Unless you have a niche business, Google is saturated in every industry sector — standing out is possible, but it takes work. So, the best thing you can do for your business is to head over to Bing — there’s less competition and now’s the time to get your Bing Places for Business profile sorted.
On Bing, you’ll open the door to a whole new target market, a completely different audience sector — they’re human too, and they still need coffee and emergency electricians! So, make time today to sit down, log in and get noticed.
Why Bing Places For Business?
All new Windows devices have Bing as the default browser because Microsoft owns Bing. Their team of experts mean business, and they’ve been on Google’s tail for years.
Bing and Baidu, the other search engine giants, have been hunting down Google, and since 2010 Google searches have dropped from 72% to 65%. Bing also owns Yahoo and MSN, and these services use Bing as their search engine; collectively, they generate 30% of US searches.
Think 30% sounds small? Think again — based on 2018 stats, that equates to 5.7 billion searches a month!
I bet you want a slice of the Bing pie now!
While Australian searches aren’t as high as the US, as of July this year, in Australia, Bing claimed 3.35 %, of searches, and with MSN and Yahoo, the Bing search engine clocked 4.13% of searches.
The key point to remember is that Bing's growing in Australia and has less competition, you need to jump on the bandwagon now. Plus, if you landed 20 jobs per month from Bing, whether big or small, that 20 more customers you didn’t have before. And if all you had to do was optimise your free Bing Places for Business profile — you’re laughing!
Bing Customers BUY!
It has been found that people using Bing are 22% more likely to turn into paying customers when compared to Google users.
Why?
Bing is the default search engine not only on Microsoft products but also on Amazon Kindle, Apple’s Siri and Spotlight Search. Also, in the US, the typical Bing user is between 55 to 64 years old, most of whom are parents, and 33% of users have an income of USD 100,000. Plus, Bing visitors clicked on more pages, stayed longer on websites and clicked more affiliate links. #winningonbing
Bing Places For Business Profile
So enough of those mind-bending stats — how do you optimise your Bing Places for Business profile to get those hits and reach your target audience? Well — it’s very similar to the tips we’ve offered before on platforms such as Google Business Profile.
Bing profiles provide your business with a map, your name, address, phone number (NAP), operating hours, images and other key details as well as Yellow Pages and Yelp links.
Here are some key points to remember...
Ensure That Your Details And NAP Are Consistent And Correct
When you set up your listing, ensure your business information and NAP are correct. You need to make sure your information is consistent between your business listings and your website; you can use our free scan tool to check that your business listings are up to par.
After you complete your Bing Places for Business listing, you’ll receive a code sent to your physical business address within 4–5 days.
Make sure you keep your business details up to date across all of your listings, and this includes your opening and closing times. If you have a storefront, or you’re a Tradie or a Consultant, make sure your hours are correct; it will mean a lot to customers if you are open and available when you say you are — you don’t want the risk of a bad review!
With fewer businesses on Bing, if you optimise your business listings with local SEO, you’ll be in a powerful position to receive organic search traffic — which means more customers will find you in search results.
Keywords — Secrets To An Effective Business Listing
Keywords are important, pick about 5 keywords or key phrases about your business — some that describe your local characteristics and industry sector, and choose a couple that might be less common — a little more niche. In other words, use some common keywords and some less common. Less common keywords have less competition; it means that you will rank higher for that keyword because fewer businesses are fighting over it in their SEO strategy. Remember to try to get keywords into your titles, business bio and even your business name if possible.
Here’s a link to the Bing Keyword Research Tool.
Upload Images
Upload at least 3 images on your Bing Places for Business profile. You should choose your logo and a mixture of products and services, perhaps an example of your work if you’re a Tradie, or a picture of your most delish cake or beverage if you’re a café or restaurant. Also, use your keywords when naming your images for SEO purposes.
Bonus Tips for Higher Rankings on Bing...
These relate to your website, blog, social media and business profiles.
- Backlinks are essential, just as much as they are on Google. These are your business links on other websites.
- High-quality content — make sure to create content that users find engaging and helpful.
- Social media signals help you rank higher such as shares, likes, comments, plus ones and tweets.
Here’s the link to Bing Places for Business to get you started!
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