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Website/blog on tumblr. Good idea?

edited May 2016 in Writing
Need some advice here. I'm in contact with a seller from fiverr who is assisting me in setting up my social media sites properly. I currently have a website with Yell web design company. Ongoing costs to that, but all set up now with images texts etc.

According to this seller, it would be better to combine my website and blog posts on tumblr? Not knowing about hese things, I need to know are there any ongoing costs to this and just how effective would a combined website and blog, on tumblr, be in Google's search engines?

Would they show up higher because I would be regularly using my blog posts, at least once a week, and linking all my ongoing activity on my social media sites directly onto tumblr.

Would that prove more effective, than say a website with a external link to my blog on tumblr, as currently would be, and no capacity for a landing page or equivalent which would have to be placed on tumblr with Chimpmail to enable a subscriber's list(neither of which Yell company's website can provide, directly onto my website's pages...). Any advice here?
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Comments

  • Sorry, have never used tumblr.
  • I wouldn't have my only site on Tumblr, don't know anything about actually linking to it, sorry.

    I do know that if you want to go in for competitions as a blog the platform can't be on Tumblr - the A-Z Challenge, for example.

    I was recently advised to get advice from Fiverr, but they can't be experts in everything, is the person you are using an expert in author websites and needs, for example?
  • If you have a Wordpress blog you can make your own subscriber list as the emails are shownin the comment when you are in your comment section.
  • Don't forget there are a lot of website experts (qualified or otherwise) here as well, Lydia, most who will be willing to offer you a hand and advice if you need it.
  • Ever so kind. Perhaps they can share their knowledge with me here? Is there a thread exclusively for that?

    I believe the seller on fiverr is an expert, but not when considering authors, and as she is not a writer, and uses 'technical words(to me..??', then there are some misunderstandings at times.

    Just seems that with my web team, although it is all set up, there are things you cannot do with the website, like have a landing page and Chimpmail..

    Do you think it is worth just having a website,for its own sake, with a tumblr or Wordpress blog and its posts, linked to that? I've simply no idea,so need advice.

    The images and text etc is all well done, and most of it conforms to the requirements of a website for search engines. Thinking it might cost a bit to hire this seller to do tumblr or something, instead?

    Not sure that is the way to go, tumblr for just a blog, alone. No idea on these things.. Help!
  • edited May 2016
    .
  • You can use any blog platform you please, some of the biggies are:

    WordPress, Weebly‎, Blogger (sometimes known as blogspot), Tumblr...I won't list them all because there are hundreds.

    To be honest, I'd scrap the "designer" - honestly - most of these platforms are as easy as joining and posting on this site! Can't believe people are charging - unless they're offering coding and graphics (done from scratch). You can ask around (us included) and get a pretty decent blog set up in about five minutes.

    Start with a blog (for free), you don't really need to pay for a separate site (not for now anyway). You can have pages on your blog anyway, so you could have Home, About, Published Work, and the Blog page on one site...for free!
  • Holy moly, did that post multiple times or is my computer having a breakdown?
  • Someone suggested that as a writer, it looks more business like to have a website, and yes all the graphics etc are on this website, so essential for SEO and search engines..

    And not knowing a bean on anything on the technicalities of computers etc, I would have to hire someone to set up another blog/website, which would be more money, and for what advancement..? Linking a Wordpress blog and tumblr one too, to my website, to appeal to a different more wider audience, is essential to, I believe..
  • I know nothing about technology. NOTHING!

    I set up two websites using Wix (don't know what br thinks about that one!), but it was as easy as pie. There is an option to run a blog with them, but as I already had a separate Wordpress one, I didn't include that bit.

