How to search for backlinks on google

Question

What is the difference between following google search statements

link:example.com
link:example.com site:stackexchange.com

Can I consider 2nd search result as a subset of a 1st search result?

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 05 '18 at 15:14

2

In short: yes, the second is a subset of the first.

The first query searches for links to your site from anywhere and everywhere (including internal links on your own site). The second query searches for links to your site from stackexchange.com only.

For more comprehensive and useful results, try these sources:

EDIT: regarding the fact, the "subset" query shows more than the first query: It's likely that the standard link: query only shows links without nofollow, whereas the subset simply includes all links from the specified site, whether they count or not.

edited Oct 05 '18 at 15:14

Simon Hayter

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answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:42

DisgruntledGoat

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Have you tried both search that i mentioned? in my case 1st search results 4 links. while 2nd returns more.... – Amit Kumar Gupta Oct 10 '10 at 05:41
@articlestack: Yes, I saw the difference, not entirely sure why that is but I've updated my answer with one theory. – DisgruntledGoat Oct 10 '10 at 15:03
Here More interesting point is, my all the links are without nofollow. And all the backlinks are being fetched properly by google webmaster but not google direct search. just see http://webmasters.stackexchange.com/questions/3635/problem-with-google-search-in-linkarticle-stack-com – Amit Kumar Gupta Oct 11 '10 at 02:42
@articlestack: No they are not. All external links from *.stackexchange.com have nofollow, as is standard procedure for user-generated content. – DisgruntledGoat Oct 11 '10 at 16:18
But google webmaster is counting those links. i was talking only about the link which appears on profile page – Amit Kumar Gupta Oct 12 '10 at 10:35

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 11 '10 at 12:19

As per my observation, i found that google itself is not good for backlink search. Google direct search result and webmaster tools result contradict each other. As per @Simone Carletti suggestion i tried www.majesticseo.com which giving more accuracy than other any other tool or search.

As per my knowledge, there is no option to close a question for any further comments and answers. Please suggest me if any.

Please consider this question as resolved.

How to search for backlinks on google

2 Answers2