Bing SEO
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Bing Officially Releases Bing XML Sitemap Plugin 1.0
After releasing a preview of the Bing sitemap plugin a few months ago, Bing is ready to officially launch the Bing XML Sitemap Plugin 1.0 to the public. This sitemap plugin allows webmasters to easily create XML sitemap files for their websites that can be submitted to Bing Webmaster Tools or other search engines. It […]
The Ultimate Guide to Multilingual and Multiregional SEO
When you begin to get into multilingual and multiregional SEO, you know that you have taken a step forward as an SEO expert. Why? Well, because you are probably dealing with a large, complex site that demands the expertise of someone who knows what they are talking about. If you are dealing in multilingual or […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Adds Malware Re-Evaluation & Geo-Targeting Tools
Bing announced two new features for Bing Webmaster Tools. First, you can now see more details on malware issues impacting your site and be able to submit a malware re-evaluation request. Second, you can now geo-target specific pages, directories or your whole site within Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing Malware Re-Evaluation Bing always had a notification […]
Study: Top Reason A User Would Block A Site From A Search? Too Many Ads
An online survey examining SEO assumptions by SurveyMonkey found that the No. 1 reason users would block a website from their search results was if the website contained too many ads. If given an option to remove a website from future search results, 68 percent of the respondents said they would block a website because […]
Study: Many Searchers Choose Google Over Bing Even When Google’s Name Is On Bing’s Results
In a recent study by SurveyMonkey examining SEO assumptions, respondents were given two search result pages, one with a page header labeled “Google” and the other with a page header labeled “Bing,” and asked which page of results they preferred. Even when the page header labels were swapped, more users preferred the Google search results. […]
Bing Offers Recommendations for SEO-Friendly AJAX: Suggests HTML5 pushState
Bing has announced support for HTML5 pushState as a way to implement AJAX on a site in a way that enables Bing to crawl and index the URLs and content. As Google has supported this implementation since early 2012, site owners finally have an AJAX option that can be crawled and indexed by both major […]
SMX West: The Search Police Video With Google’s Matt Cutts & Bing’s Duane Forrester
One of the highlights from the SMX West show a week ago was the session named “The Search Police: Matt & Duane’s Excellent Search Engine Adventure.” The panel featured Google’s Matt Cutts and Bing’s Duane Forrester as Bill & Ted with Danny Sullivan playing Rufus. Matt (Bill) and Duane (Ted) both give presentations and then […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Adds Site Move Tool
Bing announced a new feature for Bing Webmaster Tools – the ability to inform Bing of a site move. The new Bing Site Move Tool allows you to not just move from one domain to another domain but also from within a site; URLs to URLs. Moving From Within The Same Domain Name If you […]
New: Bing Sitemap Plugin Helps Webmasters Create XML Sitemap Files
Bing announced, on its Bing Webmaster Blog, a new feature that helps webmasters create two types of XML Sitemaps. Bing created a server-side application that works on both IIS and Apache servers that helps you create a comprehensive Sitemap and, also, a recently updated Sitemap. The binaries can be downloaded at the Microsoft download site. […]
Bing Tags Expands, Makes Pages Linked To Your Profile Public
Search engines continue to go old school, encouraging people to “tag” content in a way that makes it feel like it’s 1999 all over again. Today, Bing makes another push in that direction, making content you tag with “Bing Tags” more visibile. Honestly, I feel like this tagging crazy is simply Google and Bing falling […]
Bing Publishes Its Webmaster Guidelines
Bing has published its first set of webmaster guidelines, offering website owners general guidance on best practices related to SEO for Bing’s search engine. They’re accessible in the Help section of Bing’s Webmaster Tools as a new entry under the “Content Guidelines” section. The direct link is www.bing.com/webmaster/help/webmaster-guidelines-30fba23a. Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines touch on things like […]
US Senate Committee Asks Google, Yahoo & Bing To Fight Bait-And-Switch Moving Scams
The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation has written to the major US search engines of Google, Yahoo and Bing asking them to examine how some moving services are using “bait-and-switch” tactics on customers who find them through search results. Moving Ripoffs Each search engine received the same letter, covering how a committee […]
SERPs.com Google & Bing “Weather Report” Tool
SERPs.com has quietly launched a SERPs Volatility Index, which aims to work like the MozCast tool to track search results fluctuations and help webmasters know if there was an algorithm update at Google and Bing. While MozCast only tracks Google, SERPs.com tracks both Google and Bing. SERPs.com also shows a 30-day and 90-day volatility charge. […]
The Difference In Keyword Research For SEO vs. PPC
Often when I complete a keyword research project for a client, they ask me about keywords I may not have included, or they want to know what the relative competition on the keywords looks like. This happens often enough that I thought I would remind everyone that while research for SEO and PPC can go […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Reports Adds Percentage Changes
Bing has added percent changes, deltas, to some of the various reports within Bing Webmaster Tools. The percent changes show the difference from the period selected to the same time period before that. So if you selected the past 30-days, Bing will show the percent change from the previous 30-day period. This applies for Clicks […]