    I don't know if that's of any use to you, or not.
  • Why would you want to look more "business like"? :P And a blog IS a website :)

    Why would you have to pay anyone else? They're all free...if you're paying anything more than a tenner to have a tumblr account set up, it's a waste of cash in my opinion.
  • Give me five minutes and five pence and I could you up and Tumblr account and a free website. Spend £14 on a website name and you can have lhthorne.co.uk in about fifteen minutes.
  • Please don't get ripped off because you think it would be too complicated to do alone.
  • I've already signed the contract some time ago, and as someone pointed out, the big guys have the finances to back up all the things necessary for good SEO etc, (most common key words etc), and the technical wizardry to bring it all off to a high standard. That's why people go with them..

    It is tempting that, though, but would a new website warrant all the images and texts plus technical complications needed to pass mustard, in order to get high rankings should a writer have anything of worth to sell and say..etc..
  • I don't understand what you mean by texts and images? Are they writing the biography and blog posts, stuff like that? Taking new pictures of you?
  • Hopefully the professionals aren't the guys from Fiverr :S
  • I also know nothing about websites etc, but I do know that you only pass mustard if you are having a roast beef dinner (or possibly a ham salad).
    The term is pass muster.

    (Well, this is a writing forum ;) )
  • Actually I'm coming round to your way of thinking. I guess if you have a lot of money and a large readership, people would expect you to have a 'proper' website, but just as an amateur, starting out, it might seem a bit 'OTT?'.

    Just wondering how much it would cost someone to set up a new website. My current web team designed this website and there appears to be all sorts of technical stuff involved in that in order to make it run more efficiently on Google search engines.

    Apologies, heather. Gaps in education, leaves me up a creek without a paddle at times... And right now that roast beef dinner is sounding quite appetitising. Famished. Past the mustard, someone...
  • No need for an apology!
    I am also famished now.
  • Technically yes, there are different things you can do to make your site more likely to appear in search engine results using SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) - but no matter how many tricks they pull, you're not going to show up unless people are looking for you. You could spend £10,000 and still not show on the first 50 pages of "crime writer" - unfortunately SEO "experts" prey on people for their lack of SEO knowledge and charge blummin' fortunes to make people more visible.

    I'm obviosuly flagged up somewhere as I get a lot of emails and phone calls about SEO help, as does my dad as he runs his own business. We do enjoy showing up their lack of expertise by 'out-knowledging' them :P

    But the truth is they can't do half as much as they say. If it were truly possible to make someone top of the ranking then EVERYONE would be No.1.

    You can even download SEO helpers that let you know each time you post what you should change to make it more visible - all free of course :)
  • It's certainly not over the top, Lydia :) Get what you can. If you can afford it, then go for it. I'd love to have a team working on my website :P

    It's just that Fiverr is literally anyone who says they have a skill charging whatever they want, and so are a lot of others. I have to say anyone suggesting you use Tumblr as a blog is not that professional :S (I used to do this for a living).
  • No, I wouldn't use Tumblr as a blog.

  • It has been suggested that other social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter etc, would be more appropriate right now, to try and attract people to,my brand. As someone without a following or known brand name, the likelihood of being found in a Google engine search, is minimal. So best to concentrate all effort on the other platforms where my target audience is more likely to be found and in need of interesting messages etc to attract them to my ideas etc..

    tumblr might even be a way to target potential readers from off Wattpad, and the likes. A different audience, maybe, but if I can pare down my language, and adapt my original story into an additional one for that readership, then there is potentially more sales to be made from there? Are you allowed to adapt one story into another, two for the price of one, so to speak...
  • Most readers will judge you on the content of the website and ease of finding any information they want - they won't care who designed it or if it's a 'proper' website or not.

  • Any platform is going to be near useless unless you engage with people on a daily basis. You'd have to be on FB (personally) every day in order to make real connections - not just advertise work. There are hundreds of thousands of writers all clambering to sell their work on social media, and the first thing readers do when they feel they are being sold something is run the other way.

    You need to be a presence in the community (of both writers AND readers) in order for it to do any good. And that takes hard work, a long time, and perseverance.

    If you want readers from all platforms then you have to be on ALL platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Wattpad, Tumblr, Instagram, Skype, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Smashwords, etc...

