Searching for a Tumblr alternative and found a free platform called Over-Blog. When Tumblr was owned by YAHOO, I unintentionally violated their rules and as a result, all of my blogs were deleted. My entire account was deleted and my eMail was flagged. That sent me searching the Internet looking for a Tumblr alternative, i.e. a free platform that made social media sharing and microblogging easy. I found Over-Blog, which is based in France. It is as easy to use as Tumblr. But is it a viable Tumblr alternative? Sharing my experience below so you can decide on your own.
When and Why I Started Using Over-Blog
Archived posts for my Over-Blog microblog date back to 2015. If you are familiar with the Tumblr platform, then you know that it was David Karp’s dream to create a platform that made social media sharing ridiculously easy. You can share links, images, quotes, videos, etc. with just a few clicks.
Over-Blog was suggested as a Tumblr alternative. If you create a microblog on Over-Blog you will see that the sharing process is very similar to Tumblr. Setting up my free OB account was simple. No approval process was required. I chose a free template and customized it to display affiliate advertisements. At least they do allow affiliate marketing so your microblog can be monetized in that manner. My pages link to external sites that redirect visitors to my other blogs and websites around the web. The Ad Sense ads displayed at my blog are not mine. They are ads displayed by the owners to generate income to allow users to publish under their Free Plan. I’m cool with that.
Why I No Longer Use Over-Blog But Did Not Delete My Account
Even though Over-Blog is easy to use, when Tumblr was sold by YAHOO and acquired by new owners, I created a brand new account. As of October 2019, I publish nine microblogs on Tumblr, and this time, I am extremely careful not to break their rules. As for my Over-Blog account, my last posts are dated July 2019. My main reason for no longer using the platform is because it was not getting much traffic. It’s possible because it is based in France and most of the bloggers speak French. My blog is in English. That may or may not be the reason. Not sure. However, I chose not to delete my blog for several reasons.
- For one thing, as I mentioned earlier, it is monetized with affiliate product ads and the pages redirect visitors to my other sites.
- Also, I used the FeedGrabber tool to create a widget that shares the feeds from several of my Tumblr blogs. If OB visitors see anything that interests them via the widget they can click on the image or text and it will take them to my Tumblr.
- Links from my Over-blog are already indexed and can be found via the Google search engine. Why delete them when they enhance my online reputation?
- Tumblr has over 23 million active users in the United States; and most of the other users are in United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, and Germany. By contrast, Over-blog has a global reach of over 34 million monthly web visitors. I am based in the USA but I rather like the fact that my sites can be exposed to a potential audience in France and elsewhere around the world.
I think all of those reasons are perfectly valid. Don’t you?
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Have you ever heard of Over-Blog.com?
The company has an interesting business history. Check out this article by Tech Crunch: Webedia Acquires Blogging Platform Over-Blog.
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Related Links:
8 Best Tumblr Alternatives In 2019 For Joining Like-Minded Communities
7 Best Tumblr Alternatives (2019) | Beebom
