When we think of SEO measures, we think of Google’s SEO measures, but there are also options to do SEO measures of other search engines such as Yahoo! and Bing. I think that many people are implementing SEO measures with Google, but you may be wondering whether it is better to also take SEO measures with other search engines. This time, we will introduce an overview of Bing, one of the most popular search engines, as well as the benefits and specific methods of implementing SEO measures.
What is Bing?
Bing stands for “Microsoft Bing” and is a search engine provided and operated by Microsoft.
When we think of search engines in Japan, we think of Google and Yahoo! Japan, but Bing is also used. Bing can be used with any browser, but it is the default search engine for the browser “Microsoft Edge” that comes standard with the Windows 10 OS, so when you start using Edge, you can use the search engine. I’m sure many of you have heard of it. Bing is also used as a search function on the portal site “MSN Japan” operated by Microsoft.
Bing computer version top page image
Bing smartphone version top page image
Bing concept
As you know, there are multiple search engines in the world, and search users use their favorite search engine to conduct their searches. The choice of search engine will change the search results and affect the information you can obtain. Therefore, choosing a search engine is important for both search users and businesses implementing SEO measures. Among these search engines, what characteristics does Bing have?
According to Microsoft, Bing’s concept is a “Decision Engine” that helps users make decisions and accomplish tasks. This is a slight evolution of the basic concept of simply returning the information you want to know, allowing users to grasp and understand what they want to do, and then quickly reach what they want to do more.・The aim is to help students concentrate on their work.
Bing history
Microsoft Bing is not new; it has a long history. The Japanese version was officially released in July 2010. The original US version was officially released in June 2009.
Even before this official release, Microsoft offered its own search engine. It was first launched in June 2005. This is a search service that was provided as “MSN Search” at the time. The following year, in September 2006, it evolved into “Live Search.” This is an evolution that comes with the strengthening of the collaboration between Microsoft’s Windows software called “Windows Live” and other branded services that were used for web services and common IDs. Specifically, the UI (user interface) has improved. It has been updated with improved search functionality, operability, and customization features.
At this time, it included an “answer function” that presents information based on data such as the web, news, images, map searches, and related keywords.
In 2007, it became an independent search service and was renamed “Microsoft Live Search.”
We are continually improving the quality of our search engines, and we make improvements based on deeper research into what kind of dissatisfaction users have with existing search engines and what they are trying to do with their searches. It seems that “Bing” was released in 2009.
In this way, Bing is not a completely new search engine, but something that started with MSN Search and evolved through repeated improvements.
What is Bing’s market share?
By the way, there are various search engines around the world, such as Google and Yahoo!, but have you ever wondered how much Bing is used?
You may be considering whether to perform SEO measures for your homepage not only on Google but also on Bing. In such a case, the search engine’s global market share and Japanese market share information will give you hints.
For example, you can get this information for free on the site of an access analysis tool from Ireland called “StatCounter”. It is often cited as a source of information on global browser shares, etc., so it is considered to have some degree of credibility. Of course, like any other data, we cannot guarantee that it is accurate, so we recommend that you use it as a reference only.
Now, with StatCounter, you can find out the latest search engine shares worldwide and by country. The latest data as of September 2023 is the data as of August 2023.
World search engine share (August 2023)
1st place Google 91.85%
2nd place Bing 3.02%
3rd place YANDNX 1.49%
4th place Yahoo! 1.17%
5th place Baidu 1.06%
6th place DuckDuckGo 0.54%
Japanese search engine share (August 2023)
1st place Google 75.34%
2nd place Yahoo! 13.83%
3rd place Bing 9.8%
4th place DuckDuckGo 0.35%
5th place YANDNX 0.2%
6th place CocCoc 0.19%
Google has an overwhelmingly large market share both in the world and in Japan. Yahoo! also seems to be used a lot, especially in Japan, but Bing is not far behind. Bing ranks second in global market share, but only around 3%, while in Japan it ranks third, with a market share of around 10%. Bing is used more in Japan than in the rest of the world.
