Apparently, Bing doesn’t seem to have a lot of search traffic, but when you consider that it also powers Yahoo, you start to realize that perhaps optimizing for Bing is not a bad idea.

Here’s what Bing and Yahoo search traffic looks like compared to Google:

Although combined, they still account for a fraction of Google’s search traffic, and it is still a large audience that needs to be served.

Optimization for Bing differs somewhat from optimization for Google. Companies use different proprietary algorithms to produce results, and each weighs several factors differently.

Bing Search Optimization

Since Google is the largest search engine on the planet, most SEO guides focus specifically on how to rank for Google. This guide is intended to help you get started with the competition, Both Bing, and Yahoo, developed by the Bing search engine.

1. Claim Your Business

Just like on Google, you must claim your business on Bing and Yahoo to maximize local search results.

To do this, you must visit Bing Places for Business and create or claim the ownership over your business listing.

Yahoo’s local business search results use Bing’s business listings instead of their own, which appear as local business listings on a website called Yext. Eric Shanfelt does a great job of explaining the complicated business structure that Yahoo employs in providing local business listings here if you’re interested.

Still, you can sign up for Yext, whose instructions are included on Shanfelt’s blog.

After registering your business with Bing, you will need to register your site the same way you registered with Google, by indexing your site.

2. Get Your Site Indexed

Since Bing is now in the driver’s seat, Bing Webmaster Tools has replaced Yahoo Webmaster Tools, so you must submit your site to one place for both search engines.

This is what it looks like:

First, you must create a Bing login. You can use Outlook or Microsoft login to do it.

Then you can visit the Bing site submission page and fill out the forms as shown above to submit your site.

You will also need the URL address for the XML sitemap of your site.

Next, you should verify the ownership by copying and pasting the code provided in the corresponding section of WordPress.

Like anything from Microsoft, Bing has a comprehensive set of instructions on how to do this on the Bing website.

Once you have everything registered, you should index in a few minutes and start noticing the traffic trickling in by the end of the year.

3. Tag And Categorize Your Site

As with any other search engine, tags and categories help your audience discover your content for the right searches.

WordPress makes it easy to add tags and categories for every post and page created. These vital tags tell robotic algorithms and human readers what to expect from the post, just like a title or header would.

See what WordPress tags and categories are like:

Both the slug and the description of a tag help to better explain the purpose of the content. These are signs used on site maps to identify sections. It is useful for search engines to identify content to provide appropriate advertising experiences on their platforms.

Of all the SEO tips and tricks, tags and categories are the most important, as they provide an overview of what your site really is. Without them, bounce rates increase and organic search traffic decreases.

4. Use Seo Keywords In Proper Context

The use of relevant keywords has proven to be a major search ranking factor in search engines in general, and Bing is no different. Here is a chart of how Bing and Google compare when it comes to keywords:

Although factors like internal links are less important in Bing than in Google, relevant and contextual keywords are still vital. That is why blogging is one of the most widely used forms of content marketing in today’s business world.

Hire a professional ghostwriter or copywriter to make sure every page on your site is fully optimized with marketing slogans and another ad copy that provides descriptive information about the keywords you want to focus on.

For example, in the vaping industry, you want to describe the characteristics of your mechanical modification charts, so that search engines understand what traffic to send your way.

Bing algorithms, like Google, take the surrounding 5-7 words for each keyword, along with their density in content when determining search rankings. You can’t just spam “Vape vape vape vape” to classify vape products.

5. Connect To Social Networks

Another method you should use to help drive Bing search results is to integrate social media into your SEO strategy. This merging of social networks and SEO is already successfully practiced by 74% of marketing departments.

To link social media accounts with WordPress, you need the Jetpack plugin, which is usually installed by default in managed WordPress sites hosted by providers like GoDaddy. But it can also be installed manually.

With Jetpack installed, you can link your social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, and more) to your blog to ensure that all posts are automatically promoted on those sites with backlinks.

This is what it looks like:

Marketing specialists often debate the importance of social cues in search engine rankings, although several studies have shown that they affect search results.

In Bing specifically, the results your Facebook friends viewed are usually shown in SERPs.

Whether or not it specifically helps Bing search results doesn’t matter. Why? Because social media has a large audience you need to be in front of anyway.

Here’s a breakdown of the number of active social media users on each social platform:

Whether you use social media marketing to improve your search results or not, understanding the most important thing is that these two aspects of your online presence go hand in hand.

6. Avoid Black Hat Techniques

As you well know, there are black hat and white hat SEO techniques. Black hat techniques are tactics that, while working, violate search engine terms of use and can ban your site. White hat techniques work and follow the rules.

Do not use black-hat SEO techniques in Bing, as it’s not worth the risk.

These include keyword spamming, fake website creation, and more. Here is a table of black hat SEO tactics to avoid:

These black hat SEO techniques may seem like a good idea on paper, but they are not sustainable. JC Penney was infamously removed from Google temporarily after the NY Times discovered him using black hat techniques.

Bing is no different. If your site uses black hat SEO, there is a good chance they will remove it from the index and waste all the time and effort you put into creating your rankings.

7. Features Great Content

According to Search Engine Land, using a search engine is the most popular first action a customer takes before making a purchase on the web.

If you want to appear in these results, you’ll need great content to drive organic search traffic.

Bing especially observes the quality of the content, which is defined as authority, utility, and presentation. All web content must satisfy this trifecta to have the chance to be the main result of Bing’s search.

Content is king online, and to reign at Bing, you need quality content to satisfy its strict requirements.

As stated by Buffer, the ideal blog size is 1,600 words, which takes the average person about 7 minutes to digest and move on.

Each blog post created for your site should have approximately 1,600 words of quality content to maximize your chances on Bing and Yahoo. This means that it must be well-researched, well-sourced and well-cited, and must include many excellent images.

If the quality of your content doesn’t meet this standard, you’re basically wasting your time as you’re unlikely to rank well on Bing.

Conclusion

Although they may not attract online traffic from Google, Bing and Yahoo are still a powerful search option used by people around the world.

Reaching this demographic requires a focus on contextual keywords and proper formatting. Yahoo and Bing users have been found to be more educated and earn more money, making it the perfect place for companies to reach their audience.

Unlike Google, Bing traffic is heavily influenced by Facebook, contextual keywords, and ad-free experiences. The age of the site is another important factor, so it can take time to generate traffic on the search engine.