by Charles Bobbitt

Created on: September 07, 2008   Last Updated: April 04, 2012

If you want to quickly improve your Helium rankings, the Leapfrog is one of the best tools available. A Leapfrog gives you the opportunity to replace a poor article with a much improved one. To ensure a successful Leapfrog, though it is vital to first familiarize yourself with the Leapfrog process.

Below are answers to six common questions about how and when to use a Leapfrog.

1. What exactly is a Leapfrog, and how does it work?

A Leapfrog is an opportunity to edit an article you have previously published on Helium. Since Helium does not allow articles to be deleted, a Leapfrog is the best opportunity to recover from an under performing article.

To Leapfrog an article, you simply click the "Leapfrog" link under the article options. You will then be given the chance to edit your article. Once you submit the edited article, the two versions will be displayed as "Leapfrog pending."

Three people will rate the two versions of the article, and if two of the three rate the new version higher, it will replace the old version. If not, the old version will remain in place. If the new version is accepted, it will begin at the rank of the old version if in the top 50%. Otherwise it will be placed at a rank of 50%. The acceptance of a Leapfrog should also trigger a new round of ratings for the article.

2. Can I run out of Leapfrog opportunities?

The answer is both yes and no. The Leapfrog is a renewable resource, and you will never permanently run out of leapfrogs. At any one time, however, only 20% of your articles can be in a leapfrog status (leapfrog pending). Therefore, you may temporarily have no leapfrogs available.

For example, suppose you have 20 articles published. You will also have four Leapfrogs to use. If, however, you currently have two articles with Leapfrogs pending, only two Leapfrogs are available for the remaining articles. After a pending Leapfrog has been accepted or rejected, though, that Leapfrog will again become available for use.

It is important to note that while an article can be Leapfrogged multiple times, it can only be Leapfrogged once a week. If a Leapfrogged article is rejected (or even if it is accepted), that article cannot be Leapfrogged again for seven days.

3. When should I Leapfrog a Helium article?

First, when not to use a Leapfrog: For typos, minor punctuation mistakes, and other small changes, Helium provides an alternate correction service. E-mail content@helium.com with the subject "typo fix" and a clear description of the location

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