If you are new to blogging, you may be confused by the talk about using trackbacks and pingbacks. Some people love them; others demonize them. This guide will help you figure out how to make pingbacks and trackbacks work for you.
What are pingbacks and trackbacks? Both trackbacks and pingbacks are ways for bloggers to communicate with one another, but they can get a little tricky. Trackbacks are comments (with embedded links) that will appear on your blog and the other blog, linking your two blogs through this one comment. Pingbacks are alerts that let you know information from your blog has been posted or linked to from another source, letting you know that your material is being used. Pingbacks don’t show up on your blog anywhere (for the general public to see), but trackbacks do.
Are you interested in more information about these blogging tools?
Can trackbacks be used to your benefit?
Trackbacks can get tricky, since they often turn up in the form of useless spam that has nothing to do with your blog.
Trackbacks can be risky because they may lead visitors to another site that is more competitive than your site is.
A smart way to handle trackbacks is to moderate your website vigilantly, erasing negative trackbacks and responding positively to good links to positive sites. If you use tracksbacks correctly, you may build up a good flow of traffic for yourself and several other sites.
How can you make the most of pingbacks?
After you enable your blog’s pingback software, you will get a pingback whenever someone posts a link to your blog (if they are also enabled for pingbacks). It’s a good way to find out who likes your stuff without the hassle of editing comments and protecting yourself from spam. It also gives you an opportunity to build partnerships with other bloggers who are approaching the same audience as you.
Once you understand trackbacks and pingbacks, you can use them to improve your blogging venture.
