WordPress SEO – Trackbacks and Pingbacks are a great way to create links as well as targeted traffic to your blog.
What is a Trackback?
A trackback is the process of notifying a blog when you make a post that references it. By sending a trackback you create a link back to your blog from the blog you are referencing.
How do I Create a Trackback?
You will need to locate the trackback link on the blog you want to reference. Most trackback links are located between the blog post and the comments, usually in the form of a hyperlink, or it can be plain text.
Note: Not all blogs display the trackback URL. If this is the case create a pingback instead (see below).
If the link is hyperlinked just right-click on it and select “Copy shortcut”. If it’s plain text select and copy the text. If you’re using WordPress as your blogging platform simply paste the trackback URL into the box labeled “Send trackbacks to…”
Once you’ve pasted the URL in the box simply publish your post and the blog will be notified. Easy, huh?
What is a Pingback?
A pingback is a built-in feature in WordPress which allows you to notify a blog you are referencing it just by including its permalink (the permanent URL for a blog post) in the content of your post. With pingbacks you don’t need to worry about trackbacks because WordPress will take care of it for you. For pingbacks to work make sure you have checked “Attempt to notify any Weblogs linked to from the article (slows down posting.)” in your WordPress settings. You’ll find this in the Discussion section.
Beware of sending both a trackback and a pingback. This would create two links on the blog you are referencing and could be considered spam. Of course, you should only trackback or pingback if you actually reference the site you are sending the trackback to.
