Trackback

Perhaps you have already heard that about the term Trackback is discussed and whether you need it or not. But what exactly is a Trackback? A Trackback is a way to manually tell older blog systems that you have linked to one of their posts. In return, the other post can link to your work in a "Mentioned by" - or similar - area. These are not to be confused with pingbacks.

Do I need trackbacks?

At first glance, trackbacks sound great. They allow you to communicate and make yourself known in the community. Besides, they bring you Traffic and incoming links, which is important for the Search engine optimization (SEO) should be advantageous.

Unfortunately, the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. Trackbacks you receive (people linking to your content) are mostly spam. You have to moderate them or create a Plugin like Akismet, which will do this for you.

By far the biggest problem with trackbacks is that no one uses them. Almost all pages with high Traffic - from which incoming links would actually be important - block trackbacks.

How to use trackbacks

Despite all the criticism, if your community or area of expertise tends to use trackbacks, follow these steps to enable and use them on your site.

1. activate the trackback area

At the top of the screen when you're editing a post, there should be a "Screen Options" tab. Click the tab to display the screen options, and click the checkbox next to "Send Trackbacks".

After activation WordPress remembers your settings and the Trackback-module is displayed on all post editing screens.

2. find the trackback URL

If the site uses trackbacks, the post you're linking to has somewhere a Trackback-URL. It is up to the website owner to implement this feature, so it varies from website to website. Search for a link with the title "trackback" or "trackback url". Copy the URLto which the link points.

3. fill in the trackback module

If you have the Trackback-module, scroll down to find it under the post editor. Add the Trackback-URL in the text field.

If you want to notify more than one website, separate the Trackback-URLs with spaces.

4. save the post

When you have everything set up, save your contribution and the Trackback is sent to the specified location.

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