Yes, Bing Has Human Search Quality Raters & Here’s How They Judge Web Pages
A web page that definitively satisfies a searcher’s intent is “Perfect,” and should appear at the top of Bing’s search results. On the other end of the scale, spammy web pages and pages that almost no searcher would find useful are deemed “Bad.” That’s a bit of how Bing instructs the people in its Human […]
Bing Revamps Their Webmaster Tools & Launches Partial Yahoo Site Explorer Replacement
Today at SMX Advanced, Bing has launched a revamped version of their webmaster tools product, with a new user interface and improved features. Much of the changes are just sprucing up existing data (showing better summaries/dashboards and the like), but of particular interest to some is the new Link Explorer, which is a partial replacement […]
Bing Offers Advice On Google’s Penguin Update: Diversify
Duane Forrester, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft Bing, wrote a blog post on the Bing Search blog named Penguins & Pandas Poetry. The post is about Google’s latest Penguin update and how SEOs and webmasters need to be better prepared for such updates. The basic advice is simple, SEOs and webmasters need to do one […]
No, Bing Doesn’t Support Pagination Attributes to Consolidate Pages In A Series
Last week, the Bing Webmaster blog published a post about how Bing handles rel=”next” and rel=”prev” attributes. On the surface, it seemed as though Bing was announcing that it now supported these tags in the same way Google does. Last September, Google announced support of the rel=”prev” and rel=”next” attributes to designate paginated content, which enables […]
How The Bing Toolbar May Accidentally Submit Private Pages & Ads
Microsoft has confirmed that they do discover and index URLs that they find through users surfing the Internet with the Bing Toolbar installed. This can be a concern for those who know certain URLs are only accessible if the individual knows about it and navigates to the URL with the Bing Toolbar installed. For example, […]
How Microsoft Removes “Junk” From Bing Search Results
Dr. Richard Qian from Bing’s core search team wrote a blog post on the Bing Search blog named Bing Search Quality Insights: Reducing Junk. This is part of Bing’s ongoing effort to provide search quality insights on how Bing works. Bing here explains how they handle removing bad links from the Bing search results, and […]
Keeping Up With Google: Bing Launches New “Search Quality Insights” Series
Want to understand better how Bing creates its search results? Bing has announced a new “Search Quality Insights” series to provide a more behind-the-scenes look at its search engine. You know, like “Search Quality Highlights” series that Google launched last December. What’s going on with these? And how does Bing’s latest post help Google on […]
Bing Webmaster Tools API Now Available
Bing has announced three new features for Bing Webmaster Tools but the biggest new feature to me is the new Bing Webmaster Tools API. Markup Validation Tool. This feature allows webmasters to enter any URL and see what the markup looks like on the page, within the code. Keyword research tool. This tool allows webmasters […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Adds Markup Validator
The Bing Webmaster Blog announced they have added a new feature to the crawl section named Markup Validator. To access this new feature, login to Bing Webmaster Tools and click on the “Crawl” tab. Then on the right side or bottom left side there is an option to click on “Markup Validator.” Duane from Bing […]
2011: The Year Google & Bing Took Away From SEOs & Publishers
Increasingly over the years, search engines — Google in particular — have given more and more support to SEOs and publishers. But 2011 marked the first significant reversal that I can recall, with both linking and keyword data being withheld. Here’s what happened, why it matters and how publishers can push back if Google and Bing don’t […]
Banned Holiday Deal Sites Return To Bing
Holiday deal sites that Bing banned from its search listings just before the busy shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday have now been allowed to return. They include a site run by the group that created the entire Cyber Monday concept. Banned: Not Your Usual Suspects We reported previously how the sites had […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Expand Crawl Details, Offers URL Normalization Tips & More
Duane Forrester announced on the Bing Search blog a major upgrade to Bing Webmaster Tools. He said this is their biggest update since the Honey Badger update from June. The key updates and changes include: Expanded Crawl Details: This includes showing inbound links for any URL including 300, 400 & 500 codes. Plus URLs listed […]
The Meta Keywords Tag Lives At Bing & Why Only Spammers Should Use It
I was happy. I was joyful. I thought the meta keywords tag had finally died last year. But Bing recently said that it does use it. After some back-and-forth, I can confirm further that it does, but as a signal for finding spammers, not for improving rank. Meta Keywords Tag 101 If you want the […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Integrates Yahoo Traffic Data
Bing Webmaster Tools now has fully integrated in Yahoo’s traffic numbers as well. So if you have seen a spike in your Bing Webmaster Tools traffic charts, this is the reason why. You should see your impressions and clicks data spike up, while the click through rate numbers may fluctuate from the norm as well. […]
Google & Bing (Still) Handle Underscores & Dashes Differently
It’s one of the longest-running SEO questions around, and still something many of us get asked by clients, readers, conference attendees and so forth: Should we use dashes or underscores in our URLs? Google re-opened the discussion recently with a new YouTube video that highlights how Google currently handles dashes and underscores, and also reminds […]
Bing Now Supports Google’s Crawlable AJAX Standard?
