subject: How to SEO for Bing [print this page] The good news is, Bing isn't that much different than other search engines. So, a majority of the SEO work you have already completed will carry over to your new SEO for Bing initiative. In fact, according to Bing's Principal Group Program Manager, "SEO is still SEO. Bing doesn't change that. Bing's new user interface (UI) design simply adds new opportunities..." This SEO best practice article will address how to capitalize on those 'new opportunities' they mention.
Header Tag Hierarchy
Header tags (like , , down to ) are often seen as format choices rather than SEO tools, but the latter is the more important. Although all search engines view keywords header tags as more important than keywords in content, Bing actually regards them more like XML than HTML in that header tags describe the information they contain (unlike HTML which is more focused on the display of information).
Use your header tags to denote a hierarchy on the page. Remember your grade school days and put the page's main idea in your and tags and then use your , , etc. tags to introduce supporting details.
Again, you should already be doing this, but if you want to SEO for Bing, you absolutely have to use your header tags in a hierarchy. If it looks weird at all, just tweak your CSS.
"More on this Page"
As you can see in the graphic below, when you rollover the arrow to the right of a search result, Bing offers a pop-up window called, "More on this page." The content on this popup is easy to influence.
Bing is simply scraping your site and returning the first 45 words and first 5 text links located in the body of your website. Take a look for yourself. You may find that you'll want to change the first 45 words and make sure there are at least 5 links. The goal, of course, is to better represent what your site's all about in search engines.
Be ; Use
By now, you've probably already got a good grasp of what your keywords are and where they should be located (if not, give this SEO 101 article a read). Now, let's see about stretching your keyword dollar.
Bing (and Google for that matter) do put a mild amount of emphasis on keywords located in content that's encapsulated by the tag. It's not a big influencer for search engine bots, but Bing themselves agree that "a pocket full of dimes can be worth more than a $5 bill."
Ensure Text Content is Readable
No, not as in big enough to read. As in a format that search engine spiders can read.
Although Google has gotten really, really good at reading images, flash, etc., Bing is still behind. If you must use an image, be sure it has content in its ALT tag. Ideally, sacrifice that prettier font for the more SE-friendly HTML text.
If you're not sure which is which, highlight the content on your website. Whatever you can highlight, copy and paste into Notepadthat's SE-friendly content. Everything else is a pretty picture and wasted SEO space.
