When it comes to search engine optimization, many bloggers and website owners invest all of their time, effort, and money into pleasing Google. In fact, most webmasters pay little-to-no attention to other search engines – like Bing. However, not only is Bing the second largest search engine in the world, its algorithm also powers Yahoo – which still has a major online presence. Therefore, if your SEO strategy only focuses on high Google search rankings, then you will likely miss out on reaching all of your target audience. Since search engines use different algorithms to determine website rankings, here are some tips to optimize your site to achieve higher Bing search rankings.
1. Register Your Business on Bing Places
You might have heard of Google’s business directory, known as Google My Business. Well, Bing has its only its own business directory called Bing Places. Both have the same goal: provide users with the best and most useful local search results. Therefore, you can improve your site’s local SEO on Bing by claiming your business and creating a listing on Bing Places. Also, make sure that your company’s address is prominently displayed on your website.
2. Use Bing Webmaster Tools URL Indexing
You can also improve your website’s SEO on Bing by ensuring that the search engine indexes your entire site so that it will discover all of your content. You can do that by submitting an XML sitemap using your Bing Webmaster Tools account. You can access your webmaster tools by signing into your Bing Business Account. Then, you will just follow the instructions to verify ownership of your website and submit an XML sitemap.
3. Focus on Content and Keywords
When it comes to ranking well on Bing, you should focus more on on-page SEO – especially your site’s content and keywords – rather than off-page SEO. For example, Bing’s search engine algorithm places greater value on content that includes exact match keywords that your audience uses in their search queries. Make sure that you use your exact match target keywords in page titles, headings and meta descriptions as well. Therefore, you will want to conduct a lot of in-depth keyword research to determine which keywords and phrases that your audience is using in their search queries.
4. Be Active on Social Media
Finally, according to Bing’s webmaster guidelines, the search engine’s ranking algorithm focuses heavily on social signals. Social signals are things like when users like, comment, and share your content on social media platforms. Therefore, your brand’s social media presence – especially on popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter – matters a lot more to Bing than it does to Google.
In short, you can’t assume that ranking well on Google means that you will automatically rank well on Bing. In addition to differences in their ranking algorithms, Bing might not even know that your blog or website exists. Therefore, make sure that you claim your business on Bing Places, as well as submit your XML sitemap via your Bing Webmaster Tools account. That way the search engine will be able to discover and index all of your website’s content. Speaking of content, should use exact match keywords naturally throughout your text – especially in page titles and headings.
Lastly, since Google’s algorithm doesn’t put a lot of emphases on search signals, you might (mistakenly) assume that your social media presence has no bearing on your site’s SEO. However, Bing does take your social signals into account when determining your site’s rankings.
