Understanding the differences between Bing and Google SEO is crucial for businesses and marketers who want to optimize their websites and increase their visibility in search results.
‘Google’ is the first name that comes to mind when we hear the term “search engine”. This is not even surprising considering the fact that Google shares 92.58% of the global search engine market, leaving others with minimal shares. However, people still consider trying other options like Bing, Yahoo, etc. The former has 3.03%, and the latter has 1.24% of the market shares.
Despite this massive difference in Bing vs Google market share, Google and Bing share numerous similar ranking algorithms, although there are significant differences. You will be surprised to know a fact. Bing plays a vital role in promoting profitable online marketing. Thus, it boosts your company’s sales. If you think you don’t need to learn about the Bing algorithm and its SEO strategies, then you would be wrong. So let’s not shut doors on even a single opportunity available!
Why is Bing SEO Important?
Did you know that even after having a low market share in searches, Bing’s total searches add up to 900 million daily? That’s huge, right? It may be nothing compared to Google. At least, we have the opportunity to target these users, too and generate more leads. So, it’s worth learning and mastering Bing’s algorithms and signals.
Bing is a popular search engine from the American technology corporation Microsoft. It was previously known by the names of Live Search, MSN Search, and Windows Live Search. It is currently one of the main competitors of Google. Considering Bing while planning your SEO strategies is worth it. Especially when you get easy-to-access Bing SEO tools, lower competition. Moreover, it has similar practices as Google SEO.
As a business owner, you should not limit your possibilities of expanding your market. Therefore, it’s always better to understand how digital marketing and SEO algorithms work. Besides, Bing SEO is unique; for example, many Bing searches come from the US. It means your local Bing ads would be less expensive than Google.
About 87% of Bing users are comfortable with Internet Explorer. It is the default search engine preloaded on Windows devices. In other words, less tech-savvy users use Bing daily.
Hence, this Microsoft search engine has an entirely different target audience and demographic. You can’t afford to lose this unique market segment, can you?
How Is Bing SEO Different from Google SEO?
While there are similarities between the two, there are some key differences as well. Following is a brief Bing SEO vs Google SEO comparison based on certain major parameters.
● Lower Competition: There’s an obvious reason for this. Bing would naturally have less competition. It is because a majority of the visitors are flocking to Google. Not all brands would be optimizing their websites here. With less competition, you will get to see a higher ROI.
● Cost-Effective: Are you doing PPC advertising? We know what it feels like to have the constant pressure of generating leads within minimum spends. It is more so with Google Ads. But the good news is that Bing offers affordable PPC rates, making it a great choice for advertisers. So, now you have lower CPC (Cost per click) and higher conversions due to less competition.
● Bing Places for Business: Bing Places for Business is a great tool for businesses. Especially, those having brick-and-mortar stores, to target the local market. Moreover, it is similar to Google My Business. You can list your local business here for free. You can do so by adding business details. This can be like store address, contact info, website link, opening hours, and more. Unlike Google My Business, however, you can reach local searchers more easily. This way you can run your local search campaigns more smoothly.
● Offers More Transparency: Bing is more transparent and open about its algorithms and requirements to rank higher. Bing delivers SEO reports to SEO professionals to help them assess their website’s health in real-time.
● Bing Webmaster Tools: Like Google Analytics, Bing Webmaster Tools has immense power. It can provide multiple testing opportunities and diagnostics. Moreover, it can provide tracking index performance, site security monitoring, accessing keywords research, etc.
What does Bing Check that Google Doesn’t when it comes to SEO?
Our discussion of Bing vs Google SEO remains incomplete if we don’t mention the areas Bing has the upper hand compared to Google. Let’s dive in!
Backlinks
In the comparison of Bing SEO vs Google SEO, both search engines value quality backlinks. Visitors must find your website credible and its information relevant and useful. But Bing’s link quality analysis algorithms are a bit different. It works in small quantities while preferring backlinks from high-quality sites.
Keywords
Bing works best when you use more straightforward keywords. Those keywords must match the exact search terms a user is searching for. Try not to make your keywords complicated, and abstain from over-optimizing. Bing Webmaster Tools would help you immensely with keyword research and optimization tasks. Google SEO, on the other hand, focuses more on targeted keywords rather than exact matches. As a result, it simplifies the job of Bing advertisers.
Social Signals
Bing has always been transparent. It is clear about the importance of social signals. For instance, likes, shares, audience engagement, and overall social visibility. If you want to be in the good books of Bing, make sure you are optimizing your social media platforms. You can also use Bing’s API to keep track of the latest social media trends.
Multimedia
Bing has the power to crawl your pages accurately. It can understand different multimedia content, including images, audio, and video. Always keep the visual impact and visual search parameters in mind. This will help you in your Bing SEO strategies! Make sure to use high-quality and optimized images, to reduce page load speeds.
Technical SEO Differences
So, we are aware of the above most essential Bing SEO guidelines and algorithms. You need to take care of minor SEO differences, too, while comparing Bing vs Google SEO. Unlike Google, which usually crawls and indexes every web page, Bing focuses more on infrequent crawlings of your site’s pages. It also prefers indexing the key pages of your website.
Thankfully, you can use Crawl Control and Bing Webmaster Tools to tell Bing to increase its crawl rate. Alternatively, you can also submit your sitemap on Webmaster Tools. Furthermore, Bing lets users submit the site URLs to be crawled in bulk, which Google doesn’t allow. In short, Bing likes to help users rank and do more business.
CTR
Bing Ads focuses on generating higher engagement with sites and landing pages. Besides, Bing also provides granular targeting by working at the ad group level. Most importantly, the CPC (Cost-Per-Click) and CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition) of Bing Shopping Ads are 30% and 40% lower than Google’s, respectively.
Final Words
Technology is fast-changing, and we hardly know what will happen in the next few years. It’s a wise decision for businesses to learn the current trends and stay updated on every nook and corner of the market, especially the online marketplace. While Google has immense possibilities for growth, we should not neglect the power of Bing too, as it can bring in a few more potential customers! So, in the battle of Bing vs Google, both can be the winner!
FAQ
Q. 1. Why do I rank well on Bing but not Google?
This is due to the major differences in Bing vs Google demographics. Google is stricter regarding letting users rank higher, primarily because of its high competition. Therefore, it focuses on filtering out the most credible websites with regular activities like content updates and changes, and the ones focusing on high-quality targeted content with relevant and trustworthy information.
On the other hand, Bing has much less competition due to greater traffic on Google. Naturally, brands are focusing more on Google SEO. Therefore, with lower competition, Bing wants to help its users rank higher with its transparent guidelines and algorithms.
Q. 2. How do I increase SEO on Bing?
If you are wondering “how to rank on Bing”, here are some quick tips for you –
● Focus on exact keyword matches and save time in researching targeted keywords.
● Write high-quality content, just like you do with Google SEO (both search engines value quality).
● Focus on increasing social media engagement by planning good social marketing strategies.
● Boost your SEO with Bing Webmaster Tools and Bing APIs.
● List your business on Bing Places and target your local market.
And most importantly, you need to focus on delivering high user experiences through optimized multimedia content and easy-to-navigate website designs.
