This review is based on actual use of the Linkvana system over a period of 60 days, which is certainly enough time (for SEO purposes) to give an accurate evaluation of the service. EVERY stitch of information given is based on actual results SOLELY from the Linkvana interface. The Goal: On January 20th of 2008 I came across Linkvana.com. Sounded almost too good to be true (unlimited, PR2-5, one-way links for an unlimited number of sites), but when I saw who was behind it (Dave Kelly), I decided to give it a shot. If you haven't heard of Dave, just Google him. Quite a remarkable guy! My initial goal was to get 16 brand new affiliate sites ranked for certain "product related" keywords, which generally have low competition, and so shouldn't take too much effort to rank for. GENERALLY speaking of course. Day 1: So I plugged my 16 sites into the system, none with a single link (or SERP ranking) and purchased 50 blog posts for each site through their outsourcing system. After only 9 days ALL of my main "money" pages were indexed in Google and Yahoo (not ranked well, of course, but showing up). MSN wasn't quite as cooperative (but who really gives a flying crap about them anyhow right)? I believe them to be slightly on the RETARDED side. Off to a good start so far. Wasn't really expecting more than that. In the past I've been able to get pages indexed just as quickly, but not with that kind of consistency. EVERY page! Pretty darn good! Day 19: The third week into it was when I REALLY saw some MASSIVE results. Sales began rolling in due to my boost in rankings. Four of my sites shot up to the first page in Google and the other 12 went from page 8 or worse all the way up to page 3 in both Google and Yahoo. Yahoo's algorithms seem to be a little more stubborn, but it definitely showed a HUGE improvement in their results never the less. **Note: At this point, it's appropriate to say that I've been an affiliate marketer for over six years now, and keyword research is something that I have a VERY good grasp on. My results would have been FAR less impressive otherwise. If you don't have a thorough understanding of keyword research, I'll give you a few EXTREMELY helpful tips a little later on, but you may want to hold off before taking the plunge into the Linkvana system. It's not cheap, and you can easily loose your shirt if you choose your keywords poorly. That being said, let's continue... Day 38: Just SIX WEEKS later each one of my sites had broken that all elusive second page barrier, with 9 now on the first page of Google! The PR of the blogs, and more importantly the spiderability of the pages my links landed on, were no-doubt boosting my pages. Not ALL of the pages that my actual links were placed on were PR2-5, but the homepages of the blogs were, which simply meant even the deeper pages were being crawled often and absorbing some of that link love. Day 60: At the 60 day mark, my sites have held their rankings and there is no sign whatsoever of a slap by Google for being tied into the Linkvana network. This was an initial fear since most of these link networks leave a footprint and can often be traced by the search engines. Doesn't seem to be the case here, although I guess it wouldn't be too difficult for Google to join the Linkvana community and outright BAN the blogs that show up for a "linkdomain:" search. But I think that's hokie anyway. Look at TLA (Text Link Ads) for example. They're outright ADVERTISING paid links. And their system definitely works! Conclusion: Linkvana isn't going to be for everybody as I've stated earlier. It's suited more for intermediate-advanced marketers who grasp the KW concept. But if you follow the advice below, I truly believe even a beginner can make it work. All-in-all, I've found Linkvana to be the closest thing to a set-it-and-forget-it system... which shows DEFINITE results! If you're looking for a sure-fire way to rank your site in Google and Yahoo, Linkvana will be an essential key to your success. So let me give you some helpful tips to get you off on the right foot. Ok guys, here are 2 must-have's for doing KW research: Keyword Research Tip #1Google "seo for firefox" and download the extension!!! this has been an invaluable tool for all my SEO efforts. Talk about a time saver! Basically, it allows you to get a birds-eye-view of your competitors. Say you want to rank your site for the keyword "build muscle." With "seo for firefox" turned on it will show all the normal results when you Google "build muscle," but with linking, PR, age, dmoz, yahoo directory, and other priceless info attached. This is an INSANE help! Why? If the first 10-20 results all have high page ranks and QUALITY links, you know you're in for a hell of a battle to the top for that KW. So what do you do? Simply chuck the keyword and choose another. It's all about how much competition a KW is getting that will determine how quickly you can rank. I hope you're getting this. "seo for firefox" is one tool I couldn't do without! So what are you waiting for! Keyword Research Tip #2Look for "product" keywords with low competition. The way I see it, if someone is already going to purchase a product, why not simply be there to give it to them? Right? I mean, it's a no-brainer really. And one that is overlooked, or unknown to many. "So how do I do this Adam?" Well, first thing's first. Find a niche, such as "golf." You'll never rank for that keyword so dive a little further. Let's say "golf balls." Ok, now we're getting somewhere. But let's take it even further. How bout' "titleist golf balls" or even better "blue titleist golf balls." I guarantee you can rank for those KW's with little effort. Sure, there's not as many people searching for those keywords, but the one's that are are highly targeted and more likely to make a purchase. Hopefully bells are going off inside your head at this point. Imagine having 50 sites that target these "long-tail" keywords, each one bringing in around $500/month!!! VERY feasible! Problem is most people spend all their time and money trying to rank for general, vague keywords like "Golf" or "real estate." Phat chance at that man! Trust me, I've been doing this for six years, if you follow, and I mean REALLY follow the two tips above, your investment in Linkvana will be mere pennies compared to the returns. And now that they offer a 5-Day Free Trial, it's a complete no-brainer! Now to the Nitty Gritty of What Makes Linkvana Tick... Hopefully by now we've established that the Linkvana system works and really does live up to everything it claims. So why is it so effective? First things first; the way the search engines determine a link's quality is based on several factors, of which I will list the top three: Factor #1- The QUALITY of the SITE in which the link is placed, as determined by authority status, age, page rank, relevancy issues, and numerous other factors yet to be released by Google. Each one of the thousands of blogs tied into the Linkvana network have been assigned a PR of 2-5 and have been around for a while (some as many as six years). In a nutshell, they're spidered frequently due to the high quality of the sites. The more authoritative sites you can get links from, the better. Factor #2- Keyword in the anchor text of your link. This is huge guys! For example: instead of saying "please visit my site at www.homeboysforlife.com," your keyword should be used as the link that takes them to your site like so: "If you like gangsta rap, you'll love my site!" "Gangsta rap" being your keyword. Stupid example I know, but gets the point across. This is how all of your links are created in Linkvana. You choose which keywords you want to rank for, and place them in the anchor text within your blog post. If this sounds complicated... it's not. Linkvana makes this step (and all steps for that matter) a breeze. A child could navigate through their platform. They also allow deep linking to inner pages so you can build that PR. :) Factor #3- A NATURAL linking pattern. This last one is more or less the kicker. It's not impossible to gain thousands upon thousands of links within a few short months using software of all sorts, but this is VERY unnatural, meaning you couldn't possibly be doing it without the help of some automated system. Google especially is now taking this into effect. Don't believe me? Just Google some of your favorite keywords and you'll see that some sites that rank very highly in the SERPS will have very few links. Often times they'll outrank a competitor with ten times as many links! No joke! Google will place you in their "sandbox" if you go the bulk link route. You won't remain there, but your site will have a negative stigma attached to it, in Google's eyes at least. Don't want to bite the hand that feeds you right? Linkvana sets a maximum daily limit of five posts that go out into their network. Most of the time it averages three posts/day. I know it's hard getting out of that "more is better" look on linking, but that's just not the case. I've actually used "dummy" sites to prove this because I myself had the mentality that the more links I had, the better my rankings would be. Couldn't have been further from the truth. It's all about quality these days. Conclusion: There's just too much that Linkvana does RIGHT to mention here. I do believe you'll find success with this system if you follow the KW tips from above. Like I said, I've been doing this for six years, and in my opinion, Linkvana shouldn't be your ONLY source for link building, but it should be one of your MAIN sources. Click the following link if you want to read more about Linkvana, or take part in their 5-Day Free Trial. But first... Linkvana Bonus If you do decide to give Linkvana a shot, purchase through the link above and I'll send you my 'Killer Link Building Resources' list that I've gathered over the past several years. I normally charge $500 for the list, but you'll get it absolutely free. And no, it's not some cheesy list that tells you to "Go out and get yo'self some social bookmarks dude. Yeah man, Squidoo and HubPages rock!" :D No, no, I won't do that to you. There are over a dozen places similar to Linkvana mentioned, which is why I usually charge for it. All you have to do is email your paypal purchase receipt to adamchase@linkvanareview.com and I'll get back with you, usually within a day. Thanks for taking the time to read my full review, and I hope to hear from you in the near future. Cheers! Once again, Here's the link for Linkvana's 5-Day Free Trial.