Search marketers to rethink Bing

Just read an article about the Bing search engine introducing new search features. The article covers a set of new functions added to the Bing interface. I want to share a few thoughts on how this impacts search users as well as online marketing professionals.

Bing search functionality to a search engine user

What got my attention is the trend of “getting things done with search“. Like many of my colleagues, I’ve been in love with Google (and I still am), and I didn’t think there was much room for innovation left on the front end of search technology. Backend algorithms, on the other hand, should always, in theory, be up for improvements.

The front end of a search is very significant. Now that users are starting to use longer queries and learn the logic of searching, the industry starts to pay attention to additional functionality to optimize the search process and get more things done with a single-query search.

The key is to make it easier for the user. Google is still good but I have a new found respect for Bing. For those of you who’s not familiar with Bing here’s a bit of background info: Bing Search Engine on Wikipedia.org

Bing search functionality to SEO professionals

So, what does this mean to the search engine optimization professionals? Do we need to learn one more thing? Do we just let Bing build a better search tool and then jump in and capitalize on it? Or do we experiment now to be the first to capitalize on these new features? Here’s a few things on my mind and I’d greatly appreciate your feedback or comments.

• Content relevancy: Categorization of the content becomes extremely important as Categories become the first step in the search process.
  • Takeaway: we should be considerate while categorizing and tagging properties within web directories.
• Results browsing and meta information: Now that users pass the first “query” / “categorization” screen they are presented with a number of browsing options. Users now have more information about a single  listing. This means that they don’t need to click (to go to a site) to make a decision about your website.
  • Takeaway: all this information is just meta that characterizes your listing, so you have to make sure that your site / page is properly setup with meta data. Proper use of Webmaster resources such as Google Webmasters, Yahoo! Site Explorer and Bing Webmaster has never been of more importance.
• Results sharing: The web is increasingly about sharing. The more you share, the “bigger of a person” you become. Bing gets that and adds sharing functionality to its search results.
  • Takeaway: sharing tools and plug-ins on your landing pages are important. Make sure your visitors can tell their friends about your great product.

This article was originally written by me for Apis Design Inc. Visit Apis Design blog to see more articles on the topic of online marketing.