How to Track (and Improve) Bing Rankings Step-by-Step

In this post, you’ll learn; why it’s worthwhile to track your Bing rankings, how to track them with a tracking tool, how to track them with Bing webmaster tools, and three tips on how to improve those rankings.

No need for lengthy introductions, let’s dive in.

Why Bother Tracking Bing Rankings?

The simple answer is because millions of people use Bing. In fact, in 2022, their estimated share of the search engine market is 6.22%.

In some browsers like Microsoft Edge, Bing is the default search engine. Plus, many people actively choose to make Bing their search engine of choice in other browsers too.

In addition, Bing users typically have a high buying power, with many users being well-educated and 36% having an income in the top 25th percentile.

This means that buyers coming through Bing could represent a significant portion of your organic results and revenue. Tracking Bing rankings requires a relatively small effort, and the insights could boost your bottom line.

So How Can You Do It?

I’ll show you two methods here. One is to use a rank tracking tool (which requires a small monthly budget, but is more effective), and the other is to use Bing Webmaster Tools (which is less effective, but free).

Let’s get started.

Using a Bing Rank Tracker

If you have a small budget available, the most reliable and effective method of tracking Bing rankings is to set up a rank tracking software.

Any tool that tracks Bing rankings typically also tracks Google, so you don’t need a separate budget specifically for Bing. And the process is fundamentally similar too, so if you know how to track Google rankings, you should be able to easily replicate it for Bing.

Below is a step-by-step guide how to set this up using Nightwatch, as they offer a straightforward and affordable solution which can track: Bing, Yahoo, YouTube, and DuckDuckGo, as well as Google.

Here’s the Step-by-Step:

1. Sign up for a free Nightwatch trial

Start by going to the Nightwatch website and signing up using your email address. There’s a 14-day free trial available for you to test it out.

After you’ve added your details to create your account, you’ll be able to enter your URL and get started.

2. Select the location(s) you want to track

You don’t need to set a universal setting for this (you can track multiple locations for multiple keywords later), but to get started, choose a country.

If you’re tracking local keywords, you can be as precise as a ZIP code.

3. Add the keywords you wish to monitor, and select Bing

At this stage, you need to select and add the keywords you want to track. If you aren’t sure yet, just put in a placeholder so you can see how this works. Nightwatch does a pretty good job of auto-suggesting keywords that your site currently ranks for.

For each keyword, you get the choice of which search engine to use. Use the ‘batch add’ feature if you’re adding a lot of keywords at once.

Remember to change the search engine dropdown to select Bing.

4. Choose your competitors (optional)

If you want to, you can keep track of competitors who rank for the same keywords as you. This is not essential, but can uncover some useful competitive insights.

5. Set up automated reporting

This step is also optional, but recommended. In order to reduce the amount of time and effort required to monitor your Bing rankings, Nightwatch has automated reporting features that you can take advantage of.

You can get an overview of keyword movements and biggest winners/losers. You can also choose to report on only certain segments or filters if you are working with a big site and lots of data.

Lastly, you can choose a report frequency (daily, weekly, monthly), and a day and time for the report to be automatically emailed out.

That’s it! Now you have a hands-off method that can reliably let you know if your SEO strategy for Bing is working.

In case you don’t want to use a paid tool for, or if you don’t have the budget available, one substitute method would be to use Bing Webmaster Tools.

 

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Using Bing Webmaster Tools

The reason why I started by recommending a paid tool is because it’s more accurate. There are a few downsides to using the Webmaster Tools (and the same applies to Google Search Console), which is understandable given that they’re free.

• Data is delayed. It takes a couple of days before data is available in these tools; fresh data is preliminary and inaccurate
• Some features are missing – for example, data on SERP features like snippets is unavailable
• You cannot track competitors
• Weaker UI – you can’t add tags, filters, or sort data to get the most actionable insights quickly

That being said, if you really don’t have a budget available, you are able to get enough insights to make SEO decisions just by using Bing Webmaster Tools (and Google Search Console).

To do so, head to https://www.bing.com/webmasters/about to get started.

The first thing you’ll need to do is verify ownership of your website.

If you already have a site setup with Google Search Console, it’s possible to quickly add it in Bing too. Otherwise, you have a couple of options for verification methods.

If you’re adding manually, you can choose to:

• Upload an XML file to your website root directory
• Add an HTML tag to your website
• Add a CNAME record to your DNS

Personally, I always found it quickest and easiest to add a HTML tag since my sites are on WordPress, and there are various plugins available which make copy/pasting code in the right place very easy.

Once you’re setup, you’ll have access to various insights, including the impressions, clicks, clickthrough rate, and average position for each keyword your website ranks for in Bing.

And that’s it! You can manually surf through the data, checking each keyword, and how the positions are trending over time in Bing.

Quick Tips to Improve Your Bing Rankings

Now you know how to track Bing rankings, here’s 3 quick tips that will help you improve those keyword positions.

1. Use content optimization

If you haven’t implemented it already, content optimization can be a great way to make sure your existing content is as SEO-friendly as it can possibly be.

The process checks that your content is the appropriate length, all the right keywords are used (at the right frequencies), you’ve answered the important questions, and more.

To do this you would need content optimization software. Examples of these tools include: Clearscope, MarketMuse, or SurferSEO. The latter being the most affordable. You can also take a look at some SurferSEO alternatives for more cost-effective options.

These tools analyze the top ranking results, and deliver recommendations based on what is currently working in the SERP.

2. Build backlinks to your content

For as long as search engines have been around, backlinks have been a part of the ranking algorithm. Bing is no different; links are an important ranking factor.

Without link building, you won’t be able to compete for the most competitive keywords in your industry.

There are several strategies for how you can build safe backlinks, but the most common one is typically guest posting. Guest posting is a win-win strategy for everyone involved. If you put in the time and effort to write genuinely useful content that aligns with the publisher’s goals, it’ll be a breeze to find partners to work with, and you can satisfy your link building goals in the process.

Tip: if you have a competitor analysis tool like Ahrefs or Semrush, you can easily find out where your competitors have been guest posting. With that knowledge, you could reach out via email to the same sites and pitch useful and relevant content too.

Don’t get discouraged if your outreach doesn’t receive replies immediately. Keep following up, and spend time in personalizing your pitch. Make sure the topics you’re proposing make sense for the publisher.

3. Focus on improving user experience

There’s a term in SEO sometimes referred to as ‘pogosticking’. This is when someone conducts a search, clicks on a result, then clicks back again to the results page.

For Bing (and Google), this is an indication that the person did not find what they were looking for, and had to go back and try another result.

That’s a bad sign. If it happens consistently, the search engine learns that your result did not satisfy search intent, and deliver another result instead.

Focusing on delivering a great user experience can increase dwell time, reduce bounces, and teach search engines that your site did in fact satisfy the searcher’s intent. A surefire way to maintain top keyword positions in the long-term.

Get Help with Improving Your Bing Positions

That’s a wrap! If you want to talk to SEO experts to help you improve your organic performance on Bing (and Google), we can help.

Take a look at our SEO services to learn more about what we do and how we can help you achieve your growth goals.

You can reach us here or through the form below with any questions you have regarding SEO.