Search Engine Optimization

Microsoft released a new 24 page document detailing Bing updates, and giving some SEO tips to webmasters. On the important part (obviously SEO :)), there’s not much meat to eat. Here’s a quick summary:

• Due to the fact that Microsoft breaks down search results page to several sections, webmasters have a better chance of getting on the first page. For instance, if you search for “Britney Spears“, first 5 results are most relevant for that keyword, but if you scroll down you will see subsections such as “Britney Spears Songs”, “Britney Spears Tickets” and so on. The subsections are simply related searches that Microsoft decided are the most relevant (based on their data). In the document Microsoft says you should optimize for related searches as well, in order to increase your chances of showing up in search results.

Other Interesting Information From Microsoft Bing Document

• Microsoft will keep MSNBot name for the crawler.
• Site limit of site maps has increased from 10,000 URLs to 50,000 URLs with maximum size of 10MBs.
• There are no changes to the webmaster center.

In large document explains Bing features, as opposed to giving search engine optimization advice. It touches the subject of search tabs, which are simply related searches located on the left hand side. Document also mentions Search History, which users can see on the left hand side.

Best Match - A new feature to Bing is “Best Match”. Whenever Bing decides that your search query is best represented with just one website it will turn on the “best match” feature and show one listing with sitemaps and sometime an option to search the site.

Unlike Google, which on top of the best match shows other links, Bing limits results to one, with an option to explore the web, by clicking on another link. Here Microsoft may be missing some revenue, since Google makes money on obvious brand keywords, from brands that are willing to bid on their own names. Microsoft may take the initiative to do the same later on, and feature 2 links for best match keywords, one organic and one paid. It doesn’t make much sense though to pay if there’s one correct link on the page anyway.

Instant Answers - the feature answers questions directly in search results. The number of answers is limited.

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Google has also released SEO starter kit for webmasters. Here are some links:

• Google’s SEO Starter Guide
• Bing: New Features Relevant to Webmasters white paper
• Search Engine Optimization Toolkit