Hi

When I check for my sites backlinks in Google, I run a search query link:www.mysite.com. But the number is really low comparing to query "www.mysite.com"

The difference is something like 30 against 280,000

Does this mean that Google only approved 30 backlinks?

Thanks

It means two things:

1) Google doesn't show very many of the links it knows about using that command. Normally around 1%. If you log into webmaster tools, you can see a lot more - but only for verified sites (ie your own - not competitors). However most people think that this still isn't everything Google knows about - ie they don't want to tell you exactly how they are calculating the ranking. Using the same command in Yahoo will also give you a lot more.

2) When you type in a site name say http://www.widgets.com.au , Google will list every result with the word widgets on it, and basically ignore the www and the .com.au bits. This means you will see some sites with yours listed on them, but also other sites that are nothing to do with yours and are not links to you at all. It's basically completely unreliable as a way of measuring anything at all. It's annoying that Google does this but nothing you can do about it that i'm aware of.

Best of luck
Matt
Marketing Web

I agree with marketingweb. Saw a video from Matt Cutts on the same topic and what he said was pretty much the same.

That link count is not accurate. It just tells more than the link: operator.

Google clearly states: "To see a much larger sampling of links to any verified site in Webmaster Tools...".

That said, still they do not show all.

I recommend using http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/

Right! Google does not show many back links! If you want to see all of your back links then http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ is a good choice!

Google still Keep their ACE always.
better try different ways to get backlinks, manaul and free search engines such as yahoo.

Yes in order in track accurate back links result Yahoo siteexplorer is advisable, but you can also track using Google webmaster tools.

In order to check backlinks in Google, Use Google webmaster tools than using link:www.mysite.com in google. To get the exact backlinks for the website, go on with Yahoo site explorer. Use linkdomain:url . Then set "Except from this domain" to "Entire Site. You will get the accurate count of your backlinks

Google just shows a sample of backlinks when using link operator. Log in to your google webmaster tools and see your backlinks from other websites.

link:domain.com will not show you a complete results of your backlinks. The best way to check the backlinks of your website in Google is the Google Webmasters Tools.