Bing: New Features Relevant to Webmasters

Posted Friday, 14 August 2009 at 10:32 by Andrew Liu
Tagged: msn/bing | search engine optimisation (seo)
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Microsoft recently released a new 24 page document titled Bing: New Features Relevant to Webmasters. The PDF file detailed not only interface updates on Bing, Microsoft's own decision search engine, but also provides SEO tips for webmasters and web publishers. In addition, the white paper document contains instructive guidelines on how to create friendly, easy to index websites, as well as ways to make sites look attractive to search engine spiders.

Webmaster's center

Bing's primary function is to bridge users with websites and content across the Internet, a target all search engines aim for. So, what is different from other search engines you may ask? Unlike ordinary search engines, Bing offers categorized choices. Users can select options from the side tool bar, picking more to-the-point selections which, in the end, will reduce the amount of irrelevant sites popping up and saving the Bing users a lot of valuable time.

Long tail strategies

Did you know that more than 300 factors are used in determining categorization and that the categories that appear are entity-dependent? For example: if you search for [baby monitor], the search results may offer you options, such as "shopping", "reviews", "ratings", and "videos", splitting up the search in convenient sections . Microsoft believes that this innovative way of organizing results provides new long tail opportunities for website owners.

Best match

A key objective of Bing is to deliver premium search results and one of the ways the search engine approaches this goal is through a new feature called "Best match." Watch what happens when you conduct a search for a particular brand, such as Adidas, Toys R Us, Campbell's, or Chrysler. The result is amazing. Bing will actually separate the official sites of these brands from the rest of the results, featuring a "Best Match".

Bing Hover Links preview

One of the cool features Bing has to offer is "Bing Hover links". Just hover your mouse over your search results and a window will pop up on the right of it. It will show a summary of that specific query result, as well as and important links related to that result. Webmasters feel this feature increases qualified traffic and helps searcher to find the information they want without having to leave the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). This time-saving feature is truly appreciated by Bing users.

Data Extraction for previews

Through intelligent data extraction, Bing is able to compile useful information in the hover link section. This includes addresses, phone numbers, and email links the search engine has gathered not only from the content of a specific page, but from anywhere else on the Internet.

Flash recognition

Websites saturated with Flash and Silverlight-based content often lack readable Meta data text. Titles and descriptions in the HTML source code are so poor, web crawlers hardly notice them. In an effort to bring these empty-tagged websites out of obscurity, Bing implemented a new technology capable of extracting limited data.

Instant answers queries

Recently upgraded, Bing's "Instant answers" feature now offers even more comprehensive and richer results to informal queries than ever. Type in a short question in the query box and wait to be impressed by the result!

Local listing center

Businesses should take advantage of the opportunity to list their company with Bing's newest addition, the Local Listings Center.

Searchers and Surfers

Searchers who do not know how to start a new or specific search often refine their keywords and phrases halfway through their query. Furthermore, the more information is available, the more people adapt the way they search and surf the Internet. Microsoft has done a number of intense studies to analyze specific search patterns and behaviors. As a result, updates and additions were initiated. Microsoft's goal is to improve searcher satisfaction by delivering faster, more accurate and complete results. It is a tough objective that, perhaps, is closer in reach than you think.

You can also download the document, Bing: New Features Relevant to Webmasters from our website here.

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