The following post has been contributed by Liz Strauss from Successful Blog.
I was working today, answering comments and writing a post, when in came a trackback from a blog I didn’t know.
It immediately got my attention.
I went over to see who was talking. Of course, I knew the name of the blogger. He had just been on my post and written two comments. I could remember what they said, but I really didn’t know him. I had been planning to visit his blog later, but you know that later sometimes just doesn’t make it.
With a trackback – something about answering Liz’s compelling question — that blogger made sure I went to see him. His trackback had captured my full attention. What question? What was his answer? I had to find out. I wanted to solve the puzzle. I was at the point in my day when I needed some fun.
That’s the power of a well done trackback. It’s an intriguing invitation to visit, and I knew the place I was visiting was a blog where they knew me because the trackback called me Liz. Trackbacks are a great to begin a relationship, especially if you’ve left a comment first. Here’s why:
- Leaving a comment or two makes your name familiar and lets the blogger know that you read his or blog. You become a person, a person who is interested and interesting. Leaving a trackback before you ever comment can look like you are standoffish or too busy to comment.
- Leaving a trackback on the same post where you’ve left a comment can work really well, if you are truly interested in the dialogue and the topic. Think of it as a real conversation, that you might have had with a fairly new friend. If you were truly engaged and thought of a new point on your way home, you might shoot him an email or IM to pass it along.
- The track post that you write shows that you took the conversation at the original blog one step further. Almost everyone would think that’s a compliment, sending a trackback is a lot like saying “You’ve got me thinking, and I’m telling others good things about you.” Who wouldn’t like to hear that?
It’s not the link that makes the trackback enticing. It’s the mystery of the excerpt. It’s the fact that someone took my conversation further. It’s the conversation with a new person. I follow the trackbacks home and I find myself wanting to leave a comment. The comments always come naturally out of the experience. I never have to stop to think one up.
Somehow I feel like I know the blogger from this interaction around that one trackback. A relationship has naturally happened. I go back to my blog aware of a person, not just a guy who comments on my blog. Maybe its because the trackback brought me into his natural habitat and I went for a reason, not just to explore. I know I’ll be looking for opportunities to link back to his blog now that I’ve had a chance to get to know some of his content.
Try a comment and trackback to introduce yourself to a blogger in your neighborhood. When they follow comments these short interactions can be more meaningful than you might ever have suspected.
Read more from Liz at Successful Blog.
