Local SEO for Bing. Is it worth it, and how can I do it?
How important is Bing for local SEO?
There’s no arguing that Google controls the local SEO market with an 83.84 per cent share, Microsoft’s Bing has expanded its share significantly during the past few years.
At the time of writing (August 2022), Bing accounts for roughly 4.6% of searches made across all computers, tablets, and mobile devices. However Bing becomes much more relevant when discussing desktop searches because it holds 8.59% of the market share.
And, while it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Bing is the default search engine for all Microsoft products, did you know that Bing serves as the default search engine for well-known platforms including Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa?
That’s hundreds if not thousands of local customers searching for your products and services. Therefore, ignoring this ‘other search engine’, could negatively affect your local SEO results and the effectiveness of your local SEO campaigns.
Local Marketing has been a key area of concentration in Microsoft’s effort to elevate Bing to a competitive position in the local search market. Microsoft is always attempting to position Bing as a key player in the local ecosystem, and local has been embedded into Bing as an important aspect of this search engine.
Bing Local is a business listing search engine that provides business information and reviews which best match geo-filters and keywords under Bing’s umbrella of search tools. These search results are displayed first on Bing’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and also within Bing Maps, so it’s ideal place for local businesses to promote themselves and their services.
Finding the best channels to influence consumers, draw in quality leads, and improve your marketing results demands continual monitoring of your actions and campaigns.
The good news is that it is relatively easy to start local SEO activities with Bing strategy because most optimisation strategies used to boost rankings in Bing are the same that you’ll use with Google, meaning that you can monitor both simultaneously and take advantage of what you are already doing with Google.
So, even though Google dominates search engine marketing, understanding how to use Bing within your SEO strategy can help your content reach a wider audience. Despite not being as well-known as Google, Bing is fast growing in importance and has several benefits over the other industry leaders.
In this post we explore the benefits of Bing local SEO and how you can improve your local SEO visibility on Bing.
3 Benefits of optimising your business for Bing
There are certain benefits to investing in Bing, even though admittedly its user base is not the biggest on the market.
1. Bing is the default Search Engine for Apple’s Siri
In addition to being the default search engine for all Microsoft products, which already ensures a sizable audience, Bing also serves as the default search engine for well-known programmes like Apple’s Siri. Unsurprisingly, iOS is used for 70% of mobile device searches on Bing.
2. BING’s Bounce Rate Is Lower than Google
People who work to improve their SEO for Bing stand out on a platform with some crucial data for their company. For instance, more pages are seen, and Bing has a lower bounce rate than Google.
3. Reach the Exclusive Users of Bing
Believe it or not, not everyone uses Google and there’s a captive audience made up exclusively of Bing users. Users who are not using Google or other search engines account for 72 percent of all business and finance-related searches on Bing.
6 things to do today to optimise for Bing & Bing Local
Now that you are aware of exactly what Bing is, what can be done to optimise your SEO for Bing?.
1. Boost your Page’s Click-Through Rate
Another metric to assess the relevancy of each website is the click-through rate after your page appears in the search results on Bing. In order to increase the likelihood of clicks per view, make sure that users are drawn to your titles and descriptions.
2. Consider User Engagement
Through the examination of pogo-sticking, Bing evaluates user interaction with your page. 'Pogo-sticking' refers to a scenario where a user clicks on your website link but does nothing and then navigates back to the search results page. This is an obvious indication of a bad experience, or bad search result, and is something that Bing monitors to ensure the best results are delivered. To reduce this bounce rate, try to ensure that your content is going to capture the interest and engagement of a Bing searcher.
3. Utilise the Connected Pages Function on Bing
Using the Connected Pages feature is a terrific approach to show Bing who is behind the content so that it can earn more authority in the market and be perceived as an authority. In order for the tool to recognise you as an authority on your chosen subject, link your website to your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter profiles. Connecting your social media accounts also improves the consistency of your branding.
4. set up YOur Bing LOCAL LISTING profile
Whether you have a high street presence or offer services to customers at their location, nearby customers are looking for your local business online, so add (or claim) your business via Bing Places to be found in Bing’s Map results when customers search from their computer, tablet or mobile phone. Complete your profile and make sure that you list your products and services, adding photos, opening hours and other details so that customers know what you sell and when you’re open.
5. Synchronise your Bing Local Listing with your Google Business Profile
One your Bing Local listing is created and verified, you can do a one-off synchronisation with your Google Business Profile to ensure that they both contain consistent information about your business. This won’t overwrite all your business’ details, but will ensure things like your Name, Address, Phone number and Web address (NAP+W) are consistent with each other and across the wider web directories. Better yet, if you’re keeping on top of your Google Business Profile by posting regular updates, you can set your profile to synch more frequently.
6. Setup and use Bing Webmaster Tools for your local business website
After claiming your business’s Bing Local profile make sure you setup, verify and use Bing’s Webmaster Tools to check your site's performance data, take advantage of free SEO tools and analyse insights that will improve your page rankings on Bing search results. Bing’s algorithm can better handle and understand your content if you employ categories and tags to make your website’s pages more discoverable. By working on this, you can expect Bing to deliver better search results for your local business.