Stats on Tumblr and WordPress.com show: Tumblr now hosts more blogs than WordPress.com does.
While the graph looks impressive the difference between the two is just 0.4%
The count doesn't include blogs using the blogging platform WordPress available from WordPress.org; only the hosted blogs at WordPress.com are taken into account.
Also, it's not known how many blogs on either site are abandoned.
Tumblr: More Blogs, Less Popular?
Search popularity for the two is hard(er) to determine. "Tumblr" can be a navigational or informational query. So can "wordpress" but that term can apply to self-hosted blogs as well.
There's virtually no search volume for "wordpress.com"
Given that the searches for "wordpress" must include destinations other than wordpress.com, Tumblr's search performance world-wide over the past 12 months is impressive.
Still, looking at traffic data as provided by Google Trends (and reflected in data from other providers), Tumblr has a lot of ground to cover before its blogs draw the same amount of daily unique visitors WordPress.com does.
Do you think the fact that Tumblr has more blogs but a lot less traffic means Tumblr just isn't that popular?
About the Author: Ruud Hein
6 Comments
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That first chart is a bit deceiving. It’s making a 0.4% difference look huge! The x-axis should start at 0 🙂
Seems to me that Tumblr and Posterous are staying focused on straight-up blogging while WordPress is choosing to move towards a more full blown content management platform. The numbers I hear talked about have half of all WordPress websites of the self-hosted variety and about half on WordPress.com. If that’s true then there’s 41+ million WordPress sites out there.
And the WP growth doesn’t show signs of slowing down anytime soon. Every WordPress developer I know is booked out weeks or months in advance. 🙂
Yep they are pretty much the same really. I am surprised at the numbers using Tumblr though, I never realized it was that popular.
Hey there Ruud,
I have been watching the rise of Tumblr with interest and it is nice to see someraw stats. What is making it popular at the momentis the fact that it is so easy to use. It can also bridge the gap for those moving from places like Twitter to starting a full on blog.
It definitely interesting but is currently ffuuulll of spam – followed links/no editor.
Most popular topic – without a doubt fashion – those guys love it. Tumblr is around to stay but at the moment it seems that it is only working well for certain demographics, I’m sure that will turn over the next 12 months.
Too, the two services attract vastly different audiences and are used for vastly different purposes. Tumblr has lots and lots of pics, quotes and videos, because it has made it very easy to post them. WordPress attracts more serious blogs.