I don’t like putting all your eggs in one basket. For that reason, I like to diversify when it comes to digital marketing strategy. Especially when it comes to search engine optimization.
While Google does have the majority market share, it does not mean we should ignore the others such as Bing.
We know the following statistics currently:
- Globally, Google accounts for 76% and 86% of desktop and mobile search traffic respectively (NetMarketShare)
- Bing accounts for 33% of internet search in the US. (Hubspot)
Why Does Bing Matter?
An argument could be made that it would be a waste of time to spend time optimizing for Bing since it only comes in “second” or has a low percentage. So, why would one want to optimize for Bing?
Bing Has Lower Competition
With every business looking to rank as high as they can on Google, you have to work extra hard to keep up with the competition. The fact is that just about everyone only optimize for Google, ignoring the other search engines. This has unconsciously made it possible for Bing to develop an environment where there’s not as much competition.
It is challenging for beginners to compete with people who have already established a firm foothold. But now there’s unchartered territory – Bing – where you can develop your brand and see it grow.
There’s nothing wrong with targeting Google, but marketers and small business owners should at least know what Bing can do for them. Bing not only adds value to your strategy, but you could also rank high pretty quickly and without too much struggle.
Most SEO Practices for Google Work for Bing As Well
Many people worry that while they might be adept at SEO practices for Google, they are clueless when it comes to optimizing for Bing. While the search algorithms of Google and Bing are different, some of their SEO best practices are similar, meaning you can fairly easily get the best of both search engines with one strategy.
For example, to understand the differences between Bing and Google, Search Engine Journal says the biggest difference between the two is keywords. Or more specifically – exact keywords or targeted keywords versus Broad match keywords. Make sure you monitor both Bing and Google Analytics to ensure you are getting the results that you want.
Bing Offers an Amazing Array of Free Tools and Resources
Bing loves SEO!
In addition to having clear cut algorithms to help with your SEO efforts, they also provide you with an impressive range of free diagnostics and analysis tools to help you understand and use their algorithms and rank well.
Whether it is at the site structure level, the link level, or the page level, Bing has you covered when it comes to webmaster tools. Do check out Bing’s Webmaster guidelines to learn all the do’s and don’ts of both on-page and off-page SEO for Bing. Bing webmaster tools are free and awesome, including a backlink explorer.
Bing also provides you with excellent ways to analyze your website. With the Bing-SEO analyzer tool, you can analyze backlinks, mobile-friendliness, link profile, keywords, etc. You can even get a report highlighting the flaws they found on your site.
Bing Has High-Quality Traffic
Bounce rates can be quite frustrating. Lucky for you, with Bing, you could be seeing a lower bounce rate.
According to a recent study conducted by Mathew Woodward, while Bing doesn’t boast of too many leads, the search engine has high-quality traffic, lower bounce rate, visitors spend more time on a website, more page visits, and more subscribers.
Bing puts a strong emphasis on user engagement and often penalizes anything that doesn’t align with this requirement. Bing provides you with an opportunity to get traffic that converts more!
Optimize for Bing Today
Hopefully now you have a better picture of why Bing matters and why it is a good idea to diversify. Get started on leveraging the full benefits of being optimized by Bing. The set-up is easy and fast, and you get the opportunity to reach an established audience that converts better than traffic from Google.
Need assistance with your SEO or Digital Marketing Strategy?
Reach out to hello@scs-digitalmarketing.com or visit www.scs-digitalmarketing.com to see the solutions we offer.