"Link:" Operator Effectiveness Examined
The "Link:" command in Google is one of the advanced operators available when using the search engine, and is used to find out the list of inbound links (IBL's) to a given site.This is what Google says about the operator in Google Webmaster Help:
"You can perform a Google search using the link: operator to find a sampling of links to any site. For instance, [link:www.google.com] will list web pages that have links pointing to the Google home page. Note there can be no space between the "link:" and the web page URL.
To see a much larger sampling of links to any verified site in Webmaster Tools:
1. On the Webmaster Tools Home page, click the site you want.
2. Under Your site on the web, click Links to your site. "
There had recently been some discussion around the internet about how accurate or extensive the list of links that the link: operator provides. The Webmaster Help entry on the subject puts to rest the first point made by some webmasters: that the list of links provided by "link:" is comprehensive.
Any webmaster with access to Webmaster Tools will be able to confirm that the list of links provided there is far more complete and comprehensive that that provided by the "link:" operator.
The downside of using Webmaster Tools to find links, as an SEO, is that you can only view the links for your sites. The fact that the "link:" operator gives a very small selection of links make it pretty much redundant for SEO purposes; if you need to find the links for a competitor, then Yahoo Site Explorer or SEOMoz Linkscape would be used.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link