Bing Webmaster Tools: Because SEO shall not consist on Google alone
It is undeniable: Since the beginning of this decade, Google has provided an excellent series of useful tools for SEO; tools that could be difficult to afford as a whole if we all had to pay for them. However, there are thousands of excellent tools in addition to those created by Google, and in addition, the world of SEO is not confined to Google: It is much broader than that. Bing is still the second most used search engine on the Internet, and, for this reason, SEO experts should not stop working on this great battlefield.
In this post, we will talk about Bing Webmaster Tools: Perhaps the best option to position websites in this search engine (and not only there.)
Recommended: Why SEOs should not ignore Bing Webmaster Tools
The first thing to say here is that to position a website in Bing requires more or less the same as to position in Google, to the point that, if you get good rankings in a search engine, it is highly probable that you also achieve it in the other. So, you have to take into account the following aspects.
On the one hand, content: As in the vast majority of search engines, the main thing is that you have quality content, easy to access, and simple navigation is the best way to scale positions in Bing. On the other hand, links: As already happens in Google (although every time it seems to be less important,) links bring visibility to your website, so if you want to get good positions in Bing, you should make sure that other websites lead to yours.
In the same way, social actions are a crucial point. As with other search engines, the social signals indicate that the content you are offering is of quality and interest. Moreover, the indexing process should not be overlooked, because, of course, the first step to positioning in Bing is that it indexes you, and, successfully, by the way. Usually, as with Google, you need links pointing to your website for Bing to see you and index you. But, if you find it difficult to get them, you can always get links through Bing Webmaster Tools.
Just like Google's, Bing's webmaster tools is useful to review and manage websites, especially those related to the management technique and the structure of a website, which are important to Bing as a search engine, not only to assimilate and classify a website and to show users the best search results, but because you can improve the positioning of your own site. Like Google Search Console, Bing tools have no cost. Verifying your website and uploading a site map can be done very fast and easy.
Read also: Boost your SEO with Google Search Console, by ReputationDefender
Now, the second thing you'll have to do, as with any other webmaster tool for big search engines, is to create a free account. To do so, you can use your Windows Live ID. If you do not have it, you'll just have to create a new account. After this, you will have to add your website to the tool and then you will have to add different details and related information, as well as sending the sitemap, in the same way as with Google's webmaster tool. When setting up the features of Bing Webmaster Tools, you can also ask them to send you reports of different types to your email, and select the frequency at which you want to receive them.
Image courtesy of Bram.Koster at Flickr.com
Once you have all the options correctly marked and configured, you can save the changes and go to the Bing Webmaster Tools Dashboard. As you may already do it with the Google tool, now you will see that Bing warns you if you have not verified your website. This means that although you have added your website, it can’t confirm whether or not that web is your property. To solve the problem, you have to perform the verification, which can be carried out in three ways. The first is by uploading a file to the root folder of your website. This file has no weight and is a mere identification for Bing to verify that the website is actually yours. Another option is to add a meta-tag in the header of your website. In case you have a CMS that allows you to add a single tag and it appears on all pages, then keep it since it is a recommended option. However, if you have an old design, you'll need to add tags page by page, and that's a hell of a job, really.
Finally, the next thing you have to do is submit sitemaps, just like with Google's webmaster tool. Typically, websites often have a single sitemap, but, in some cases, you might have more. The reason you can have more is that, for example, you may want search engine robots to have different access, to facilitate their work, to a sitemap of contents, another of images and another of videos.
So, that’s it. Check out this wonderful guide for further information.
