Google Analytics Trackbacks: Who is linking to you?

Discover how to find out what other websites are linking to your website by using the Trackbacks section of Google Analytics.

Why are links from other websites to yours important?

Links are one of the factors that really help to improve how high up your website appears in Google for a certain keyword.

When other websites link to yours it’s a sign to Google that your website is important. Therefore the number and quality of inbound links (also called backlinks) is important for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

How can you find out who is linking to you using Google Analytics?

Log in to your Google Analytics account.

In the left hand navigation click Traffic Sources > Social > Trackbacks.

 

Set the date range at the top for the time period that you want to review.

The list shows the URL that is linking to your website, which page they are linking to and how many visits to your website have been generated via clicks on that link.

In the options under “More” you can view the page that’s linking to your website (View Trackback) and the page of your website that’s being linked to (View Page).

Why is this information useful?

If you’re implementing a Content Marketing strategy (creating and sharing high quality content regularly) one of the benefits is that you’ll attract links from other websites.

Trackbacks will show you if this strategy is paying off.

You can also see if websites that you expected to link to you appear in the list.

And if websites are linking to you that you didn’t know about, you can say “thank you” and also check that they are sharing your content in a way that you are happy with.

Questions about Trackbacks?

Please leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer.