A lot of SEOs were hurt by Google’s Penguin update for having too many keyword-targeted backlinks in their link portfolio.

Because Lavalinx allows users to dynamically update all of their backlinks, users were easily able to reset different ratios on backlinks. For example if I had 80% of my backlinks that were keyword-targeted, I could easily update the ratio of keyword-targeted links to be less than 40%.

With search engines changing their algorithms it’s nice to know that your backlinks in the Lavalinx network can easily be updated.

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.

1. Does the plugin create link pages and/or directories in my blog?
The Lavalinx plugin does NOT create link pages or directories. It uses your current posts as potential Sending Pages (Pages that links can be placed on).

2. What is a Receiving Page?
A Receiving Page is a page or post that links will be pointed to. It receives links.

3. What can I do to get the most benefit from my Receiving Page?
When creating your backlink make it a contextual link with your targeted keywords as the anchor text. For example if your targeted keyword is pet care you would make your link something like this: Find out how proper pet care is essential to your pet’s health. Also don’t forget to properly tag your Receiving Page. The Lavalinx plugin uses your tags to find other relevant posts, so that you can make a relevant link exchange.

4. Can I opt out my posts from being Sending Pages?
Yes, just open up the post for editing in WordPress and click on the “Hide from lavalinx” box, usually at the bottom of the right column.

5. What happens to my link exchanges if I delete or deactivate the plugin?
All link exchanges will be removed from posts on your site and the sites that you have traded with. However, all link exchanges will be saved in Lavalinx’ database in case you reactivate the plugin.

6. How long does it take for a link to be posted?
When  trade is accepted links are automatically posted on the blogs involved in the trade. The API only communicates every 10 minutes or so with plugin, so links may take up to 10-15 minutes for posting. Also, some sites may have caching functionality that will take links even longer to post.

7. What do I do if I never see my link posted on the trader’s site?
Wait up to 24 hours because some sites may use caching functionality. If you don’t see your link up after that, delete the link trade.

8. Can I trade with a site that I have previously deleted a link trade?
Yes.

9. Where are the links posted in the blog post?
Links are placed just above the comments area of a post.

10. How does Lavalinx find relevant posts for trading?
Lavalinx looks at the categories and tags of Receiving Pages and matches them up with Sending Pages on other sites with the same categories and tags.

11. Can I manage multiple blogs with the Lavalinx plugin?
The Lavalinx plugin is made to work with one blog at a time. However, you can manage multiple sites with a Lavalinx account.

12. How many sites are in the Lavalinx network?
We’ve only just recently released this plugin, so the network currently has hundreds of sites. The network is growing fast, however, because SEOs are finding that they can get guestpost quality links without having to write guestposts.

13. What happens if I edit my backlink information on a Receiving Page and the same Receiving Page is used in a number of trades?
The contextual backlink information will be automatically updated on all blog posts that have a backlink to you.

14. Can I make multiple trades with the same site?
No. Once you’ve made a trade with a site all posts from that site will no longer show up for trades. If for some reason you want to move your link to a different page, just delete the link trade and submit it again with new link details.

15. Does Lavalinx put any links on my site linking back to Lavalinx?
No. When using Lavalinx there are no links or footprints added to your blog that reference Lavalinx. You can link to us if you like our service though.

I will try to update this list with new questions as they come in. Leave a comment if you have specific questions.

Now that you’ve sent a social trade, this tutorial will take you through completing it.

Below, the system indicates that there is one pending social link. Click on “Add Social Links”.

That will bring you to the review page. From here, you can see the date the trade was created, the site it is from and its details, and who created the trade. To begin, click “Add Bookmarks”.

The bookmarking process is the same for each social site – simply bookmark the link, then use our link checker to ensure that it was done properly, and complete the trade. For this example, we will bookmark on Digg.

Above the bookmarking window, LavaLinx gives you all the details you need to add the link – the URL, title and description of the page you are bookmarking. This page had already been inserted into Digg, so we simply have to click “Digg”.

Now we hit the “Check Bookmark” button in the bottom right corner.

Our system will let you know if it has been added properly. If there was an error, you will see a warning with some troubleshooting tips on how to correct it. Here it says the bookmark was added properly, so we’ll move on to the next step.

We have our link bookmarked and we are ready to hit Complete Trade.

Now, if you were to return to the admin page, you would see it a completed social trade.

Now that you have your accounts set up, you are ready to start trading social bookmarks with other LavaLinx users. First, login to your LavaLinx account.

From here you can click “Manage” on a particular site, or you can go straight to the “Create Social Trade” button in the bottom corner of the screen.

This will list out all pages that are available to trade social bookmarks with, starting with those most recently added. It also lists the “Type” of trade.

The “Bookmarks Remaining” is the number of remaining times you may bookmark that particular page. The “Social Accounts” lists the number of social accounts that site has available to bookmark your site.

Select the page you would like to bookmark and hit “Social Trade” on the right column.

Social bookmarks are different than link trades. With link trades, relevancy is key, but with social bookmarks, you will want to use variety. This will show the social sites that you are interested in a multitude of topics, which will help your social account appear more natural.

The next screen lets you select which page of yours that you’d like them to bookmark.

Click on the page you prefer and hit “Next”.

Now you are able to choose the page of theirs that you will bookmark. Here there is one, so select it and hit next.

Then, select the user you would like to bookmark your page. We have this feature for sites that have multiple users on one account.

On step four, you get to choose which social sites you and the other webmaster will bookmark these pages on.

LavaLinx has a counter on this section that ensures it is an even and fair trade. If you select an uneven number, our system will remind you that you must select an equal number of sites from each side.

When you’ve selected the social accounts you want, click next and you will be taken to the review screen. This is where you will look over the trade for any errors. Hit back if you need to fix anything, or if you’re finished click “Submit”.

You are now finished with creating a social trade, and it has been sent to the other webmaster for review.