    You'll have to learn about hashtags, and DMs, and retweets, and sharing, and video blogging, and networking, and bloghopping, and validation, and brand voice, and mobile friendly layouts, and keywords, and backlinks, and optimisation, and circles, the various size pictures sites use, likes, reactions, when to dial back on advertising, how to reduce to 140 characters, autoposting, and on and on and on...*gasp*
  • But the most important thing?

    ...your writing.

    Concentrate on that and damn the rest.
  • Completely agree with br.

    It takes a lot of hard work and commitment to get a following.
    Interaction = time and energy. And the more you put in, the more you get out!

    When I first started writing, I thought I could be a lone wolf, doing it all by myself and hiding away. No way was I going to talk to strangers on the Internet! It's taken a loooooong time to get used to different sites, and 'rules'! If you over-promote, it can get people's backs up. You have to get to 'know' everyone first before you can mention your books!

  • Yeah. I'm picking up on that. Think I have been going about this all the wrong way. Like jumping into the pool, without a life jacket on, and not knowing how to swim. So drowning a bit with things I don't understand that are getting me nowhere.

    So have decided that, although the website looks quite effective, with its imagery and the wording they have provided to emphasise my credentials(none right now, as I have not established myself), it has been made clear that this website is of no good to me, at this moment, as no one is likely to seek me out on a Google search until I make some waves on social media to warrant this. So I might as well save my money for now, and break the contract and pursue other sites like Facebook etc and all the other ones that br suggested.

    It will mean learning some new skills, but where I can, I will try to delegate, the setting up of these things if they become too overwhelming to comprehend. There are lots of videos and courses, some free, online to teach me how use them properly to gain a following..
  • If breaking the contract is going to bring a big financial penalty consider all the prose and cons first.

    Does the contract have cooling off terms from signing?
  • Fiverr is only supposed to cost a fiver to buy anything so it shouldn't be that much.
  • I think you can just sign off from this contract without any penalties.. But I will look into that.

    Actually fiverr costs more than that for most 'gigs'. It is normally the opening shot to their offerings.. There are bargains to be made though, but as someone pointed out, there is no guarantee of quality, but when you are on a budget, that is the highest consideration..
  • A website has to be practical enough for you to update it yourself and not need someone to do every change for you, which you'll be paying for somehow.
  • I've read this whole thread with great interest.
    Two things jumped out at me, Lydia - you talk about 'my team' and 'my brand'. I guess it's not wrong, but it sounds a bit odd to me. In my experience authors tend to refer to their books as books, not brands - and I don't know any new writers who have their own team.
    Much of the comments and advice already given is sound and I think you've been side-tracked by thinking in terms of 'brand' and professionally produced websites. Instead you need to get back to basics and think in terms of simply promoting your books and writing. You really don't need 'teams' or 'brands' to do that - just well-written books that people want to read.
  • You're probably right, but I was just referring to the web design team. But you are right. I shouldn't be seeing this as some sort of product to be sold to the masses. This is a much more personal thing, with the blood and sweat of experience that has been distilled into me through years of interactions with other people and their lives, value systems, and the conclusions that I have made during that time, concerning the human psyche and how vulnerable that is to outside influences. And that certainly cannot be equated to a brand, but rather some gathering of wisdom that I would like to impart to others through my tales and interacting with them. So getting in touch with the human element of my desire for writing is definitely the better option. Yep.
  • edited May 2016
    Lydia, I've not read all the above but this is my website on Weebly.com and it's free.

    http://erewashwriterscompetition.weebly.com/


    As BR has said, there is blogger, Wordpress and more.

    You can do a lot with a freebie site like this. And it won't cost you owt!

    Here's our thread on TB of all websites, etc that we've created:

    https://www.writers-online.co.uk/talk-back/
  • edited May 2016
    Think I've settled on the idea of Wordpress as my website and blog. Waiting to hear from the female who is assisting me on these things..

