I think one of the most effective and valuable backlinks is a guestpost backlink. For me they have proven to move me up in the rankings and keep me there over the long haul. However, they are not easy to get. Here’s what goes into getting one guestpost backlink.

1. Someone has to write an unique, original article. Most websites worth getting a link off of are going to require an un-spun, original article. And they are going to want it to be about their particular genre or topic.
2. Someone is going to have to search the web for decent blogs, blogs that have been around for a while and have some authority.
3. Once a site is found there are emails sent, follow ups and so forth. And all this just to get one backlink!
4. Finally, out of a certain number of attempts, you’ll finally get a webmaster or blogger to post your article.

There are services that try and expedite the process, but it’s still pretty tough.

Ok, now for the good stuff. Lavalinx’ WordPress plugin is built to find relevant posts for your links. These are posts that the webmasters and bloggers are creating that match your topic or theme!  When you install the Lavalinx WordPress plugin it automatically goes out into the network and finds all the posts that match your blog’s categories and tags. It then takes you through a simple link exchange wizard that setups a trade scenario that benefits you and your trade partner. And here’s the best part of all, it’s FREE. Relevant backlinks off of blog posts for FREE. Did I mention that it was FREE?

If you want more information about this cool SEO link building tool check out how to get the most out of Lavalinx and the latest FAQ.

To get the most out of the Lavalinx WordPress plugin do the following:

1. Create a number of Receiving Pages that target different targeted keywords.

2. Make sure you have categories set up in your blog that define the topics that your blog is about. This will allow Lavalinx to find relevant posts for backlinks.

3. Make sure you tag your Receiving Pages properly. This will allow Lavalinx to find relevant posts for backlinks.

4. If you want to be able to trade with blogs outside of your topic create posts that will attract those traders. For example if my site is about gardening and I want to expand my ability to get links from other sites I would create posts that address tags that would attract those traders. If I wanted a link from a design site I could create a post about garden design. That way my posts start showing up for design sites as relevant posts.

5. If you have multiple blogs set up a Lavalinx account and manage all your blogs in Lavalinx.

6. Your Receiving Page does Not have to link back to your blog. You can create Receiving Pages that point to other blogs or websites. This will create all one-way links to your site.

If you want to be able to manage multiple WordPress blogs that have the Lavalinx plugin installed do the following:

1. Use one of your blogs and sign up for a lavalinx account.
2. AFTER setting up your account install the Lavalinx WordPress plugin into the same blog.
3. The plugin will ask you to verify your Lavalinx account – use the same email and password you used to create your Lavalinx account.
4. Any additional blogs must be first added in Lavalinx, and then have the Lavalinx plugin installed.

This will make it so that you can login into one interface to manage all your link trades. It will also allow you more advanced functionality for updating Sending Pages and finding relevant link partners.

The new Lavalinx WordPress Plugin was releases a couple weeks ago and is now available in the WordPress plugin directory. I wanted to include a few things that may be helpful to those using the plugin.

1. The WordPress plugin has functionality built into it that pulls posts from other sites to trade with that match your either your site’s categories, or your page’s tags. Because of this it makes it really important to tag everything properly so that you can facilitate relevant link trades. Contextual links related to the content will always give you the most bang for the SEO.
2. When a link trade is accepted you may need to wait a while for the links to post. The reason for this is there is caching functionality that is only updated periodically through the day. The blog that you trade with may also having additional caching functionality. It would be wise to give 4-8 hours for a trade to complete. However, many blogs will post links within minutes.
3. If you want the Lavalinx plugin, do NOT sign up for an account through this website, just search for the Lavalinx plugin from within the Plugin section of your blog.
4. There are some SEO plugins that interfere with the plugins ability to post links. For example the default SEO tool in WPzoom prevents the links from posting.
5. Links that are posted on blog pages are DYNAMIC. This means that if you update your Receiving Page details, those link details will be updated on all the blog posts that contain your link.

I will update this post with other helpful tips as we move forward

Moving forward Lavalinx is going to only allow for API generated social bookmark exchanges. This means that all trades will be fulfilled via an API, the user will only have to make accept a trade and all bookmarks are generated automatically.

We now have a significant opportunity with Lavalinx that wasn’t available to us a couple years ago. Because of the advancements in the technology and functionality of WordPress (WP), we can now create a Lavalinx plugin that will allow a WP user to do all social and contextual link exchanges in the WP interface. We can utilize the WP’s UI, look-and-feel and styles to create a plugin that will function and look like every other WP tool.

We plan on growing the Lavalinx network dramatically by catering to WP. Here’s why:

1. There are about 50 million WP sites http://en.wordpress.com/stats/
2. Most if not all SEOs use WP
3. There is no social/link exchange plugin available for WP
4. Guestposts have been one of the fastest growing SEO methods in the last couple years. With Lavalinx we can accomplish the same links without the cost and man hours required to write an article and find publishers
5. As mentioned above, the plugin will allow a WP user to do everything in WP, it’ll be fully integrated
6. WP can provide Lavalinx with all the information needed regarding posts, tags, titles, descriptions etc. making signup and integration easier than ever
7. Every SEO knows that contextual, keyword-based links on a relevant page is the best link they can get