Getting Backlinks Using Trackbacks

Trackbacks are a feature of blogging platforms that notify bloggers
when other bloggers link to their posts. Understanding exactly how trackbacks work from a technical perspective is not as important as understanding that they work. Here’s an example of how they work from a practical perspective:

* Blogger A has published a post called “Search Engine Promotion Tips”.
* Blogger B is working on a post called “Secrets of High Search Engine Rankings” and cites Blogger A’s post as a source for more information using the anchor text “How to Increase Google PageRank“.
* Blogger B adds the “trackback URL” to his list of URLs to send trackbacks to (WordPress) before publishing his blog.
* When Blogger B publishes his post, Blogger A will be notified that Blogger B has linked to his “Search Engine Promotion Tips” post.
* If Blogger A is chooses to publish the trackback (or is not moderating trackbacks at all), a backlink will be created automatically.
* A link to Blogger B’s “Secrets of High Search Engine Rankings” post will now be included in the list of trackbacks to the “Search Engine Promotion Tips” post.

Getting Backlinks Using Trackbacks

If you don’t know how to use the WordPress trackback feature, take a look at this WordPress Tutorial on Using Trackbacks. If you’re using some other blogging platform, simply add your platform, consult your blog hosting service or your platform’s documentation. If it turns out your platform doesn’t support it, you may be able to add trackbacks to your blog using a product like Halo. Once you think you’ve figured it out, here’s a step-by-step guide for maximizing your efficiency.

1. Write your posts as you normally would and save it as a draft (don’t publish it yet).
2. Find relevant posts with trackbacks enabled using Google Blog Search by using the keyword phrase “trackback URL”, “trackback address” or simply “trackback” (in quotes) in addition to your other keywords.
3. Check out the results to see if any of them are quality posts that would benefit the users of your blog. These might include posts that support your position, oppose it, can be cited as examples, provide a more detailed explanation of something you touched on, or would simply make good continued reading for your users. Make a note of both the URL to the post and the trackback URL.
4. Decide where in your post you want to link to these posts and create a hyperlink as you normally would (using the URL to the post).
5. Save your post as a draft again (don’t publish it yet).
6. Add the trackback URL as appropriate for your blogging platform.
7. Publish your post.

It’s really that simple.
Trackback Tips

* If you’re a blogger using a blogging platform that supports trackbacks, make sure they are enabled. This will encourage people to link to your posts. You’ll definitely have to deal with some spam, but you may also attract some good bloggers who are just starting out (whose PageRank may far surpass yours one day).
* Never link to poor quality content simply for the sake of getting a trackback. You’re users won’t appreciate you directing them to garbage.
* You can save time by using Firefox as your browser. They have a number of add-ons that make it easier to find web pages that are most likely to increase Google PageRank. One of them is the free Webmaster2 add-on, which will let you see the Google PageRank of every link on a page before you even click on the link (in this case our Blog Search results page). Once you’re actually viewing a page, use the free Quirk Search Status add-on to quickly tell whether or not the links on the page are NoFollow.
* Don’t get too hung up on DoFollow blogs and trackbacks from websites with high PR. Link to quality content–period. If the PR is low and the post good, it may go up. If the link is NoFollow, you’re still likely to get some targeted web site traffic
from the other blog’s readers-some of whom may link to your quality content.