Previously only offering Manchester Airport car parking, MF Airport Parking have now expanded their range to the following airports:

• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Heathrow
• Liverpool
• Gatwick
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Stansted

Offering some of the cheapest airport parking around, there are some huge savings to be had. Take a look at the site for yourself:
http://www.mfairportparking.com/

We are currently looking for an exciting, easy-going individual to join their ever expanding team as a Search Marketer. An overall SEO background is required with strong experience in producing excellent, innovative, and successful link building strategies. Combining these skills with a social networking background gives us the ideal candidate.

The job role consists of handling a medium to large portfolio of clients and being responsible for their search marketing. Although link building is a large part of the role, we want somebody with a creative SEO view, and somebody who can find only the best possible links for each of our clients through as many different sources as possible. Social media marketing is a massive area of responsibility for this role and the successful candidate will have a proven track record within this area.

We are looking for quality here not quantity, and the successful candidate must be of a creative nature and not mind getting stuck in. Being comfortable and confident with all things in the social media arena is a must - (Blogging, Article Writing, Social Bookmarking & Social Network sites etc.)

The successful candidate will be given a free role in this area and will be targeted specifically on the amount of quality traffic and number of quality links they bring to our client websites.
Competitive salary dependant on experience.

If you wish to apply for this position, please send your CV along with covering letter to mark@webvitality.co.uk.

We're proud to present our latest site, a new blog / fansite all about the current X-Factor star, Danyl Johnson. We were approached by fan of Danyl's regarding setting up a blog on which he could then post frequent news and updates. We chose Blogger as the platform from which to run the site off, and designed a custom skin to run over the top - giving the site a real quality feel.

Boasting, news, videos, information and comments, the site is quickly gaining popularity, particularly with this current series of X-Factor receiving large viewing figures.

To take a look at the site, follow the link below:
http://www.danylajohnson.com/

OK what a day today has been. It has made me realise just how much bigger SEO in the industry actually is and how much more I can learn to help improve my skills.

People say everyday is a school day and nothing is more true. I though I was already pretty good at what I do and my results speak for themselves. However after today I know I can be so much more and starting from Wednesday I will be so watch this space.

There are over 200 people attending the course which is great by the way and makes a change to sit in a room with people who actually know what SEO is.

I fully intend to edit my post with lots more detail and a few pictures I have taken but I just havnt got the time right know as have already had a full day out of work so got a million and one things to catch up on like emails, phoning my wife and not to mention getting changed to go and have a few beers with lots of people who know what SEO is.

One more thing I would like to point out that is pretty much off topic is how good is the London underground system? Peopl ecan ride all accross London all day in no time at all. The best thing about it is how everybody conforms. Just like robots or zombies people just seem to jump on and off like they are being controlled. Standing still on escalators on the right and leave people to run up them on the left. Amazing.

No matter what the costs it should be implemented accross the whole of the UK.

OK off to phonemy wife now, get changed and then off to the pub. In that order

Sat in the Travelodge next to Euston station -  X Factor about to start and thought I would throw up a quick blog post to let everybody know that I can't wait for tomorrow, as it should be a really in-depth seminar.

Also wanted to point out that I have cheated the extortionate costs of the Travelodge Wi-Fi as I have plugged my iPhone in and am now getting great service levels. Hats off to the iPhone!

Off to watch X-Factor now. Come on Danyl.

Short post to keep everybody up-to-date on whats going on within Web Vitality this coming week. I will be out of the office Monday and Tuesday attending the SEOmoz London training seminar.

I'm really excited about the event, it should be a good conference jam-packed with lots of useful tips and tricks to help improve my knowledge, as well as a chance to network with other SEO's from around the country and the world.

I will be making full use of Twitter during these two days so make sure you follow me MF_WebVitality, and keep an eye out for some interesting blog posts whilst I'm there.

In this post I would like to offer my two penneth as to the use of microsites when trying to gain higher rankings.

My understanding of a microsite would be a one or more page website that is related to the theme of your main website, which is put together for the sole purpose of trying to obtain a relative link to your main website.

Sounds great doesn’t it and I’m sure it served as a good tool in the past. Below are the reasons why I believe this is no longer the case and why I don’t feel you should waste your time building them when you could be generating natural quality links.