    Meanwhile, I have to pay a visit to my local A&E unit as I have managed to get a splinter in the sole of my foot, again, and can't remove it myself.

    Have ascertained with myself that I will need to buy a rug, big enough, to cover the bedroom floor, to stop this happening again. Diabetic, so could be problematic if this gets infected or whatever..
  • Ouch, a couple of us here are type 1 so know the issues.

    Carpet tiles might be a better solution.
  • Great that you are aware of the importance of publicity and marketing, but first you need to be sure that you have something worth selling.
  • edited May 2016
    Back again. Hope that's dealt with those issues..carpet tiles? Yeah, sure, but I'd have to get someone in to lay that, so I think some sort of mat that is large enough to cover the area...

    Believe I have a reasonable story to relate to this world. Just need to find some peaceful moments to set it all up and running..
  • A&E? I'd have thought the doctor or nurse at your practice could sort a splinter.

    I love Wordpress. And it works with other things very well.
  • You'd think that, wouldn't you, in this day and age, but when I rang my local GP practice, I was informed that they didn't have the right implements there to pull out a mere splinter!

    If I could write comedy, I am sure I could find a wealth of details in amongst the chaos and malpractice that go on at this practice, to come up with some classic, humorous shows... You simply can't make these things up, can you...?!
  • when I rang my local GP practice, I was informed that they didn't have the right implements there to pull out a mere splinter!

    You simply can't make these things up, can you...?!
    Good god! You're right... you really couldn't make that one up!
  • I might have shared this before... I was in the local surgery when an elderly person rushed in, seeking help. Their partner had collapsed outside. There was no one - NO ONE - in the surgery that was able to go out because they don't have relevant training.

    So much emphasis is placed on us, the public, to be first-aiders etc. so that we might help in some emergency. Yet the doctors and nurses at the practice were not qualified to help. Allegedly.
  • That is insane. And it doesn't happen here - several people have collapsed near our surgery. I caught one of them in my arms, I could see she was wobbling, I dropped Lola's lead (my friend picked it up) rushed forwards, caught her, carried her to a bench, someone else ran to the Dr, and the Dr ran back with his bag within minutes.
  • Of course they know what to do! They have been through a medical degree.

    At the very least, I think all staff, admin included, should have basic first aid training if they are working in a medical establishment.
  • The admin staff in my surgery don't even have basic admin training.
  • So spot on with that last remark! I feel I have to check all the symptoms myself, to establish the possibilities, before consulting the doctor.

    And the admin staff, totally unbelievable! It is almost a joke what goes on at that practice.. impossibly incompetent!!
  • You can report them, you know, please do. To say they can't take out a splinter is ridiculous. In fact, I don't believe them, they have to have all sorts of equipment there, tweezers for instance to remove stitches, so they must have been lying. The A&E depts are overrun with people taking small problems instead of seeing their GPs.
  • Hi Lydia. I'm glad you've decided not to spend a lot of time and money on your site. There are so many brilliant free sites out there, and it's really fun learning to use them. I love Wordpress myself, it looks so professional, and you can buy up a professional sounding website name so to all intents and purposes it looks like a nice, well designed site. (That's another thing about using sites like WordPress - it's hard to make design mistakes when you're using their templates!) Lots of good advice on here which I would echo; and also remember that your content is the most important thing when it comes to site rankings. If you have interesting, well written content that answers a need then people will find it! There are no magic tricks needed. You just have to find that key thing that pulls people in, so think about what you can offer readers and why they would come to your site.
  • I think you're right, Liz. I will report them There is an on going complaint about the doctors there ignoring serious physical symptoms. A law unto themselves...

    Yeah. I need to find some peaceful, calm.moments so that I can focus my thoughts on what I need to.do to get my ideas out there onto the net, to see if I have any meaningful exchanges to offer curious types who might be interested in such things.. it's having the belief in yourself..
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