The simplest definition of a trackback is that it is a comment containing a link to a post that someone wrote and referenced to the original post. Yeah, that made sense, right? Okay, so I'll give an example that does:

Jack wrote a post on his blog about water sources. Jill read that post and then had so much to say on the topic that she went and wrote her own article about wells as a water source. She sent a trackback to Jack's blog, and a comment appeared on his post about water sources. The comment contains a link that goes to Jill's post. So now, Jill's readers can go to Jack's blog and read the post that inspired Jill, and Jack's readers can read what Jill had to say on the topic if they want additional information. So Jack and Jill are both benefiting from the trackback, because now both get additional traffic from each others' sites. Hooray!

Now if you want to send a trackback, here's how you do it:

1. Write your article.

2. On the site you want to link to, find the Trackback URL. Usually if you click on the title of the particular post and scroll to the bottom, you'll find something that looks like this:

Trackback URL:

http://www.cybersunshine.com/blog/2008/11/yourreal-estate-blogging--dictionary.asp

3. Put that link in your post wherever you like.

That's it! The internet elves take care of the rest for you. Congratulations, you have just done the easiet networking ever!

By the way, sometimes blogs are not equipped with Trackback. In that instance, just go ahead and leave a comment on their post with a link to your own post. Usually I write something like, "Great post, thanks for pointing out (insert valid point)! You inspired me to write my own post about (insert your article topic). You can check it out here (insert the URL to the post, not to your blog)."

Other places to read about Trackbacks:

Wikipedia

Reference.com

Labels: Blog Dictionary, Real Estate Blog