otherwise... which is what a lot of indie developers' blogs sadly amount to.

Yeah you're right, Tumblr is another web property.

Your second point about people being able to see your post with the appropriate tags makes sense. At Paragonyx, we're going to be implementing a heavy digital marketing strategy that is focused on SEO particularly. Tumblr does not give me that level of control for SEO. Wordpress does because I can change all of the front-end code. Ultimately, people are going to choose the platform that best suits their needs.

Our inaugural post has not gotten a lot of views but that's ok for now. I look at it as part of a story that we're telling and people can always choose to go back and read ours from start to finish. If the post doesn't get 1,000 views, I don't deem it a failure.

Have you gotten a good amount of traction from your Tumblr posts? Have you looked at the data? I'm genuinely curious because if it helps then I'm going to look at incorporating it into our strategy. Possibly posting gifs and images with links back to our main website.

Thanks!

- Alexis

[Moth]

Pretty much my entire following is on Tumblr. My reach on Tumblr played a big part in the success of a Kickstarter I ran, too. Mileage will vary though, Tumblr is a complex ecosystem that you have to learn before you can get noticed in it.

[Paragonyx]

Pretty much my entire following is on Tumblr. My reach on Tumblr played a big part in the success of a Kickstarter I ran, too. Mileage will vary though, Tumblr is a complex ecosystem that you have to learn before you can get noticed in it.

Seems like it. But it's a good find. Thanks!

[Moth]

You're welcome! As an addendum I hope I'm not coming off as crass with regards to how mechanically I've spoken of tumblr, I really like its community in general (at least the parts of it relevant to me) despite many issues, I'm just trying to boil things down to the bare mechanics for the sake of being informative.

To go into a little more detail on how to use tumblr; like with twitter, no one on tumblr wants to follow a robot. Amassing a following can also be slow, it mostly depends on the luck of having your stuff reblogged by people with larger followings. It can be harder in general for producers of original IP to become popular on tumblr; it's easier for people who are participating in big fandoms to build up followings than it is someone trying to come along and publicize their own work.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

Speaking of having your own dot com, you can actually set up your Tumblr account to use a domain name.

As far as platform specific advantages go, Tumblr is a lot like Twitter- it's something you have to learn the ins and outs of if you want to be popular on the service itself. I wouldn't say a tumblr blog is a replacement for a proper personal website, whether or not you use wordpress.

One thing you can do is just query the tumbler api and use the data as the news section of your website.

[jolene]

tumblr is like the rss feed on your blog except ppl actually use it
( http://blog.evajolene.com is my tumblr )

[bdsowers]

I've been using Tumblr as my main and sole presence for almost half a year now. I have no regrets.

I used to have a WordPress. Then my web hosting upgraded some stuff and it exploded. So I fixed it. And then that happened again. So I ditched it. I can't speak to whether that was WordPress or DreamHost's fault, but I know I didn't much care for having the rug pulled out from under me and leading my users to a very unprofessional page.

I have pretty much full control over how my Tumblr works, and I've used that to tweak my pages significantly. I also have a domain name pointing to it. So from the perspective of most users, it's identical to a standard website, although maybe lacking in some of the polish (but that's mostly due to limitations of me as a web dev).

I mostly like Tumblr's social networking aspect - you can follow people and be followed by fans and reblog things easily. It was pretty damn useful in getting the word out about my last game.

I go through my website bookmarks maybe once a week. I browse my Tumblr feed daily.

I'm probably hyping it up a little more than necessary, but I don't see a compelling reason to have another website.

[fritzchery]

Tumblr has its benefits such as it is basically a social media community. That means you have readers already there for you. People can easily reblog your post. WordPress is not a social media platform, but it offers more Search engine assistance. In this article, http://wpvsblogger.com/tumblr-vs-wordpress/ it says with WordPress you have a greater chance of ranking on Google. Also, with the self hosted WordPress you are the owner so there will be no chance that your site will be shut down. You have to basically see what works best for you. If you are running a small blog, then Tumblr can easily be the best option. If you want to be more serious, then WordPress is the way to go. As for me I am done with Tumblr and looking more towards WordPress.

[IndieWolverine]

I'm incredibly against using a separate platform for your blog, but there are some pros in doing so. This video by Moz goes over the pros and cons: https://moz.com/blog/use-hosted-blog-platforms-seo-content-distribution

I also wrote an article that lightly touches on this subject: http://indiewolverine.com/2015/12/16/the-ideal-setup-for-your-indie-game-website/