At this point, you may be wondering, “Why is Bing used by around 10% in Japan?” This is probably because Google and Yahoo! seem to be used more frequently. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Bing is set as the search engine in the default state of the browser “Microsoft Edge”, so it seems likely that it will continue to be used naturally unless the settings are changed.
By the way, Microsoft Edge’s browser share is 5.43% according to StatCounter data, and 13.87% in Japan. It can be said that this number is by no means small.
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Comparing Bing and Google search results
By the way, if you don’t use Bing on a regular basis, you may be thinking, “Honestly, I don’t know what kind of search engine it is.” You may be thinking, “I guess the search results will be roughly the same as Google.” That’s certainly not a mistake. Search results similar to Google search results will be displayed. It is thought that there will be no particular problem when searching for information normally.
However, it is true that Google search results and Bing search results yield different results.
Let’s take a look at how different Bing and Google search results are.
Search results for “What is marketing?”
Google search results screen
Bing search results screen
In order to see how different the search results screens of Google and Bing are, I searched for the keyword “What is marketing?” The main difference is that what is displayed on the right side in the PC version and at the top in the smartphone version is different. Google search results cite content from pages that clearly explain the word “marketing”. It also shows what other people have asked, followed by the usual list of search results.
Bing search results cite the dictionary meaning of the word “marketing”. There are also several news articles related to marketing. This is followed by a list of search results.
Also, if you look at the list of search results, the rankings will be slightly different.
In this way, the major difference between Google and Bing search results is that the content displayed related to the search keyword and the ranking of the search results are different.
For search users, there is not much difference in convenience between Google and Bing. On the other hand, as someone who creates and publishes homepages that appear in search results, I can say that there is a big difference. Many businesses use Google’s SEO measures, but Bing also has some search users, so you want to appear at the top of the search results.
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What are the benefits of doing SEO with Bing?
However, when it comes to doing SEO measures (*) with Bing, you may feel that “I’m struggling with just Google’s SEO measures, so it’s hard to do Bing as well.” In order to implement Bing’s SEO measures, you will need to have some benefit from implementing them.
So, let’s take a look at the benefits of using Bing for SEO and what are the cases where it is beneficial.
*SEO measures: It is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization, which is translated as search engine optimization. It refers to the implementation of a series of measures to achieve higher or more exposure in the search results when a user searches for a specific search engine.
Possibility of searching when targeting computer beginners
It is predicted that Bing may be used by many Microsoft Edge users in Japan. And since Microsoft Edge is a standard feature of Windows 10 and later operating systems, it is highly likely that new Windows users will continue to use Bing. In particular, computer beginners may find it difficult to know that they can change their browser’s default search engine settings and how to do so, so they are likely to use Bing.
If you are targeting computer beginners for marketing, it may be effective to use Bing SEO measures and aim for higher rankings.
When marketing overseas
As I mentioned earlier, Bing’s market share is second only to Google in the world. Therefore, if you are targeting users from countries with a high rate of overseas Bing usage, it may be effective to some extent to rank high on Bing.
Especially in the United States, Bing’s share is high at 6.58%. Considering that it was about 3% worldwide, this is a high percentage.
If you can expect specific benefits from SEO measures at Bing, these are the main ones. In addition to this, for example, if you are concerned about the biased approach of only Google, there are cases where Yahoo! and Bing also carry out SEO measures. Also, since the ranking of search results is different, it seems that there are cases where Bing’s SEO measures are implemented in order to attract more users.
It might be a good idea to take a look at these tips to see what kind of benefits you can expect for your company.
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How to do SEO with Bing?
If you want to implement SEO measures with Bing, what methods can you use? Introducing the basics of Bing’s SEO measures.
The basics are the same as Google’s SEO measures.
It is said that the basics of Bing’s SEO measures are the same as Google’s SEO measures.
So what are the basics of Google’s SEO measures? First of all, in recent years, the basic SEO strategy that has been said to be that it is not just a matter of blindly using a lot of keywords, but is first of all based on the user’s needs and creating content that is beneficial to the user. .
