A little advice on link: search and webmaster tools

[jmichaels]

I brought a new site to life, it had been around a while. It has been online near a month now. I read all the FAQ pages I can on google site. If I do a link:example.com I am getting only 3 domains, and the same is true in webmaster tools as well as at google.com

I know for certain, as I can locate the sites, that there are more than three.

Further, if I do the same link: search at [blogsearch.google.com...] I show 35 links, are those totally separate from normal searches? I would think, blog or not, google main index should certainly hold the links if they are in the blog index.

Maybe I need to be a bit more patient, so far, I am coming up short on this one, and I think I have done all I can to do everything by the rules.

I am about to just stop worrying about all this, and just focus 100% on content. As it is now, I put 90% into the content, and spend 10% on the SEO. SEO with google is such a mystery at times, and I know sites that do not even know what the acronym stands for, but have solid content, and rank just fine.

Suggestions?

[tedster]

Hello jmichaels, and welcome to the forums.

Google only shows a "sample" of the total backlinks that they know about. The link: operator is usually a smaller sample shown to the general public, and the Webmaster Tools usually shows a more extensive sample, but just to the verified owner of the website. Still, neither report is complete.

More discussion on this topic, including the direct quotes from various Google Help pages and blogs, can be found in our Hot Topics area [webmasterworld.com], which is always pinned to the top of this forum's index page.

I am about to just stop worrying about all this, and just focus 100% on content.

Stop being concerned about the missing links in link: operator and Webmaster Tools - but still, understand that the links you don't see Google reporting to you are still working for you. If by focusing 100% on good content you acquire more links naturally, that's a good thing. But the links do matter. You can often see a more complete link report through Yahoo! Site Explorer.

I also find it useful to watch server logs for referers - then I know not only that there's a link, but someone with a browser is actually clicking on that link. Sometimes a thank you note to the web author who is linking to you will build a helpful relationship in a manner you can't foresee

[jmichaels]

Thanks, we try to actually reply to every single email sent in, to gain retention. I will see about looking at my referrer report and contacting them as well, thanks for the ideas.