Local SEO Tips for Bing

---

Introduction

Bing is the second most popular search engine in the United States after Google, but many people are unaware of Bing's offerings.
While it is true that Bing doesn't have rich features like Google, it still has a lot to offer with its search function. This article gives you nine amazing tips to strengthen your Local SEO game with Bing.

9 Simple Local SEO Tips to Rank in Bing

---

1. Make Use of Bing Places

Bing Places is Bing's way of providing more accurate mapping data with updated information for restaurants, hotels, and other small businesses. The platform provides a valuable service to search engine optimizers (SEOs) by allowing businesses to utilize their Places page for free.
Businesses can use Bing Places, especially small ones, to get their name out there in the Bing search engine, the second most popular search engine globally.
It can help a business by increasing visibility with potential customers and providing a website with valuable SEO-friendly content that increases rankings for specific keywords.
To start with, you must first create your business page on Bing Places. Once you have done that, link your business to create an account.
Next, complete the "Profile Page" section to add your business name, address, phone number, and website URL. You can also add your hours of operation and relevant photos or videos.
Tips:

• Add as many photos as possible to your listing
• Use keywords in photos' filenames
• Respond to customer reviews
• Choose the appropriate category for your business

Here's an example of how your business will look like after setting up Bing Places:

2. Get Online Reviews for Your Business

Online reviews are an essential factor in Bing's search engine optimization. Reviews are generally ranked higher in Bing search results than other pieces of content, so it is crucial to have positive reviews on sites such as Yelp or Tripadvisor.
The public's opinion of a business can significantly impact Bing's SEO. Most people turn to online reviews before going to a restaurant or even a service provider's website.
Reviews left by customers on platforms such as Foursquare, Facebook, and Bing Maps allow potential customers to see how satisfied others were with their experience at your company.
They can play an important role in ranking businesses for certain keywords, influencing customers. They also help build trust with prospective customers and increase the number of conversions since people are more likely to buy from a company with positive reviews.
Three Best Review Management Tools:

• Bright Local - A tool to collect, manage and showcase reviews
• Brand 24 - A tool to manage your reputation across a variety of platforms
• Podium - A review collection tool being used by 100K+ businesses

Here's a screenshot of Brand 24 showing the number of times a business has been mentioned:

3. Build Local Links

Local backlinks are a key component to establishing your business's credibility in the eyes of Bing for a particular geographical area. There are various ways to generate high-quality links from reputable, local websites.
There are many reasons why local backlinks are important. First, they allow users from your geographical area to find your site and visit it. The more local links you have, the more likely you will rank up in Bing.
In this sense, earning natural local backlinks from other relevant sites that have a good reputation is key to the success of your company's online presence.
For example, the number of domains linking to a site from within an initial five-mile radius (to give you an idea) is more indicative of local SEO success than those coming from outside this radius. This is because search engines see these links as more trustworthy and "nearby."
Read: Legit Ways to Earn Backlinks to Your Site Three Best Link-building Tools

• Scrapebox - A tool used by major Fortune 500 companies
• Semrush - A tool that gives 2,000 prospects for each domain
• Check My Links - A tool to look for broken links

You can use a dead link checker to find broken links:

4. Use Bing Webmaster Tools

You can use Bing Webmaster Tools to get detailed information about the SEO of the site.
This includes analysis of keywords, popularity, rankings, and more. It helps check if any issues need to be addressed on the site or any changes (that might improve the ranking) to be made. This section has other tools to check crawl errors and diagnostics for site debugging.
You have Site Explorer, Accessibility Checker, and sitemap setup, among other features. For example, Site Explorer is a valuable tool for monitoring keywords related to your site. You can also use the tools to monitor competitor sites.
The feature also helps website administrators analyze the on-page SEO, backlink profiles, and more.
Tips:

• Submit a sitemap to Bing for it to understand your site better
• Avoid duplicate content at any cost
• Use appropriate redirects
• Avoid machine-generated content
• Stay off cloaking, link-buying, and keyword stuffing

Here's a screenshot of Bing Webmaster Tools:

5. Use Social Media

Many are unaware that social media can positively affect Bing's organic search engine rankings. It works by creating content that you can share with your followers on Facebook or Twitter.
This content will generate natural links to your site, which will have the power to boost your rank in Bing's rankings. Keep in mind that social media presence is an important ranking factor for Bing.
By posting relevant, informative content on social media platforms like Twitter, you can engage with your customers, drive traffic to your website, and reap SEO benefits.
Three best tools to up your social media game:

• Falcon - A all-in-one social media management platform
• Zoho Social - A tool to schedule social media posts
• Buffer - An official marketing partner of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest

Here's a screenshot of Zoho Social's scheduling system:

6. Produce Locally Relevant Content

Its impact on Local SEO best illustrates the importance of locally relevant content.
You can achieve this by tailoring the content to reflect people who reside in an area, which means targeting the needs and interests of that specific location.
For example, if a restaurant was located in Boston, Massachusetts, and sells lobster rolls, it could offer a special price on lobster rolls for people who live nearby. This strategy would help place the business number one on Bing's results page for "Boston Lobster Rolls."
Other strategies include:

• Publishing content with targeted keywords.
• Localizing business descriptions.
• Posting updates about local news, events, and happenings.

Tips:

• Incorporate geographic information into a product
• Provide a map of your business's location
• Understand the culture of the location and utilize it in writing
• Use phrases and words common in a region

Here's the result of a website producing locally relevant content:

7. Master On-page Optimization

Marketing on the internet is ever-changing, and what was considered "best practices" in 2020 may not be the best practices of 2022.
Though SEO is constantly evolving, some things remain the same. On-page optimization is one of the classic things that stays the same for a long period.
The following are there are some things you should be aware of. Your title tags and meta descriptions should include keywords and phrases that people use in search queries.
Say that you are a Dallas-based florist. You should include keywords and phrases such as Roses, Artisan-arranged, Freshly-cut, and Hand-delivered in the page content, including the URL, headers, and image names.
Tips:

• Optimize your content for "exact match" keywords
• For example, use phrases like "How to keep flowers fresh"
• Include primary keyword in Meta description

You can use Bing search engine's autosuggest feature to find exact match keywords:

8. Optimize for Voice Search

Google may be the king of the text search results. But Bing is the Big Daddy when it comes to voice search results. Data says Bing accounts for 45% of voice search results.
Bing powers Microsoft devices such as Xbox One, Amazon's Alexa devices, and many connected cars. Brands, including BMW, Volvo, Austin Mini, and Lexus, are powered by Bing.
To get your business or website to show up for Bing voice queries, you must optimize your pages with keywords useful in a voice search. You can do this by implementing tags, headings, and content that relate to the topic being searched for.

Tips for optimizing a web page for voice search:

• Use keywords and phrases that are conversational and simple
• Create descriptive tags that are easily understood by natural language processing
• Use long-tail keywords that are specific to what people are searching for

You can find long-tail keywords using Keyword Tool.
Read: Voice Search Optimization: What is it and its Importance?

9. Improve Page Speed

So, you have finally decided to start improving your website speed for Bing. That's great! But what are you going to do?
It isn't easy to speed up your site for search engines if you don't know anything about them or how they work. Here are some tips to help get you started on the right foot.
To start with, reduce the size and number of images on your site. This will help you load pages faster and give Bing a better idea of how your site performs. Use a tool like TinyPNG or ImageOptim to reduce file sizes and save bandwidth.
One can also decrease the amount of JavaScript and CSS files on their page, providing a faster loading time.
Here's a screenshot of TinyPNG shrinking the file size of a PNG image:
Read: Tips to Increase Page Loading Speed

Bing Local SEO - FAQs

---

Q1. Which One Is Good For Local SEO? Google My Business Or Bing Places?

Both have their advantages. While GMB leads in terms of traffic, Bing offers low competition. Another advantage with Bing is the transparency it maintains in ranking factors.

Q2. In What Ways Is Bing SEO Different From Google SEO?

Google is ahead of Bing in understanding the contextuality of a query. Bing, on the other hand, relies on exact-match keywords. Similarly, social media presence is a huge ranking factor for Bing.

Q3. How Does Bing See Backlinks?

Bing gives weight to the quality of a backlink and the age of the domain. The search engine also trusts links from .edu, .gov, and .org sites.

Q4. How Do I Learn More About Bing SEO?

Bing webmaster blog, Bing search quality blog, and Webmaster tools are a few great spaces where you will find a lot of insights about Bing SEO.

Key Takeaways

---

• Optimize your website for voice search since Bing is a leader in voice searches
• Use Bing Places to list your business for free
• Exploit social media to improve the ranking in Bing
• Create high-quality, locally-relevant content
• Make use of Bing webmaster tools as it offers a host of features to improve SEO
• Earn backlinks from authoritative local websites
• Get more online reviews for your business
• Strengthen your on-page SEO for higher ranking