Ok let’s say you put together three microsites all in a similar theme to your main website. The microsites themselves will have no PR value as they are new and nobody is linking to them.

The first thing you would then do would be to link each microsite to each other. Ok so now each microsite has at least two links from other related sites. Then you would place a link from each of the microsites to your main website and voila you now have three related links to your site.

Not the case. Let me break this down. First of all unless you are really clever you probably purchase all three new domain names with the same credit card and used the same domain registration details when registering. Google is registered as a domain registrar not to sell domains but so it can have access to all domain registration details. Why would it want this info?? Google has found you out already at this stage.

Next you have probably also purchased the three domain names from the same registrar so all will be in the same IP range. Again Google will see this and has found you out yet again.

Thirdly, you have linked each of the three sites up and have no other links into them. This shows again that the three sites are related so you have been found out a third time. There is no point in obtaining links from other sources for these sites as if you were going to spend your time doing this you might as well do it for your main site.

The point of this post is that there is really no point in embarking down the microsite route in a bid to increase rankings because Google is on the ball with such tactics and the three reasons above are only a few reasons that highlight this.

It all boils down to the fact that search is becoming more intelligent everyday and no matter how hard you try, for long term gains there is no substitute for good hard work.

Here is the next in my series on link building. I don’t want to go to mad in this post as I am aware that my previous posts were a bit text heavy. I promise I am going to keep this post fairly simple, short and to the point.

Ok, social bookmarking and networking what’s all the fuss about?

With the introduction of Web 2.0, the social aspect of the web has exploded. Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Digg have taken hold of the internet world and people now flock to them in their millions.

So much so you would be absolutely stupid not to take advantage of this market. Most social bookmarking and networking sites immediately "No-Follow" any links on their sites, so you may be wondering what benefit to your SEO campaign you can achieve by spending the time adding a link on one of these sites. It’s quite simple, the main aim of social networking is to do just that, network and interact with like minded people.

The beauty of social networking is that you are opening yourself up to a highly targeted audience. There are many like minded people out there, so if you take the time to explore the networking sites you will find fan pages in your niche area. By taking part in conversations, posting status updates, posting articles etc on these pages, people will begin to get to know and trust you.

Why is this important I hear you scream? The more you take part, the more confidence and trust you will gain from the other users. As they are all like minded to you and are also participating on a fan page in your niche, they are more likely to click on your links....Ah ha the penny has dropped.

So, going back to my original question i.e. how can social bookmarking and networking benefit my SEO? Well it’s not in terms of higher rankings, but in more click throughs to your website, which ultimately is what we all aim for.

It doesn’t end there with social bookmarking though. There is also a plus side in building quality followed links. By participating you will be conversing with other people who may have websites that are directly related to yours. By making friends with them they will be more open to adding a link on their sites to yours. Bingo.

To summarise, social networking is the way forward. The golden rule is to genuinely take part and not use it as a portal solely to gain links. By taking part properly you will reap better rewards and build valuable relationships for current and future projects.

I’ve been looking into this a great deal since starting out in SEO, and a lot of the reports, articles and blog posts that are out there give some really good scientific answers as to what it is, but they don’t really give the beginner an easy answer. When I started out I read lots of lots of articles but didn’t really understand them. What I hope to do in this simple and short post is give my take on KEI and how best to select your keywords.

Keyword Effective Index (KEI) what is it?

In laymen’s terms, the KEI of a keyword or search term is the equation that you end up with that will tell you how easy a particular keyword is to rank for. What this is supposed to do is highlight quite easily which search terms to target in order to drive traffic to your site. Sounds great doesn’t it! If only it were that simple...

How to Calculate (KEI)

There are different variations out there about how to calculate KEI effectively, but I use and suggest the below:

KEI = (volume of searches per month)^2/(total number of competitors)

I said at the beginning of this article I would make this as simple as possible, so I will now attempt to explain how the above calculation works in terms of a real example (better than Derren Brown eh???)

