Who Sez Girls Can’t TrackBack?
By Roberta Rosenberg on May 14, 2007 in Occasional Rantings
A lightbulb moment! I finally understand how this whole trackback thing works.
For months, I just didn’t understand how the process worked. Who writes the blog, who initiates the trackback, how it’s received. It was a puzzlement.
I’d try to read explanations of the gosh darn thing but still didn’t get it. (I’m not proud of this, mind you. I pride myself as a gal who can teach herself just about anything.)
Then — duh, the light dawned. And since it dawned for me, I’ll give you the Maven’s Eye View of Trackbacking:
1 - Find an interesting post on someone else’s blog. Copy the Permalink or the URL in the browser bar.
2 - Write something interesting about this specific post on your own blog. Put a hot-link to this other post somewhere in the first paragraph or 2 of your post. It’s the polite thing to do.
3 - Add the Permalink from the previous post in the TrackBack box where indicated. (I use TypePad. This aforementioned box is located at the bottom of the post form.)
4 - And save! Your TrackBack note is sent to the original author where he/she has the ability to accept or reject the trackback.
Simple, no? You would think I would have caught onto this pretty damn obvious workflow, but with the menopausal brain fog and all, I just kept missing it.
Of course, not all blog system do trackbacks. That would be too easy and logical. For example, Blogger doesn’t trackbacks, I’m sure others don’t as well. But that doesn’t take away from my "Eureka" moment.
Thanks for letting me share this especially proud geek-tech moment — and thank you for not laughing, at least not obviously :=)
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rjlight | May 14, 2007 | Reply
yeah, I figured out how to copy the url and that is about it — I don’t know if I am actually trackbacking and I can’t blame it on menopause, just stupidity.
alicia | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Ha! Thanks for posting this, I never understood it either. Now I FULLY understand why/how I had all those “trackbacks” to my post for the recent GWP at problogger!
Peter Beck | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Thank you for clarifying this, something that even the WordPress “book” leaves a little obscure.
But what do you mean by the original writer having the ability to accept or reject the trackback? And what is the advantage, if any, of the trackback, other than giving your readers a quick hyperlink to someone else’s blog? (Why in other words give it a special name, instead of just creating a hyperlink to the article in your blogging software?)
RyanB | May 15, 2007 | Reply
I just click “trackback” when I really love a blog post and giggle to myself… does that count? Can the original author accept my giggles?
Brittany | May 17, 2007 | Reply
*light bulb moment* Ah-HA! Now I understand how it works but what is the SEO advantage of trackbacking?
Drew McLellan | May 17, 2007 | Reply
You trackback like a girl.
Drew
Ryan Healy | May 21, 2007 | Reply
Peter - Trackbacks are helpful for a couple reasons:
1. It tells the author of the original article that you’re continuing or expanding the discussion on your blog.
2. When you Trackback, a link to YOUR blog appears on the other person’s blog, if they accept your Trackback. Not only are you sending traffic to the original author, they’re sending traffic back to you! (Notice how many people Trackback to Seth Godin’s blog? One reason people do it is for the traffic.)
3. You make friends. I’ve found that to be a successful blogger, you must become friends with other successful bloggers. One way to quickly “make friends” is to send Trackbacks.
P.S. When somebody sends a Trackback to my blog, I see it in my user interface. I can accept the Trackback if it’s a legitimate post. I can reject the Trackback if it’s a spam post.
Many times, automated robots will simply rip-off your article, post it on their own blog, and then send a Trackback. If you get those, just reject ‘em.
Copywriting Maven | May 23, 2007 | Reply
Ryan, thank you for the very helpful explanation!
Ryan Healy | May 23, 2007 | Reply
You’re welcome! As you can see, I decided to turn it into a blog post. Thanks for the inspiration!