Think about what users want, what they want to know, and what they ultimately need beyond their search behavior, conduct thorough research, and create content that helps users. It is important to do so.
It is also important to pursue keywords that you want to rank high in search results, and to optimize content that is preferred by users and internal pages that are likely to be ranked high on search engines. In this way, it is important to implement the basics with Bing just like Google’s SEO measures.
It is also important to use tools to monitor and manage the performance of your site in search results, such as Google Search Console, which is essential for Google’s SEO measures.
These basic SEO measures can be implemented on Bing as well. Tools like Google Search Console also exist on Bing. It’s called “Bing Webmaster Tools.” The overview and usage will be explained later.
Features of Bing’s SEO measures
I mentioned that Bing’s SEO measures are basically the same as Google’s SEO measures, but there are also some features that are unique to Bing that you should be aware of.
In fact, Bing is said to place importance on information on SNS (social network services). For example, in the case of Twitter, which is an SNS, the number of tweets and number of retweets are said to be factors that affect search rankings.
Bing believes that if a homepage is useful to users, it will naturally spread on social media. From this, it is thought that there is a mechanism in which evaluations and number of shares on SNS influence search ranking decisions.
In that case, having an influential account on SNS may naturally be an SEO measure for Bing. With Bing’s SEO measures, why not focus on SNS as well?
Utilize “Bing Webmaster Tools”
I mentioned earlier that Bing also has a tool called “Bing Webmaster Tools” that is similar to “Google Search Console.” Here we will introduce an overview of Bing Webmaster Tools and how to use them.
What are Bing Webmaster Tools?
Bing Webmaster Tools is a suite of tools provided by Microsoft to improve page rankings in Bing search results. Get homepage performance data and use SEO tools to analyze user insights and optimize search results.
You can get started by simply registering a dedicated account and sending your homepage sitemap from the management screen.
Main features of Bing Webmaster Tools
There are a variety of features available with Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Registration of connection page…Registration of SNS account page, etc.
- Registering and switching Bing Webmaster Tools users
- Page traffic…Check number of clicks, number of impressions, click-through rate, average rank in number of clicks, average rank in number of impressions, etc.
- Keyword search…Confirm the number of page clicks, number of impressions, click-through rate, average rank by number of clicks, average rank by number of impressions, etc. for the entire site.
- SEO report…Check the list of SEO correction candidates
- Mobile friendly test…Check if the page is mobile friendly
- Keyword research…Check the actual number of searches on Bing
You can use these tools to further improve your SEO efforts on Bing.
How to get started with Bing Webmaster Tools
Learn how to install and get started with Bing Webmaster Tools.
1.Click “Get Started” to register an account
First, click the “Get Started” button on the official Bing Webmaster Tools page and the following window will pop up. Select the account you want to register from Microsoft, Google, or Facebook and enter the required information. In other words, you can utilize any three accounts you already have.
2.Register your homepage
Next, specify the homepage you want to register with Bing Webmaster Tools. Enter the URL in “Site Registration” to register. Make other necessary settings.
3. Verify site owner
You will need proof that the registered homepage is actually yours, so use one of the following methods to confirm.
- XML File…Upload an XML file on your own web server
- HTML Meta Tags: Add meta tags to the default pages/home page of your site.
- Add CNAME record to DNS…Manually add CNAME record to domain name server
Select one of the methods and press the “Confirm” button to confirm.
The most common method is to download the XML file and place it on your own web server. It can be done easily as there is no need to modify the html file.
Check “Page Traffic”
Sign up for Bing Webmaster Tools and once your website appears in Bing’s search results and ranks high, check out the page traffic tools.
When using Bing Webmaster Tools, you will probably use this item more often than not, page traffic. In this item, you can find out the number of clicks, number of impressions, click-through rate, average rank in number of clicks, and average rank in number of impressions for the pages on which your registered site was displayed at the top of Bing’s search results.
Also, you can know the keywords that were trafficked for each URL of the page that was ranked high. You can also check the number of impressions and click-through rate for that keyword.
