how to check number of links?

[webpundit]

I've been trying to find an accurate way of finding the exact number of backlinks. Tools like <link pop checkers> and the "link:www.domain.com" give me results that INCLUDE links from my own site, so naturally those results are not exact. Are there any other ways out there that any of you have been using or know of that can help me do the same?

Thanks!

[edited by: martinibuster at 1:05 pm (utc) on June 26, 2004]
[edit reason] No tool drops, thanks. [/edit]

[supplements]

They are fine as long as the links page is indexed I tend to say away from them though as most of them are in and out very fast

[anallawalla]

You can exclude your own links with -site:mydomain.com

[webpundit]

Hello anallawalla,

Thanks for the reply. I think I haven't understood your tip very well, because when I type "link:www.domain.com-site:www.domain.com" I'm not getting any results. I know that we have 200+ backlinks, I was looking for a more exact number.

So, what am I doing wrong? Thanks for your help!

[dirkz]

> You can exclude your own links with -site:mydomain.com

To the best of my knowledge this doesn't work with Google. For some reason their link command is pretty primitive.

The good news is that you can do this with yahoo, and even add some more "tricks".

The bad news is of course they don't share the same DB.

[rj87uk]

so are you going to let us know some tricks ;p

I have been unsuccessful with yahoo...

[luckychucky]

Here you go-

[webmasterworld.com...]

[webpundit]

Yeahhhh.......that does seem like a credible way to check for the backlinks. Thanks a bunch LuckyChucky!

I do have some misgivings about this though and here's why:
When I use the usual "link:www.domain.com" format, the number of links showing up are about 500. However when I use the way LuckyChucky has suggested, I get over 20,000!

This does not make sense because the result would be all the backlinks I have MINUS links from my own website. So I would think that the number would be lower. However it's so much more higher! Why do you think this is?

[dirkz]

> Why do you think this is?

(1) The link command is very very unreliable on Google. It has a PR threshold plus some random obfuscation.

(2) The + search gives you much more than just links, also those pages who just have your URL on them without link to you.

[percentages]

>The link command is very very unreliable on Google. It has a PR threshold plus some random obfuscation.

Very true. It is also unreliable on Yahoo.

Finding your indexed backlinks is a problem. I prefer to find the important ones from my own server logs and leave the SE's to their own devices.

I actually like the fact that the SE's can't report these numbers accurately and hope they continue to fail :)

[sit2510]

>>> I've been trying to find an accurate way of finding the exact number of backlinks. Tools like <link pop checkers> and the "link:www.domain.com" give me results that INCLUDE links from my own site, so naturally those results are not exact. Are there any other ways out there that any of you have been using or know of that can help me do the same?

No, there is "no quick command" in Google where you can find the exact number of backlinks excluding your own. However, there is a quick manual way to calculate the estimated number very close to accuracy and it takes only a few minutes, if you don't want to spend your time to count each one individually. Here's some tips:

Set your default to display 50 results per page. With link:http://domain.com, you will notice that your own site will be displayed by set or group together.

1) Count the number of links of your own on page 1 and note it down.
2) Subtract that number of your own with 50, then you get the number of links that is not yours.
3) Then count the number of pages reported by Google, excluding the last page.
4) Multiply the number of links (not yours) per page by the number of reported page excluding the last page.
5) For last page, count the number of links that is not yours manually and add to the figure that you get from no 4.

Then you get your desired figure but bear in mind, it is estimated but very close to the exact figure.

Side notes:
1) For No. 3, it is recommended that you check every page to see that your own "set or group" appear on that page and get the figure where it is not and then work out the mathematics further on your own (so that I don't have to explain in minute details).

2) "Set or Group" of your own - Normally Google display the same number of links with plur or minus 1 (last page not covered)

3) Set your page to 50 results, so that you have less number of pages to work on

Hope this help.