Cheap bathroom Suites (9900)^2/17700000 = 5.54

So, the KEI of the search term Cheap Bathroom Suites is 5.54. From experience, to find an ideal search term to target that will get results quickly (and this is where I am making it simple for everybody), I would be looking for a KEI of between 20 and 150, so this search may not be the best to target initially!

Sorry to get a little complicated now, but there are reports out there which say KEI is calculated using exact matching search technology. Let’s use our example again of Cheap Bathroom Suites. If we search Google by simply typing in our search term (broad match) we get 17,700,000 competing sites, making our search term not ideal to target initially. If we use exact matching searching (placing speech marks around our search term before we search) we get 50,400 competing sites. Let’s run our equation again:

Cheap bathroom Suites (9900)^2/50400 = 1944

What a different result we get! Generally the consensus is the higher the KEI, the easier the keyword will be to target, and at 1944 we should be able to hit that in day one.

So what do we believe then? Do we listen to the articles that say that KEI is calculated using exact match search, or by broad match as in my first example? I tend to lean towards the first theory, as if nothing else, the first option will give you the worst case scenario allowing you to make a much more realistic decision.

Please bear all of the above in mind when looking into KEI, and there are thousands of calculators out there that will no doubt use a mixture of equations and searches (i.e. Broad and exact match). For this reason alone I always use my own equation, so I am happy that I am getting the results I expect to see.

As with everything in SEO do not rely totally on the KEI value when selecting Keywords use this only as a guide...Happy researching

The next topic is reciprocal linking. Generating reciprocal links is the most common and probably the easiest form of link building there is. There is a lot of debate out there as to how effective reciprocal linking is, but my opinion is that done properly it can be really beneficial.

First of all, you need to ensure you have done your research properly and identified the sites that you want a link from. Don’t set your sites to low here as one link from a great site can benefit you much more than 10 links from just any old site.

Ok so you now have your list so how do you get the links? Its common practise when reciprocal link building to send an email to the webmaster of your targeted site explaining how good your website is and how important it is to swap links blah blah blah blah. If you are anything like me the first thing you do when you get this type of email is slam it in the recycle bin. Fortunately this method is dying out and SEOs have to become more cunning.

HOW TO OBTAIN RECIPROCAL LINKS

First of all be prepared to put in the time. If you have chosen your target sites well your time and efforts will be rewarded. I know I keep banging on about content but first on your checklist needs to be the quality of the content you want to get links for. Rubbish content will result in rubbish links and none of the big boys will touch you.

Stay away from link farms and link exchange sites. I will cover these types of sites in more detail in another post but for now take my word for it and steer clear. Join some social network sites related to the niche you are working in and start to participate frequently. This may sound like a nightmare but by participating UN selfishly you will begin to build up a nice contact list of people related to your niche area that once you have built up confidence in can approach them for a link exchange. People are more likely to link to you if they feel like they know you.

Have a really good think about everybody you know and what jobs they do. You never know you could just remember that professor that is really high up in a university who is really good friends with the University web master. You get where I am coming from here.

Get a blog and start blogging. It’s more difficult to offer reciprocal links from within your website so a blog is a great way to build up top quality content that you can then use to link out to people in return for a link in. Blogs are especially great because there are no limits as to what you can blog about. The more you blog the bigger the buzz will become around your blog attracting more subscribers. The beauty of this is that if somebody has taken the time to subscribe to your ramblings they are obviously interested in your subject so yet another good candidate for a link exchange.

This list can go on and on and I couldn’t possibly give all my secrets away here but the main point I am trying to make is that you need to do your research and be prepared to put the time and effort in to make reciprocal link building more effective. If you just trawl the net obtaining reciprocal links from any old site, although you will see some short term benefits, as Google continues to improve its search algorithm you will waste your time long term.

After months of hard graft, we're proud to present our new and upated website. We hope you like it!

Our old site had served us well for just over 2 years, but it was in desperate need of a revamp. However, we had a lot of praise on the simplistic aesthetics of the last site that we didn't change the look too drastically.

We left the subtle white and blue colouring, and also kept the basic structure and feel. The site was widened however, and we created a larger "page feature" area to give each page a stronger focus and uniqueness. Viewing the old site on cheaper monitors also tended to lighten the blues too much, so we made them slightly darker. Some tighter detailing, larger graphics and font size, and voila.

