Does it help if say I have my URL listed on say 25 sites. If they have a links page and put my web site on it does that even matter? I read about getting link backs and things but not sure if this is what it means.
Inbound links help greatly in SERP. As long as the links are content relevant, your page will benefit
This is what I have on my site which pertains to computer repair/networking: http://cmonova.com/sitemap.htm So if all those sites have links back to me then that is the way to do it right?
Inbound links are always helpful, but the quality of the inbound link is definitely something that comes into play. Pages named links.html or some derivitave are significantly less desirable than links displayed within the context of a normal page.
What is the PR of those 25 sites? Have u placed reciprocal link? If your sites have been quoted by those sites without reciprocal link and also with PR more than 3, you'll get benefitted not only with the good PR but also with good number of unique visitors.