Do you mean to run searches for relevant sites to propose link trades with? If so, then searching google for highly targeted sites is nice and using prog isn't a bad way to quickly find the ones with decent PR. Yahoo and DMOZ directory browsing is always good. And, of course, there is the fledgling but soon to become ever-powerful - www.seopark.com! That's my new site for exchanging links, give it a whirl if you like.
This link will give you a bird’s eye view of your exact anchor text that robots see. http://www.webconfs.com/anchor-text-analysis.php
i use http://www.checkyourlinkpopularity.com/ its a super easy program that allows u to add lots of domains so u can track all your sites or maybe your competitors. hehe
Yep. I agree. i use the checkyourlinkpopularity tool too. I like to export the results and then use sa database to plot the changes.
If it is all about checking backlinks , why not try link:http://www.yoursite.com command in MSN as it lists most of the sites linking back to you.