Do "Non-Indexed" Backlinks REALLY Not Count?

[silverbean]

I'm asking this because on my Google Webmasters Tools account it shows that my site has 728 backlinks and even has a list of the top 298 sites linking to it and an option to download all 728 links in csv format.

On the other hand, when I check my links using tools such as ahrefs.com and other backlink checkers most of them show that I have any where from 124-300 links. (alexa.com shows 307)

Alot of the links that I thought were not indexed are actually indexed according to GWMT's.

I was just stressing over my links not being indexed and was even getting ready to pay a backlink indexing service to help get them indexed but alot of them already are it's just that all the backlink checkers don't show them!

If Google says my links are indexed then they're indexed and I'm getting some juice from them so forget what every other tool says right?

[Lucas Becker]

Originally Posted by silverbean

I'm asking this because on my Google Webmasters Tools account it shows that my site has 728 backlinks and even has a list of the top 298 sites linking to it and an option to download all 728 links in csv format.

On the other hand, when I check my links using tools such as ahrefs.com and other backlink checkers most of them show that I have any where from 124-300 links. (alexa.com shows 307)

Alot of the links that I thought were not indexed are actually indexed according to GWMT's.

I was just stressing over my links not being indexed and was even getting ready to pay a backlink indexing service to help get them indexed but alot of them already are it's just that all the backlink checkers don't show them!

If Google says my links are indexed then they're indexed and I'm getting some juice from them so forget what every other tool says right?

Different tools give different results. Not all the backlink checkers are the same and some work better and find more links than the other. I would believe what Google show you, at the end of the day, who can know better how many links your site G indexed than the big G itself?

EDIT: You mentioned ahrefs.com as a tool you use to check your backlinks. I can cofirm it's a really great tool that also shows you other data such as how many referring domains your backlink portfolio consists of, how many IP addresses your links come from, etc.

Another widely-used checker is Majestic SEO. I use it in correlation with ahrefs.

One last point: Don't spend too much time analyzing your own and your competitor's backlinks and whether or not your backlinks have been indexed, always keep the forward momentum and if you want to get them indexed, then do all you can to index them (pinging, using indexing software...) but don't spend hours and hours trying to find out why some of links didn't get indexed. You can spend those hours building more links.