Tumblr versus WordPress: Which One Is Better?

In June 2011 it was announced that Tumblr was hosting more blogs than the well-known blogging website WordPress.com. That's quite an achievement as WordPress.com hosts around 21 million blogs at the time of writing. How did Tumblr become so popular and which blogging platform should you choose?

WordPress has been around for a few more years and it also has quite a few more features that make it very suitable for major websites. Tumblr is has fewer features but that doesn't need to be a bad thing: it's easy to configure and offers a straightforward solution for personal blogging needs.

If you want to communicate with the world then both platforms are fine: you can simply sign up and start blogging. In this article I'll discuss both platforms in more detail so you can make a better decision on where to start blogging.

WordPress.com is a popular website for blogging. It's very rich in features and you can configure a lot of things, including the theme and visual appearance of your blog, the content (including videos and images).

You can also add additional pages that you'd like on your blog (for example, a page with your travel itinerary in case you're blogging about your current travel adventures).

WordPress is both a blogging website (WordPress.com) and a software package that you can install on your own website. This software can be downloaded from WordPress.org. The website WordPress.com obviously runs on the same software.

The benefit of this is that you can get used to the software by making a free account on WordPress.com and if you like it, you can power your own website with it by the software from WordPress.org. Alternatively, you can configure your website to display the blog on WordPress.com. There are guides on the internet that show you how to do this.

Many website developers also develop websites for individuals and companies that run on WordPress software. This shows that it's more than just blogging: it can be used entirely to manage a whole website.

Tumblr is often seen as an easy to use blogging platform for any individual who wishes to share his / her thoughts with the world. It's also suitable for celebrities or people in the media who wish to communicate with their followers.

In Tumblr the focus is on social media and sharing content. For example, it's easier to share content with others and displaying content that others have posted on your Tumblr page. This is called "reblogging" in Tumblr terminology.

Like WordPress the basics of blogging are well available, such as theming your Tumblr blog and displaying videos and images.

Unlike WordPress, the software that powers Tumblr is not separately available. Tumblr is more a website on its own where you can go to and see what others have shared. You can also share content yourself of course.

WordPress:

• Well-established platform with many features
• Suitable for all kinds of blogs, from personal to company blogs
• Focus is often on written blog posts (with images and videos)

Tumblr:

• Easy to use platform with sufficient blogging features
• Suitable for personal blogs
• Focus is often on images and videos (sometimes written posts)
• Focus is also on sharing with social media

The good news is that both blogging websites are free so the shortest advice would be to try them both! But there is more that I can say about it.

For personal blogging both platforms are fine. WordPress seems more suited for a blog with written blog posts while Tumblr seems more about images and videos that you wish to share. Writing is possible at Tumblr too, of course.

If you intend to start a professional blog that you could show to your colleagues in your industry then I'd go for WordPress. It's a more established platform and the focus is more on your writings, not necessarily on social media. In WordPress it's also possible to add links and buttons for social media too, you're not left out there!

For a small company that is looking for a blogging platform then I also recommend WordPress. It's easy to start with and you can incorporate it in your company website later on if you wish.

Lastly, if you want an easy to use and easy to share blogging website then go for Tumblr. You can write your poems and blog posts there. You can also share your inspirational and beautiful photos and videos there.

This article was written by Simeon Visser. I am earning money online by writing here at HubPages.com. Would you like to earn money online as well? Read the success stories and sign up today to get started!