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When it Comes to Optimising for Bing Search, What Works and What’s Different from Google?

SEO
12 Aug 2025

Bing isn’t just a Google clone, and understanding its quirks can give your SEO a valuable edge. Here’s what you need to know.


If you’re serious about improving visibility on Bing, it’s worth taking the time to tailor your approach. 

While many best practices carry over from Google, Bing has its own algorithmic preferences, tools, and ranking signals.

In this post we look at what’s still relevant, what’s changed, and how to optimise effectively for Bing…

1. Content is (still) king, especially structured content

Bing continues to prioritise high-quality, original content. But unlike Google, it places even more emphasis on clarity, structure, and topical relevance.

What works:

  • Clear H1 and H2 usage
  • Keyword consistency (including partial and exact-match terms)
  • Well-structured paragraphs and bullet points.

Bing’s algorithm also rewards sites that clearly answer search intent, so content that mirrors FAQs or direct how-to formats will typically perform well.

2. Schema markup really matters

Bing leans heavily on structured data to understand and rank content. So make sure your site includes:

  • Product schema for ecommerce
  • Local business schema (for maps and directories)
  • FAQ and How-To schema where relevant.

These tags help Bing better interpret your content and improve rich result opportunities, especially when it comes to search panels and AI-generated summaries.

3. Exact match domains and keywords still carry weight

While Google has moved away from giving preference to keyword-heavy domains, Bing still considers them useful indicators of relevance.

If your business has an exact-match or partial-match domain, that can help with rankings, especially for niche products or local services.

Bing is also more forgiving with keyword repetition in headers and metadata. Just don’t overdo it – good UX still wins in the end.

4. Page speed matters, but not in the same way

Google’s Core Web Vitals have put serious pressure on load times and user experience. Bing cares about speed too, but doesn’t (yet) use a similar scoring system.

That said, fast-loading pages still:

  • Get crawled more efficiently
  • Offer better user experience
  • Support mobile users on Edge browser.

So speed is still a smart investment, even if it’s not measured in quite the same way.

5. Bing loves social signals

Social media engagement has a bigger role in Bing’s ranking algorithm compared to Google. That means:

  • Shares, likes, and brand mentions on platforms like LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Facebook can influence rankings
  • Active, visible social profiles help establish brand authority
  • Content with strong engagement often gets indexed faster.

If social has been a bit of a nice-to-have in your SEO plans up to now, Bing might give you a reason to prioritise it.

6. Backlinks still matter, with a focus on quality over quantity

Like Google, Bing uses backlinks to determine authority and relevance. But it often:

  • Gives more weight to older, well-established domains
  • Values contextually relevant inbound links
  • Ignores low-quality link farms and manipulative tactics.

Local citations and editorial backlinks from industry publications are especially valuable on Bing.

7. Optimise for desktop as well as mobile

While mobile-first is the mantra for Google, Bing still sees significant desktop usage, particularly among corporate users and older demographics. So make sure you:

  • Make sure your desktop experience is just as polished as your mobile layout
  • Test navigation, font sizing and interactive elements across larger screens
  • Consider that some business searches are still happening from office setups.

Final thought: Small tweaks, big Bing wins

Optimising for Bing may not demand a complete SEO overhaul, but there are rewards for brands who respect its differences.

By leaning into structured content, schema markup and strategic keyword usage, you can unlock extra visibility where your competitors may not even be looking.

Want to get to grips with Bing?

At Chillibyte, we build multi-channel strategies that go beyond Google, helping you reach audiences wherever they search.  Ready to review your search strategy? Get in touch today

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