In 2009, Google proposed a standard for crawlable AJAX. A few months later, that standard went live and while I thought it was great Google was providing options to content owners to ensure their sites were indexed well, I noted at the time that “this method doesn’t work for search engines other than Google. So […]
Bing’s “Honey Badger” – An Upgrade To Webmaster Tools
This morning at our SMX Advanced conference, Bing’s Stefan Weitz announced “Honey Badger” — Bing’s latest upgrade to its Webmaster Tools. Weitz explained that today’s upgrade primarily involves three things: Crawl setting management: users can ask Bing to crawl a website less during busy times of day and more during off-peak hours Role management: set […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Enables HTML5 Interface
I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable this morning that Bing Webmaster Tools no longer requires Silverlight. Now, if you login to Bing Webmaster Tools without Silverlight installed on your computer, you can see all the reports, graphs and charts that you were unable to see days ago. In July 2010, Bing revamped Webmaster Tools […]
Bing Webmaster Tools Launches New Link Reports; Google Webmaster Tools Changes Theirs
Bing Webmaster Tools has relaunched inbound link reports for verified site owners (as announced at SMX East back in October). I dove in to check out what the new reports include. Google has recently revamped their inbound link reports, so I made note of those changes well. Read on for more details. Want a quick summary? […]
What Social Signals Do Google & Bing Really Count?
Both Google and Bing have added many social search features over the past year. There’s also been talk about using “social signals” to help rank regular search results. But are either of the major search engines actually using those social signals to rank regular search results? A bit, they tell me. In particular, your stature […]
Bing Uses Click Through Rate In Ranking Algorithm
Bing has just confirmed at SMX East that they use click through rate (CTR) in their ranking algorithm. I personally walked over to Steve Tullis, Senior Program Manager Lead, Bing, Microsoft and asked him if he really said they use click through rate in the ranking algorithm. He said, yes we do – but it […]
Bing To Add Link Reports To Webmaster Tools & Google Adds More Data To Query Reports
Yesterday at SMX East the Bing Webmaster Center team announced new features for their Webmaster Tools. The new features include the link report that went missing when they relaunched Bing Webmaster Tools and a feature called Link Explorer. And today, Google quietly added percent change data to the query reports in Webmaster Tools. The new […]
Yahoo-Microsoft Organic Transition Happening, Site Explorer, Search Monkey Holding For Now
The Yahoo-Microsoft search transition is picking up momentum. Yahoo announced a number of things today relevant to the change over. They concern the organic search transition, SearchMonkey and Site Explorer. Yahoo announced that later this week the organic transition will commence for PC and mobile results in North America: This is an important step toward […]
All New Microsoft Bing Webmaster Tools
Today, Microsoft launched a revamp of their Bing Webmaster Tools. I talked to them back in June, when they previewed the tools at SMX Advanced, and they told me that they were starting from scratch and rebuilding the tool from the ground up. So how are things different? They say they are focused on three key […]
Search Engine Land’s Guide to Bing SEO
Bing accounts for 26.5% of all desktop searches in the U.S., according to Comscore (April 2021). With the recent prevalence of working from home, people are spending more time on their desktop computers, which might also mean that more people are now using Bing. If you do nothing, then you’re leaving your competitors with the […]