It’s Time to Stop Ignoring Bing, Part 1

Bing is gaining momentum ... and is hidden in places you don't even know about.

In case you missed it, Bing is still around and gaining momentum. The search engine’s share of the search market fluctuates from month to month, but Microsoft isn’t going to give up. As of June 2017, Bing has over seven percent of the desktop market. That number is a little misleading, though, because Yahoo! Search – with nearly five percent of the desktop market share - is also powered by Bing.

In fact, Yahoo! isn’t the only search feature that uses Bing. Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and Windows 10’s Cortana all utilize it. Those may seem obvious, but did you also know that Siri, the popular iPhone “assistant,” runs on Bing? The Amazon Echo, and Alexa, use it, too.

What’s So Great About Bing?

If Bing’s market share doesn’t impress you, perhaps some other numbers will. Since 2009, Bing has been used by 524 million unique users, and those potential customers run an average of five billion searches every month.

There are other interesting demographics as well, like the fact that Bing users are more likely to be female. They are also more mature, with Bing winning users aged between 45 and 65 hands down. Nearly half have a household income over $75,0000, and almost three-quarters attended college. And while it lags behind Google in mobile searches (thanks to Android), tablet users prefer to use Bing-powered search engines – thanks, in part, to Microsoft’s Surface product line.

What does all of this mean? It means that you may be missing out on a large piece of your primary audience.

Still Not Convinced? Here are some more statistics that might interest you:

• Bing Network searchers have better conversion rates and spend more money online than their Google counterparts.
• Users in many categories use Bing-powered searches exclusively:
  • Almost three-quarters of business, finance, and retail
  • Nearly 80-percent of automotive and telecommunications
  • Over half of retail
• Head-to-head against Google, Bing wins on certain search categories, such as:
  • Home Décor
  • Thrills and Adventures
  • Bargain Hunting
  • Pets
  • Cooking
  • Art and Theatre

What are You Waiting for?

Google is still the king when it comes to search engines, but your audience may not be looking for you where you think they are. If you have been thinking about running Google Ads, or currently utilize them, consider trying out some Bing Ads. The average cost per click is lower on the Bing-powered network, and you can even import your Adwords campaigns directly into Bing Ads to save yourself some time.

If you aren't a fan of search ads, don't worry. There are many ways to improve your organic search traffic on Bing. It requires a difference Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy than Google, but in many ways, the qualities Bing looks for in a webpage are easier to produce than those adored by Google. In part two of this series, we will lay out tips for improving your website’s Bing visibility.

Stay tuned!