Have you ever wondered why you rank highly on Google (e.g., Page 1) but poorly on other search engines, such as Bing? It can be perplexing. You’ve made an investment in SEO. Shouldn’t optimizing for one search engine also work for all? No, not always.
If you’re not looking on Google, you’re probably utilising a search experience powered in part by Bing. This excludes voice search (both Alexa and Cortana utilise Bing) and the fact that Bing is embedded into the majority of Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office and the Xbox. The good news is that if you’ve previously invested in Google SEO, you’ll be able to see meaningful effects on other search engines as well. This is due to the fact that Bing and Google employ many of the same ranking signals.
Despite Google’s dominance in the SEO business, Microsoft platforms account for a sizable amount of voice searches and non-Google queries. Both platforms assess SEO quality based on indexed crawl rates, keyword optimizations, backlinks, multimedia content, and local ranking, but they do it in different ways. Moreover, each system assesses distinct verticals that the other does not. Link building for Bing is not the same as link building for Google. To get the most out of your SEO efforts, develop a single approach that allows you to optimise for both search engines.
Good SEO is more than just optimising for one search engine. Google is the most popular search engine on the planet. Their algorithm tweaks have repeatedly changed search and SEO. As a result, some SEO specialists now entirely reject any search engine that doesn’t start with “G” and finish with “Google”. That is an issue. While Google controls 91.98% of the global market, StatCounter estimates that more than a third of your clients in the United States are searching for you on platforms other than Google. If you solely optimise for Google, you’re missing out on a sizable portion of the market.
Link building for Bing is not the same as link building for Google. There are a few key distinctions between Google and Bing. Google and Bing have different standards regarding metadata, namely meta keywords. The meta keywords, tags, and descriptions that appear in your content’s HTML code assist search engines in determining the type of material. These systems vary in the sorts of material they prioritise for search engine optimization. Bing SEO optimizes several types of material such as audio, video, and text-based content. Google, on the other hand, cannot crawl videos or optimise a website solely on articles or text-based material.
Fortunately, optimising your content for search engines other than Google does not need to start from scratch. SEO strategies function the same way on both platforms. As a result, you may continue to concentrate on content marketing and link building. However, as you may have suspected, there are a few important distinctions between Bing and Google. These variances may cause inconsistencies in your rankings.
Quality & Quantity
Backlinks are seen similarly by Google and Microsoft’s SEO algorithms: a few high-quality links are significantly more beneficial than lots of low-quality connections. Backlinks are valued differently by Google and Bing in terms of quality versus quantity. Google considers PageRank to be one of its primary ranking signals. In recent years, there has been a decline in the association between link count and Google ranks. Some high-ranking sites have fewer inbound links but more authoritative inbound links. This indicates that Google values a few high-quality connections with higher PageRank immeasurably than hundreds of links from low-quality sites. Bing favours high-quality links as well, but it prioritises link quantity. Links to your site assist Bing in discovering new pages on your site. It is viewed as a popularity indicator. The backlink to your article indicates to Bing that they believe in your material. Although it prefers a few high-quality links over many low-quality connections, you must be careful to add adequate links. If your material isn’t supported by a sufficient number of high-quality links, Bing will remove it from their index. Bing, on the other hand, does not penalise sites that purchase sponsored links.
Keyword Optimisation
When it comes to keyword optimization, Google is significantly more accommodating. Google’s Hummingbird algorithm looks for sites based on subject material rather than exact keyword matches. Furthermore, rather than merely sticking to specific searches, it allows for synonyms and related search results.
Bing, on the other hand, records specific keyword matches. Using synonyms and comparable phrases alone will not send you to the top of Bing’s SEO results. To succeed, you’ll need to create content around simple SEO keywords. Just follow Bing’s instructions to prevent over-optimizing your Bing content. Excessive SEO might raise red flags and force Bing’s algorithm to delist your site.
Anchor Text Diversity
When opposed to Google, there is a clear variation in Bing’s attitude towards terms in anchor text. Since Google’s Penguin update in 2012, sites with excessive exact-match anchor text have been penalised. Compare that to Bing’s recommendations, which push you to optimise your anchors. Plan carefully which real words will be connected — whenever feasible, use relevant keywords. Over-optimizing your links for Bing is theoretically conceivable, but most link-building services wouldn’t encourage it. Your Google ranking will almost probably drop as a result of Penguin penalizing you for over-optimizing your anchor. Instead, use exact-match anchor text with branded, naked link, partial match, long tail, generic, and other forms of anchor text with caution. Don’t be concerned about optimizing your Google content’s meta keyword tags. The Google algorithm does not include meta keyword tags in its final ranking, rendering them useless. Bing is in the same boat.
Leverage Social Media
In endeavors to rank high in search results, social media plays a role, not by providing backlinks, but by providing influence. Google’s SEO ranking methodology does not take into consideration potential social media presence, and there are no public standards that imply otherwise. Your Google SEO rating will not be affected by how effectively you optimise your content for Facebook or Instagram. Yet, social cues might help your Bing ranking. Bing recognises the value of social media presence and will immediately share the ratings and rankings of your Facebook and Twitter followers. You may even utilise Bing’s API service to track what’s happening on social media to create better content that targets your target audience.
If you are socially popular, your fans will share your knowledge extensively, resulting in Bing recognising these favourable signals, influencing how you rank organically. While YouTube is a one-stop shop for all things video, you don’t want to forego the benefits of those hard-earned backlinks. Find a native hosting option for your video content instead.
Multimedia Content
Bing has been pushing the boundaries of visual search, which goes hand in hand with one of its most lauded capabilities, entity understanding. Fundamentally, Bing has the capacity to correctly explore and interpret many forms of multimedia material, such as video, audio, and photos.
In many respects, Bing is ahead of the competition when it comes to visual search. Bing could crawl and index Flash sites while they were available. Employ high-quality photos that have been optimised to reduce load time. Google places immense importance on text-based information. While it also holds value for high-quality photos and videos, it is nowhere near the value that Bing holds for these visual aspects.
Local SEO
Local SERP ranking is the position your website maintains whenever someone does a search for a certain phrase in your geographical location. The ranking is determined by Google and Bing based on relevance, distance, and prominence. Boost your company’s score by validating its location, updating its information, and responding to customer feedback. Including features like your business hours, menus, and in-store merchandise can also assist enhance your rating, making your business more apparent to local customers. Don’t forget to add your business to Bing Places For Business, which is similar to Google Business Profile.
There are also some other minute differences between Google and Bing. While you can typically trust Google to index your website and that it will attempt to crawl and index every page of your site, Bing focuses on essential pages and scans your pages less frequently. Thankfully, you can speed up the process by boosting your crawl rate in Bing Webmaster Tools. You may also submit your sitemap to Bing by putting a link to it in your robots.txt file, which is a vital step because this is a ranking indication. Another advantage of Bing is its API. It enables users to submit Websites to be crawled in bulk, something Google does not do. In general, Bing is usually more helpful and provides numerous tools and options to assist you in growing your SERP position.
Do not sabotage your Google SEO while link-building for Bing. You can work with expert link-building agencies like Digital WhiteLabels, who know the ins and outs of the Google algorithm and other search engine requirements. When you work with Digital WhiteLabels, you can rest assured that your website will be optimised for all of the search engines that you choose. If you want to know more about their link-building strategies, click here to see more.