This information can tell you what users are looking for in top-ranked pages. If you receive traffic from a keyword that is different from the intended keyword, you will need to verify why the traffic came from that keyword and rework the content.
Confirmation of “keyword search”
You will also often use the keyword search option.
We were able to check the page traffic status on a page-by-page basis. On the other hand, keyword search allows you to obtain keyword information for each site.
You can check the number of clicks, number of impressions, click-through rate, average rank by number of clicks, and average rank by number of impressions for each keyword.
You can also see which pages are actually receiving traffic for each keyword.
By checking this, you can find out what kind of keywords your homepage receives a lot of Bing search traffic. If you are getting traffic for the search keywords you aimed for, it means that your SEO measures are working well. If you aren’t getting traffic for your desired search keywords, review your content and optimize your keywords based on the information you found with Bing Webmaster Tools.
Benefits of using Bing Webmaster Tools
Let’s take a look at the benefits you can expect from using Bing Webmaster Tools.
1. Indexed to Bing
First, by registering your homepage and submitting your sitemap, it will be indexed by Bing. This allows you to take the first step towards SEO for Bing.
2.Reflected in search results faster
By using Bing Webmaster Tools, even when you add new pages, they will be picked up by the Bing crawler more quickly, so they will be reflected in search results more quickly.
3. SEO measures can be made more efficient with analysis tools
As we have introduced, Bing Webmaster Tools has a complete set of analysis tools, so by utilizing them, you can more efficiently implement Bing’s SEO measures.
From the above, it can be said that using Bing Webmaster Tools is effective for Bing’s SEO measures.
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Should you use Bing SEO?
We have introduced an overview of Bing, its characteristics, whether SEO measures should be taken, and specific implementation methods. For businesses, Bing’s market share is by no means small, so there is a reason to implement SEO measures. However, if Google’s SEO measures are not properly implemented, Bing may not be as promising. This is recommended if you first implement Google’s SEO measures and then want to attract more customers on search engines.
It’s also good for beginners to computers and especially if you’re targeting America.
When implementing this, be sure to understand the features of Bing and make good use of Bing Webmaster Tools.
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What is BingAI?
In February 2023, Microsoft introduced a chat feature (ChatAI) to Bing called BingAI. BingAI is a chat service that utilizes an AI model based on GPT to incorporate the latest information in real time and provide more up-to-date answers.
The service is characterized by its ability to understand human text and answer user questions in natural sentences. If you think about how you ask questions, you can not only summarize information, but also do tasks such as constructing the plot of a novel, summarizing a text, and generating source code for a program.
Traditional search engines require multiple searches to find the right keywords and a hassle to find the right sources. However, by using BingAI, these procedures can be shortened as AI provides information in one search. In addition, the URL of the referenced website is also provided in BingAI’s answers, making it easy to check the source and citation source.
BingAI provides answers in natural sentences, similar to human dialogue. As more information becomes available about a topic, the AI learns and becomes better able to provide personalized and accurate answers to users.
BingAI not only allows you to get standard answers, but also allows you to select answers with more creative elements and modes that prioritize accuracy.
summary
- What is Bing?
Bing stands for “Microsoft Bing” and is a search engine provided and operated by Microsoft. Bing’s concept is a “Decision Engine” that helps users make decisions and accomplish tasks. The aim is to help users grasp and understand what they want to do, then quickly reach what they want to do more quickly, allowing them to focus on their tasks and work.
- Bing ranks second in global search engine market share, but only at around 3%, while in Japan it ranks third, with a market share as high as 7%.
- The benefits of using Bing for SEO include searchability when targeting computer beginners, and when marketing to overseas markets.
- The basics of SEO with Bing are the same as with Google’s SEO. Bing is said to place importance on information on SNS (social network services). For example, in the case of Twitter, which is an SNS, the number of tweets and number of retweets are said to be factors that affect search rankings.
- Bing also has a tool called Bing Webmaster Tools, which is similar to Google Search Console. A suite of tools provided by Microsoft to improve page rankings in Bing search results. You can get homepage performance data and use SEO tools to analyze user insights and optimize search results.