If you want to boost your online visibility and attract more customers, you need to optimize your website for local search engines. One of the most important platforms for local SEO is Bing, the second-largest search engine in the world. Bing has its own business listing service called Bing Places for Business, which allows you to create and manage your profile on Bing and other Microsoft products. In this blog post, we will show you how to set up and optimize your Bing business listing, and how to leverage Bing's features and tools to grow your business.
What is Bing Places for Business?
Bing Places for Business is a free service that lets you create and edit your business profile on Bing. Your profile will appear in Bing's local search results, maps, and other Microsoft products, such as Cortana and Skype. By creating a Bing business listing, you can:
- Showcase your business information, such as name, address, phone
number, website, hours, photos, and reviews.
- Reach more potential customers who are searching for your
products or services on Bing.
- Manage multiple locations and sync your data with other
platforms, such as Google My Business and Facebook.
- Access insights and analytics to measure your performance and optimize your strategy.
How to Create a Bing Business Listing?
Crafting a Bing business listing is a quick and straightforward process. These are the guidelines you should adhere to:
1. Visit https://www.bingplaces.com/ and log in using your
Microsoft account credentials. If you don't possess one, it's possible to
create a free account.
2. Click on "Start Now" and choose your business type:
small or medium business, chain business, or online business.
3. Enter your business name and location and click on
"Search". If your business is already listed on Bing, you can claim
it and edit it. If not, you can create a new listing by clicking on
"Create new business".
4. Fill out the required fields with your business information,
such as category, contact details, website, hours, logo, photos, and
description. You can also add additional information, such as services, payment
methods, social media links, and certifications.
5. Verify your business by phone or email. You will receive a
verification code that you need to enter on the website to confirm your
ownership.
6. Once verified, your business listing will be published on Bing within a few days.
How to Optimize Your Bing Business Listing?
Creating a Bing business listing is not enough to rank well on Bing's local search results. You also need to optimize your profile and keep it updated with accurate and relevant information. Here are some tips to optimize your Bing business listing:
- Choose the right category for your business. This will help Bing
understand what your business does and match it with the right search queries.
- Incorporate relevant keywords into the title and description of
your content. These keywords are the specific words and phrases that potential
customers use when searching for products or services like yours. By using them
organically and purposefully in your title and description, you can improve the
ranking of your listing on Bing search results.
- Add high-quality photos and videos. Photos and videos can make
your listing more attractive and engaging for customers. They can also showcase
your products, services, facilities, staff, and customer testimonials. Make
sure to use clear and relevant images and videos that represent your brand.
- Encourage reviews from customers. Reviews are one of the most
important factors that influence customers' decisions and trust. They can also
boost your ranking on Bing's local search results. Ask your customers to leave
reviews on your Bing business listing and respond to them politely and
professionally.
- Use Bing's features and tools. Bing offers several features and tools that can help you enhance your listing and reach more customers. For example, you can use:
- Bing Ads is a paid advertising platform that enables users to
generate and manage advertisements on Bing's network. It allows for precise
targeting of customers using various parameters such as location, keywords,
demographics, interests, and behavior. Additionally, users have the flexibility
to set their budget and monitor the performance of their ads.
- Bing Webmaster Tools: This is a free service that
lets you monitor and improve your website's performance on Bing. You can access
data and insights about your traffic, keywords, crawl errors, index status,
security issues, and more. You can also submit sitemaps, fetch URLs, test
robots.txt files, and optimize your site speed.
- Bing Local Inventory Ads: This is a feature that lets you display your in-store inventory on Bing's local search results. You can upload your product feed to Bing Merchant Center and create ads that show customers what products you have in stock near them.
Guide to Bing Business Listings for Local SEO: Exploring Bing for Business
Bing is a powerful platform for local SEO that can help you
increase your online visibility and attract more customers. By creating and
optimizing your Bing business listing, you can showcase your business
information, reach more potential customers who are searching for your products
or services on Bing, manage multiple locations and sync your data with other
platforms, access insights and analytics to measure your performance and
optimize your strategy, and leverage Bing's features and tools to grow your business.
Start creating your Bing business listing today and see the difference it can
make for your business.
