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Incoming Links Error Message is a relatively common problem, found in the WordPress Dashboard. Most intermediate and advanced WordPress users are already familiar with the problem. Some may have already resolved it. However, WordPress beginners likely won’t even know what I’m talking about.

The Dashboard is a tool to quickly access the most used areas of your blog’s Administration and to provide glimpses into other areas of the WordPress community. – Dashboard Screen

The “Incoming Links Error Message” is found in the “Incoming Links” module. It isn’t a traditional error message. It is a simple statement, with nothing identifying it as an error. The “Incoming Links Error Message” is written out in plain text and is even polite:

This dashboard widget queries Google Blog Search so that when another blog links to your site it will show up here. It has found no incoming links… yet. It’s okay — there is no rush.

Incoming Links Error Message - text

This message frustrated me, for a while, too. However, now, I’ve implemented a solution to my frustrations.

Incoming Links Error Message: The Problem

From the WordPress Dashboard, when you hover over the “Incoming Links” module title area, you’ll notice there is an option to “configure” the module, as shown below:

WordPress Dashboard Incoming Links Configure

The problem lies with the RSS feed URL (Uniform Resource Locator), this module is pre-configured to check.

Incoming Links Error Message - Wrong RSS feed URL

The RSS feed URL WordPress is pre-configured with, isn’t exactly correct:

[code language=”plain”]
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?scoring=d&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=rss&partner=wordpress&q=link:http://webdevrobert.com/
[/code]

Let me rephrase my last statement. The RSS feed URL WordPress is pre-configured with, may have worked before, but it doesn’t any more.

Incoming Links Error Message: The Solution

Resolving this problem is not difficult at all. Use a NEW URL!

[code language=”plain”]
https://www.google.com/blogsearch?q=link:http%3A%2F%2Fbamajr.com%2&tbm=blg&tbs=sbd:1&output=rss
[/code]

As you can see, the NEW URL is pointed directly at the google.com domain, instead of the blogsearch.google.com subdomain. My guess is something isn’t working correctly in the way Google’s subdomain redirects to http://www.google.com/blogsearch. If you look a little harder, you’ll also notice, the characters, after “http” are escaped.

You can simply Copy/Paste the NEW URL (above), replacing “bamajr.com” with your domain name. Don’t forget to hit the “Submit” button.

When I did this, the “Incoming Links” module, immediately populated, as shown below:

Incoming Links Error Message - Corrected

Incoming Links: A New Error Message

STOP: When you are done implementing the solution, I’ve walked you through above, it is entirely possible A New Error Message shows up in the Incoming Links module.

An error, such as:

Incoming Links New Error Message

…may be due to a very real and very harsh reality, that Google hasn’t found any “Incoming Links” from other indexed blogs, yet. It could also be a sign that the NEW URL you entered, wasn’t entered correctly.

Hey… What can I say? It works for me 😉