So you have a Tumblr blog and hope to get indexed quickly by Google.
Here’s how:
1. Sign in to your Google Webmaster account.
2. Add your Tumblr blog URL to your website lists.
3. Verify your Tumblr blog.
Copy the Metatag from your Google Webmaster. Now sign in to your Tumblr account. At Dashboard, find ‘Customize’ in the right sidebar, click it. Find Theme, second at top left and click on it. Click on Custom HTML at the bottom, then find and paste the metatag given by Google just after <head> line. Save and close. Now go back to your Google Webmaster click on Verify.
4. Submit Sitemap.
Update: You don’t need 3rd party website/app to create Sitemap for Tumblr blogs since Sitemaps are actually created automatically by Tumblr as noted by the comment below:
Actually sitemaps are automatically created by Tumblr which also adds a robot.txt to your site so that the crawler loads all the sitemaps generated. You can check the robot.txt at yourblog.com/robot.txt and the sitemaps at yourblog/sitemap*.txt. * being 1,2,3,etc.
5. Backup your Custom Theme.
As easy as 1 click from the theme dashboard, you can change your Tumblr theme. But that also means you’ll miss the metatags you inserted, as well as manual Disqus comments or any other third party codes you had on you old theme. Backing up will make your life easier anytime you want to switch themes/
Note on Step 3 & 4.
– On what you submitted on step no. 3:
I still need to wait some more days to see what happen to that, as it doesn’t have any sitemap submitted, which probably later relate to reports for my site in my Google Webmaster account.
– Step 4:
This also means you are giving your Tumblr blog’s website verification to 3rd party, although they cannot control anything related to your Tumblr.
Follow my Tumblr here.
Wew.. thanks 4 info. Just know it 🙂
Hi Robin,
Thanks for posting this!
I didn’t realize you could change the tags in the themes for Tumblr. I guess it is good to note that if you ever change it you will need to update this.
Or perhaps google only verifies your ownership one time.
Either way…
Thanks for the post it was really helpful!
Sincerely,
Jay
Glad it’s helpful for you, Jay. Cheers! 🙂
I don’t think tumblrMap works anymore..
Yeah, it’s currently unaccessible.
But actually every Tumblr site has a sitemap by default –> http://yoursite.tumblr.com/sitemap1.xml.
Wow I never knew that, I’ve been using my RSS feed but Google only ever indexes the first page that way. Thanks!
I don’t get the point of this?
I don’t get the point of your question.
Robin, thanks for your post. I do, however, have a question regarding #03 above: ‘Verify your Tumblr blog’, where you advise:
‘…Click on Custom HTML at the bottom, then find and paste the metatag given by Google just after that line…’
To which ‘line’ are you referring?
Ta, Hendrik
Sorry, just fixed the line. Should be under <head> line 😀
Robin, it actually worked, THANK YOU after a tortuous journey that finally brought me to your website (via the Google help forum). Now for the sitemap, which promises to be as hazardous and problematic seeing our firewall won’t allow me access to http://tumblrmap.net/ (forbidden).
For sitemap, see comment above http://lwrb.in/er6nbv
That sitemap is not working.
Which one?
Google is Evil|iamtehawesomest|
Hi
I tried adding the metatag under the line, but the google verification failed….How come?
Not sure, try again.
Thanks a lot. I was trying to figure this all out on my own but didn’t think to check the themes tab lol. Again, thanks and good info!
You welcome 🙂
Robin
I haven’t been able to get goggle to verify.
my verification code looks a bit like this
google-site-verification: googleexxxxxxxxbbe.html
Do I insert just , under the prompt????
THx
Sorry I meant under the head prompt
Use Meta Tag (copy from Google Webmaster) and insert it into head tag, you can’t use the googleexxxxxxxxbbe.html to verify Tumblr site.
Sorry I’ve tried to paste first the html and the the tag and any of the working. iMy english is not that good, what do tou mean by saying insert it into head tag, I don’t get it…
Thanks
Thank you for providing that clear and concise info. We now have our tumblr page in our webmaster tools!
Actually sitemaps are automatically created by Tumblr which also adds a robot.txt to your site so that the crawler loads all the sitemaps generated. You can check the robot.txt at yourblog.com/robot.txt and the sitemaps at yourblog/sitemap*.txt. * being 1,2,3,etc.
Thanks for the information, I use your comment as reference!
we don’t have a section of our html on our tumblr
just ( i have searched all through it
I have no idea where to paste the meta tag – can’t work out what to do…
that deleted half my post
i said
we don’t have a HEAD section – there is only a bit that has /HEAD (i.e.: forward slash head not just head on it’s own
Tumblrmap does not work anymore.
Any alternatives.
Yes, it explain on this comment above.
Add your Tumblr blog URL to your website lists. – I’m on my google account but where can I find my website lists?
On your Google Webmaster account, login here http://www.google.com/webmasters using your Google account.
Hello, your article is very helpful. Thank to help me make tumblr sitemap
At first I thought this post was useless because tumblrmaps isn’t avaialable. But in the comments I found tumblr has a sitemap built in. So thanks for the post! I still got what I was looking for (/sitempas1.xml at end of url).
Thanks so much for this…..it was really helpful! I also used the follwing URL for the site map: /sitempas1.xml and it worked a treat…cheers.
Thanks for the info. It’s been 3 weeks and still nothing on Google, so as you can imagine, I was somewhat worried. I’ve now added my Tumblr blog to Webmaster Tools and let’s see what happens.
NIce, just did that and I hope that google will now index my tubmlr blog…
Hi, I have tried to follow your directions but I still can’t get Google to verify the site. On another’s suggestion I added the Google verification file numbers to Tumblr’s site description and that didn’t work.
This is where I’m not following your directions. When you write:
Find Theme, second at top left and click on it. Click on Custom HTML at the bottom, then find and paste the metatag given by Google just after line. Save and close.
Do you mean I should click EDIT HTML and INSERT the Google verification number in the code?
Yes. Sorry for the confusion.
that is strange, can’t seem to access tumblrmap today maybe it has something to do with my vpn. Thanks for sharing this post mate.
Same here. 🙁 It’s like down or something.
Referring to this comment above, you don’t need Tumblrmaps anymore.
tumblrmap is not working anymore. It says the site is down or something, are there any alternatives on submitting a tumblr sitemap in google?
See comment above.
Hi! How should I paste it under the ?
Should I put ? or what? Thanks!
Robin:
Im coming to this forum two years late and Im no HTML wizard. I pasted the meta tag to my Tumblr page and it doesnt verify. I did some research and inserted “meta” in the tag and also put it parentheses thinking that was the prb. Any info on the format? I would like to get my Tumblr coming up in google searches.
Thanks.
Dave
Hi Robin,
I have Google Webmaster set up but when you say to copy the Google meta tag and post it on Tumblr, I don’t know where to find the meta tag. When I am on my home page of Webmaster, where do I find my meta tag? Sorry if is a stupid question but I am new to all of this and my Tumblr can only be found on Google if I type either the name of my page or a very specific thing from one of my posts. On other search engines, I am completely invisible. Can’t find me listed at all! Where do I find my meta tag? Thanks for your help!
Hi,
The problem I’m having is that when I add the google verification meta tag in the head of the html of my tumblr customization, save and close the customization, it erases what I have added… I have tried several things but it never works. Can that be because it is a free template?
Also, I have checked on my second Tumblr which is on a different template:
http://mtlarchitecture.tumblr.com/
and the same thing happens…
So on my side of things it seems that it is impossible to change the meta tag name of a Tumblr website…