The value of trackbacks

Trackbacks are an internal mechanism that blogging software uses to “ping” a blog that you have posted a link to.  This allows the owner of the blog that you mentioned know you’ve written something about what they have written.

Wikipedia defines a trackback as follows:

A trackback is an acknowledgment. This acknowledgment is sent via a network signal (ping) from the originating site to the receiving site. The receptor often publishes a link back to the originator indicating its worthiness. Trackback requires both sites to be trackback-enabled in order to establish this communication. Trackback does not require the originating site to be physically linked to the receiving site.

Trackbacks are used primarily to facilitate communication between blogs; if a blogger writes a new entry commenting on, or referring to, an entry found at another blog, and both blogging tools support the TrackBack protocol, then the commenting blogger can notify the other blog with a “TrackBack ping”; the receiving blog will typically display summaries of, and links to, all the commenting entries below the original entry. This allows for conversations spanning several blogs that readers can easily follow.

In more general terms, a trackback is an automated way to let a fellow blogger know that you liked (or hated) what he or she wrote enough to mention it on your blog and kid enough o tell your readers where to find the original posting. This is a valuable tool and should never be ignored.

How Do Trackbacks Help Me?

Aside from letting your fellow bloggers know you thought their posts were noteworthy, making sure your blogging software is sending out trackbacks can directly affect traffic.  Most blog themes automatically include a quick blurb in the comments section (or near it) when a trackback is left.  This blurb usually includes a link back to the post on your blog where you mentioned the other bloggers post.  This allows readers of the blog you mentioned see that you’ve had something to say as well, which can draw them to your post.

The other very real benefit of trackbacks is that the owner of the blog that was pinged may decide to take a few minutes and read  that post as well.  This can result in a comment from him or her and in some cases it can result in that blog author mentioning something you’ve written that he or she liked. This fosters both community in your niche and traffic to your blog, which in the end is what we all want.

What Happens When My Trackback Doesn’t Show On The Blog I Linked To?

Many times you’ll link to another blog post but you will never see a link in the comments or trackback section of the other blog. If so, don’t be discouraged from the practice, there are many reasons that the link might not be displayed.

Most modern blog platforms allow the owner to moderate comments and pings.  If the blog you linked to is very popular, the blog owner may not have had the chance to make a decision to approve or deny the trackback, or may simply not want trackbacks cluttering up their comments.

Some blog themes separate trackbacks from regular comments. Check to see if there is a section at the bottom of the post that shows trackbacks. It may have any title, but if you see a list of short quotes with links, you’ve found a trackback section and you can look to see if your trackback has been published.

Of course it’s always a very real possibility that the blog owner just hates displaying trackbacks at all. In this case they may have been removed from the theme altogether, or the blog owner may have his or her software set to automatically reject all trackback and pingback requests.  This is generally considered poor manners, but it is their blog and they have that right.

Regardless, keep citing other bloggers!  There is very little that makes a bloggers day a better place than knowing someone is talking about what he or she wrote.  It’s the personal highlight of my day and I’m sure that others feel the same way.

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