Bing is a search engine created by Microsoft and has many similarities with Google. Google is the most popular search engine in South Africa with 94.98% of the market share, while Bing comes in 2nd place with 4.34%. Many people think Bing will eventually fade out, but it has increased in popularity over the past 3 years by 0.5%. Many businesses in SA forget to use this marketing platform but an average of 1.87 million South Africans use Bing monthly. This article will discuss industries that perform well on Bing and discuss the main differences between Google and Bing.

A study has shown that Bing is used by educational and high-income users compared to Google. Insurance companies use this marketing platform to promote short-term and long-term insurance.

Bing provides more visually appealing adverts than Google and drives better-quality clicks to their adverts. For this reason, fashion and clothing items such as dresses, suits, jackets, and shirts do well on Bing.

Most businesses in South Africa use Microsoft that incorporates Bing into their systems. Bing users are usually 35 years and older, which means they are more established users who can afford to purchase cars.

Research has shown that Bing users have higher levels of education than Google users as Bing created a partnership with LinkedIn for job opportunities and employment. A large portion of qualified professionals are more likely to search for jobs using these integrated systems.

Bing users have higher incomes than Google users, which means many can travel around the world to many desirable destinations. For this reason, the travel and hospitality industry has performed well.

These industries perform well on Bing: Real Estate, Legal Services, IT Services, Luxury Goods, Online Education Courses, Medical Services, Home Improvement and Electrical Appliances.

Google and Yahoo work on a Pay-Per-Click basis whereby the advertiser will pay a specific amount for every click that takes place on their advert. The amount of the clicks will vary depending on the industry and competition. Bing offers much cheaper Pay-Per-Click prices compared to Google which allows for more clicks with less spend.

Both Google and Yahoo have given preference to local industries over International companies. Websites that end with .co.za rank much better in South Africa than .coms. Google has introduced Google My Business and Bing has introduced Bing Places For Businesses to allow businesses to list their details on both business directories.

Both search engines use AI to deliver accurate search results, however, Bing favors Social Media Platforms over websites in their algorithms. Google’s AI systems are integrated with Google Maps, Google Photos, and YouTube while Bing’s AI Systems are integrated with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams.

Bing and Google use advanced targeting methods to target the right person with the right message. Advertisers can target people based on their age, gender, location, interests, and keyword research. This allows marketers to identify their audience and focus on a market interested in their products and services.

Implementing SEO for Bing requires a different SEO strategy than applying SEO for Google. Performing well on Google does not mean your website will perform well with Bing. Each search engine examines different website elements to determine its ranking positions for specific keywords.

Google considers backlinks an important factor in high search engine rankings, while Bing focuses more on the Social Mentions of websites, such as:

• Likes

• Shares

Bing prefers websites with integrated Social Media Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X. The Social Media Platforms are measured by the:

A. Post Activity

B. Engagement

C. Followers

D. Verified Accounts

Social Media accounts that post content frequently perform well. You should post content several times per week consistently.

Social Media accounts should post high-quality content that will receive recognition through likes, comments, shares, and subscriptions.

Social media accounts with lots of friends and followers are viewed as high-authority accounts by Bing.

Verified accounts perform much better than unverified accounts, and receiving followers with verified accounts contributes positively to your organic rankings.

A backlink is a vote of confidence by having your website link appear on other websites. Google measure the ranking system of websites with the number and the quality of backlinks that point to a website.

A backlink is built in the following 2 ways:

1. When your website provides high-quality content and gets shared across the internet naturally.

2. When you communicate with another website owner and agree to provide them with a content or service-based offer (Eg Article, infographics, free software tools) in exchange for having your website link appear on their website.

The age of your domain name plays a significant role in the success of your website rankings on Bing. Older websites are more trusted and rank in higher positions. Young domain names do not perform well on Bing. With Google, younger websites with high-quality content can still reach Page 1, even if they are one or two years old.

Bing relies on optimization of exact keyword matches in the URLs, meta titles, and meta descriptions of websites. Google still considers keywords in URLs and meta titles but focuses more on the user experience and Core Web Vitals of a website. (Eg loading speeds, Interactivity)

Bing is still considered a powerful platform to promote products and services. Most users are elderly, qualified, and fall into a higher income bracket. The PPC (Pay-Per-Click) prices are much lower than Google Ads, which means your website will receive more clicks for lower costs. Advertising on their platform is highly recommended as the audience has money to spend.