If you are running a search engine optimisation campaign then it is important to keep up with market developments. One of the most important things to look at is the recent launch of the new Microsoft search engine Bing. This article will look at what Bing can offer you and how it could affect your search engine optimisation efforts



The plan is the Microsoft will spend a huge budget marketing their new search engine and we cannot be sure what the affect of this will be. The chances are it will not take much of a market share from Google however it might take users from Yahoo. Having said that though they could an effect on the progress Google makes. If they think they have a credible competitor then there is a good chance they will make significant developments to stay ahead of the game. These should be designed to benefit the searcher but could change the way SEO experts need to approach things.

There are some significant differences between Bing and Google and below is a list of some of the highlights:

1. With Bing you can get a preview of the web page before you go to it just by hovering over the link. This will really help the searcher to decide which site is the one for them before they go to it.

2. Bing uses a slightly more intelligent result system by displaying less if they know what you are looking for. An example of this is if you are searching for My Space. Bing only shows one result as it is certain what you are looking for.

3. Bing gives you categories which can be really useful. A good example is if you try searching for Brittney Spears. At the top of the page you will get the option to select news, images, videos or biography as well as popular results. The aim of this is to make it much easier for the user to find what they are looking for.

4. Related searches are easy to use. Rather than putting a lot of related searches at the bottom of the page Bing has them in the left hand navigation bar. This will allow the users to quickly refine their results without having to scroll to the bottom of the page. Again the aim is for improved usability.

5. If you use the Bing Video search you will be able to watch the videos without leaving the search engine. This will make it much easier for you to see what you want.

There are a number of other features that I am sure will be added to that make this a really useful search engine. The key is whether they can get enough users to become popular and take some of Google's market share. In my opinion I am quite keen to try it and see the type of results I get from a user perspective.

In terms of search engine optimisation we will all need to take a bit of time looking at Bing and determining just how they are going to rank your websites. We have gone in with our rankings quite similar to Google but only time will tell exactly what they are going to do to your ranking. If they can get a foot hold in the market then it will become more important to take it into account then it is at the moment.