SEO is a constantly evolving process. As internet marketers, our goal is to deliver quantifiable results using a series of different analytic tools. And yet, any kind of work-rhythm remains completely elusive — we find a decent way of track what we're doing and two months later the site has moved, changed or disappeared forever. Google Analytics is amazing, slick, and heaven-sent, but it isn't a complete, self-contained SEO tool. Constant research is required. SEO marketers have to be agile, savvy, and willing to abandon outdated methods.

Internet marketers need to understand how sites are promoted, where links are coming from, and what we can do to improve in-bound links. It's a simple enough question: How does traffic get to the site we're promoting? Here's where it gets dicey: backlink tracking sites are the worst offenders when it comes to ease of use. They tend to be clunky, they give mixed results, and they disappear all of the time. So, with the intention of cutting through the chaos, here’s my take on some of the most popular backlink sites.

BacklinkWatch.com – http://www.backlinkwatch.com/

What it is: Visually, the site is a disaster. There are broken images and the ads are placed obtrusively in the center of the page and in a million colors. As a bonus, it also features wacky fonts, and confusing copy.

What it does: When you type something into the tool bar, you get a pop up box that sends you to another site. At the bottom, you can click "close this thing ;P" and the box goes away. And then, behold! Hundreds of ads while your list processes.

The Verdict: The site is free, and the results are high quality. You can see the page rank, anchor text, outbound links, any flags, and a list of every single inbound link with a link to the source. The information is great, but I wish the format didn't look like I created it in my parents’ basement in 1996. You also need to avoid using it too late in the day, because the server gets bogged down.

HighQualityBacklinks.com - http://www.highqualitybacklinks.com/backlink-checker/

What it is: Slightly more stylish than BackLinkWatch page, it's still pretty old school. It has loads of text under the tool.

What it does: Not much. You can see the number of backlinks, your Alexa rank (or you can go to Alexa.com), and a few other statistics you may be interested in.

The Verdict: Probably not enough information to be worth looking at.

DomainPop.com - http://www.domain-pop.com/

What it is: A clunky, orange and peach site that requires a captcha code invisible to the human eye. Either this thing is broken, or I just found out that I’m a robot.

What it does: I had error codes for a dozen different websites, and a list of 10 back links for one of them.

The Verdict: BackLinkWatch seems incredibly sophisticated right now.

BacklinkCheck.com - http://www.backlinkcheck.com/

What it is: It's a simple yellow and white page. You can enter up to three domains, which is nice since I check www as well as http:// when I'm analyzing.

What it does: It presents you with an impressive chart comparing your site to other, random sites. In tiny letters, it gives you the number of backlinks, your Alexa.com rank, and link to WayBackMachine. It also gives you your Google, Yahoo!, AllTheWeb, AltaVista, and MSN rank.

The Verdict: Interesting, but not terribly useful.

Raven-SEO-tools.com – raven-seo-tools.com

What it is: It's a full service SEO tool that connects with Google Analytics and the site. It's simple, the design is utilitarian and modern, and users have a lot of options. They also offer a downloadable free trial of the “Agency” package, which runs about $250/ month.

What it does: It's thorough, and it will do what you want. You can group domains, see the text used in the links for keyword suggestions, and AC page rank. It offers a lot and costs a lot, although a basic package can be bought for $19 / month.

The Verdict: It performs well. It has a lot of bells and whistles, but it seems useful and intuitive. For performing SEO on a regular basis, it's probably worth the cost depending on the package you by.

In Conclusion: For now, back link sites are just bulky and awkward unless you want to pay for them. BacklinkWatch.com offers the best free results at the moment. Just try to remember to use it early in the day, and remain willing to abandon it when something better comes along.

(The best part of this underwhelming journey through the world of back link checkers was landing on a backlink builder, though: http://www.webconfs.com/backlink-builder.php. It's an incredibly useful tool for finding where to list your site, and it saves hours).