So, nothing too drastic, but the new site benefits tremendously from our revamp. We haven't stopped there too - we'll shortly be introducing some nifty flash graphics to give the site some "oomph", and leave a fantastic first impression. Nothing too heavy of course - in keeping with our style the graphics and load times will be slick and stylish, yet optimised and fast to load.

We'll be keeping this blog updated as often as can from now on, so you can expect updates on our latest sites, new customers, techy news and general thoughts. Also, please give a warm welcome to our newest member of the team - Dominic Marsat, who has joined us in the position of Senior Developer.

Dominic boasts tremendous experience in the industry, and we are looking forward to seeing his influence over our future site developments. Welcome to the company Dom! Being an experienced blogger himself, no doubt you'll all soon become familiar with some posts of his own.

Cheers,

Chris.

The quest for links is ever ongoing and everybody strives for the holy grail of links - the one way link. Dependant on the PageRank of the site linking to you, it's always best to receive a one way link rather than to reciprocate, although I'll talk about that in another post.

This may sound daft but a one way link is as simple as site "A" linking to your website and you not linking back (sorry I had to explain that.) Why is this good I hear you say? The answer is because site "A" is obviously giving you a selfless thumbs up, an extra vote if you like.

There are many reasons why site "A" would do this but we are hoping that they have done it because they really do feel that your site is worthy of sending traffic. The key thing here is great content. As hard as it is to believe if you produce great fresh and original content, people will link to you naturally, so bear this in mind when creating any new site or when taking a fresh look at your current site.

Unless you provide top quality content on your website I'm afraid there is no chance of people giving you one way links. The moral of this post in obtaining one way links is produce great original content

"CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT IS KING"

Other ways to obtain one way links include social bookmarking, article marketing, forum participation, link baiting, and blog posting all of which will be covered in other post.

Ok, our new site has finally gone live so I had better start blogging. I need to come up with something good so Chris doesn't shout at me. I'm going to talk about all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff, but to begin with I want to talk about link building.

Link Building is without a doubt one of the most important factors when optimising any website and is a subject I can talk for hours on end. Instead of boring everybody with one huge post I will break it up over the coming weeks. Now as I'm sure you will start to see I tend to go off subject when I blog so please bear with me I will get there in the end.

There are lots of blog posts out there on the subject and lots of different opinions on how to obtain top quality links. All I can do is offer my spin on the subject. So where do I begin?

WHY LINK BUILD?
Link building is important as each link that points to your site is like a thumbs up from the other site saying your site is a good resource. Basically the more thumbs up you get the higher your website will rank. Sounds simple doesnt it?

Back in the day before search evolved into the clever little beast it is today, it really was as simple as that, and those black hatters out there went away and obtained links from everywhere under the sun in a bid to obtain high rankings for their own sites and clients sites. They didn't care where the links came from and it became a big battle as to who could obtain the most links. This couldn't continue so Google introduced the PageRank Algorithm which made link building more of a skill, and gave more weight to links that were actually relevant to the websites they were pointing to.

Although some people still argue that quantity still out weighs quality, Google still claims that it doesn't so I will keep my post in line with Googles thoughts and save the other argument for a later post. Getting back to it, it's important to obtain relevant links to your website in order to gain higher page rank which will in turn raise your rankings. This is why it's important to link build, as without lots of top quality and relevant links pointing to your website, you may as well give up (unless your website is extremly niche that is, and by extremely niche im talking about a website that is about pink and gold spotty dogs with only one leg, for example).

WHAT ARE MY LINKING OPTIONS?
There are many differnt types of links out there and I have listed a few of them below. I will go into details on all of them in future posts:

• One Way Links - Links that point to you but you dont link back
• Reciprocal Links - Links whereby somebody links to you and you link back to them
• Social Bookmarking Links - Links obtained through social media
• Article/Press Release - One way links obtained through articles and press releases
• Link Baiting - Links obtained through offering something useful to the end user

Link Building is without doubt a skill that any SEO must be good at, as it's extremely difficult. It requires a lot of patience and a lot of relationship skills. It isn't something that is going to go away so check back here for future posts on the various types of links, as listed above.