Would someone please clarify the difference in checking backlinks at Google.. For example I would type in the search box link:www.domainname.com and get a number of results however when I capitalize like this LINK:www.domainname.com I get a completely different set of results and usually it's a higher number of links. What would be the correct result i guess is my question and what the difference is. Thanks!
link: will show your backlinks LINK: just shows websites with your domain names keywords.I.e if your website was articlesubmissions.com then it will bring up a list of websites with Article Submissions in their titles or keywords
Also keep in mind that Google only updates the backlinks shown in the search results occasionally. If you want to get a more accurate picture of the total backlinks that Google has found to your website, check the external links section in Google Webmaster Tools.
Thanks Grouse, that was the answer that I was probably looking for.. There is a huge difference in results when I do it for my site... 18 results from link: and over 50,000 for LINK:
you can only use "link" for backlinks search, It will turn to general keyword search if using "LINK:".
With Google, as far as I can tell: link: show the sites that link to you - or rather a random selection (subset) of the sites that link to you. LINK: shows pages that contain your domain name plus the word link, i.e. it's a normal search for the text "link" and "www.xyz.com" where xyz is your domain.
Google does not provide an accurate count of your backlinks, try AltaVista instead, use it the exact same way... link:www.yoursite.com and also without www link:yoursite.com Add the two together and that is an accurate count of your backlinks.