I have a new favorite toy online and it's called Tumblr. Why is it my favorite? Because it's free, flexible, easy, I can put whatever content I want on it, and it connects to my twitter account.

If you're wondering what tumblr is, here's a quick primer: Tumblr from my perspective nicely bridges the gap between a full-on blog and twitter because it is well suited for quick, multi-media posts. Actually, it's a lot like a blog but with Twitter-like qualities. Or it's like twitter but in 3D. It's a "Liger" of sorts.

Here's my tumblr site so you can see what I mean - Matt Sweet.

Here's what makes Tumblr fun to use. First off, I was able to sign up and have a tumblelog up in about two minutes without reading any instructions or help files. An easy signup is a must for me. Secondly, I can choose my own "skin" or style sheet for my tumblr page. There are stock styles that are very easy to pick through. However, unlike twitter, Tumblr allows the more adroit user to choose a "custom HTML theme". This is a killer feature but one that should be wielded with care as it can be very powerful. Here's what I did. I did a search for tumblr themes and found one that I liked. In a few minutes, I was able to copy the html code for the theme and paste it right into my tumblr site. Very cool. From there, I can edit the style and appearance of the page to suit my fancy (via CSS edits in the code that I copied and pasted). So I added a custom background and a description tag for the header part of my page. No problem. But wait, it gets better...

Tumblr allows you to use Google Analytics to track the traffic on your site. And they make that easy too. Just paste your analytics code in the "Description" field where you update your tumblr settings. Here's a link to a previous post regarding how we used Analytics to improve our corporate site. My final tweak included adding a Disqus feedback form to the site. This was a little tricky, but the instructions that Disqus provides are understandable and easy to follow (Yes, I read the instructions but there were only 3 or four steps). What does the feedback form do? It enables users to make comments about the posts that I put on the site, making tumblr a bit more interactive and blog-like.

The cherry on top with tumblr is that it ties in to my twitter account. What does this mean? It means that when I post something new to my tumblr page, it will send out a tweet to my twitter friends by default. This tweet will indicate what type of post it is (photo, audio, video, text, or quote), and include a link back to my tumblr site. Very cool! What a great and easy way to drive traffic to my site.

I almost forgot. there's one more cherry on top. Tumblr let's you use your own domain name if you like. Now that's useful stuff! Imagine using tumblr as a site for a high end Real Estate listing. Imagine using it for a micro-local neighborhood blog. Imagine sharing your art with the world.

Enjoy!
Matt Sweet
Ticor Title
IT Marketing