The majority of people currently track inbound links using the “link:” function in Google or Yahoo. This is actually a terrible representation. I’m not completely sure why (it hasn’t always been) but I think its to protect how many links a site really has to try and kill off SEO’s link buying activities.

The most accurate place to check is in the Google Webmasters Tools, the same place you submit your site map. To view the link data you will need to verify, preventing SEO’s from gathering inbound link data. However you don’t need to verify to submit a site map anymore.

This is really useful to know for many reasons. It highlights the most interesting parts of your site. Which probably are also your highest ranking. It also highlights weak areas, allowing you to check for errors or other problems that could cause this.