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  • 5 Crucial SEO Tips For the New Binghoo (Microsoft Bing Overtakes Yahoo Search)

    Posted by admin

    08/04

    From: Winning the Web

    google-whaleAs you’ve probably heard from various sources around the web, Microsoft and Yahoo have officially agreed on a search deal that will inevitably change the landscape of the industry and greatly affect the jobs of many SEOs.

    To recap, some of the main terms of the deal are as follows:

    • The agreement lasts for 10 years and Microsoft will have exclusive access to Yahoo search technologies and data. Microsoft will then be able to incorporate these technologies into its own search engine, Bing.
    • Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search engine for Yahoo, both paid and organic. In other words, all searches on Yahoo will be powered by Bing. Yahoo will, however, have the freedom to display the results and control the user experience however they wish.
    • The deal will likely take up to 24 months for full implementation, pending shareholder and legal approval.
    • To see the complete details of the deal, see this post: The Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal, In Simple Terms

    Back in February of 2008 when rumors of a Microsoft/Yahoo deal first surfaced, I wrote about how an SEO can prepare for Microhoo, the MSN and Yahoo combo. A lot has changed since then, and now that the deal is actually happening, I want to provide you with an updated list of SEO tips on how you can prepare for the coming Bing Yahoo merge (Binghoo?).

    What are the biggest changes for SEO and how can you best prepare for them? Let’s dig in…

    1. Continue to focus on Google
    There’s been a lot of hype about Bing and Yahoo over the past couple of weeks, but Google is still the king of search. There’s no doubt about it.

    As shown in the comScore chart below, Google has search market share of around 65% in many markets.

    june search share

    Yahoo and Bing combined only account for about 28% of searches. Sure, Bing will become more important in the coming years and will be worth optimizing for, but you should always focus on Google first.

    2. Act on Yahoo search services now – or kiss them goodbye
    With Bing set to replace Yahoo’s search algorithm, many of Yahoo’s services are up in the air including the following:

    • Yahoo Directory (a good link source)
    • Yahoo Site Explorer (including link data)
    • Yahoo SearchMonkey and BOSS (a great platform for search apps)
    • Yahoo Paid Inclusion (pay your way into the Yahoo organic listings)
    • Yahoo Maps (will be replaced by Bing Local?)
    • Delicious (although new features indicate it will stay)

    Whether these services will be up when Yahoo Search is replaced by Bing is yet to be determined. If you want to take advantage of any of these features, it may be now or never. For example, you can enroll in the Yahoo paid inclusion program and hope everyone else drops off in the final months or you can buy a link in the Yahoo directory and hope it stays up in some form or another once the transition happens.

    There may be opportunities to profit from these Yahoo services before they fall off. However, I’d stay away from them for any long term marketing strategy.

    3. Do your competitive link research before it’s too late
    A key Yahoo feature that’s relied upon by many webmasters and SEOs is the Yahoo Site Explorer. The tool offers by far the best link data out of any search engine and can be used for competitive intelligence (i.e. emulate competitors’ link profiles to move up in the search rankings).

    If Yahoo were to discontinue the tool, link building strategies would change drastically. Although established sites stand to gain from the absence of public link data (with larger barriers to entry), new sites would find it very difficult to clone competitor links. Furthermore, the absence of public link data would encourage webmasters to buy links because they can more easily do it under the radar.

    Of course, Bing may incorporate Yahoo’s link data or Google may come up with its own link source for webmasters. However, my suggestion to you is to take advantage of the Yahoo link data before it’s gone. Emulating competitor links is something you should be doing with your SEO anyway, so this is the kick in the butt you need to get started.

    I recommend using the SEO Spyglass tool to analyze competitor link data in Yahoo.

    4. Optimize for Bing
    Once Bing begins to power Yahoo search, the Bing/Yahoo combo will control approximately 25-30% of searches. That represents significant amounts of traffic that you shouldn’t take lightly. My guess is that the Bing algorithm will change once Yahoo technology is incorporated, but you can still optimize for Bing now by following some of the below tips:

    • Obtain exact match domains whenever possible. Both Google and Bing give bonuses to sites with domains that match the search query exactly (e.g. CreditCards.com can rank for the keyword “credit cards” with a lot less links than other more authoritative sites). In Google, the bonus is given to 1-3 word keywords without hyphens only for .org, .net. and .com domains. Bing, however, seems to be a bit more flexible, offering the bonus to domains with and without hyphens for many more TLDs including .biz, .info, and .us. Bing also seems to favor sites with keywords in the subdomain or root domain.
    • Get lots of fresh, diverse links as usual.
    • Sign up for Bing Webmaster Tools if you haven’t already done so. The tool offers you insights and data into how Bing views your site – which will help you to optimize accordingly.
    • Optimize your digital assets. The search results in Bing are very rich and incorporate more images, videos, and maps than Google. Aim to get yours listed for more visibility.
    • Look at the related searches on the left hand column (shown below).
      Since these take up some primary real estate (compared to at the bottom of the page in the Google results), you can bet searchers click on them to refine their searches. Optimize your pages using these keywords whenever possible.
    • Look out for any loopholes you can take advantage of. Since Bing will gain in search marketshare, you can expect more spam in the results. Of course I’m not suggesting you spam or engage in blatantly blackhat tactics that will get you banned, but you may be able to find some subtle SEO tricks to gain in rankings. (Hint: monitor competitive keywords in Bing like “buy viagra” and look at what the top sites are doing to get ahead.)

    5. Build your SEO for the future
    If you remember, I wrote that the window of opportunity is quickly closing for independent webmasters. The coming Bing Yahoo deal only solidifies this trend. With just 2 major search engines in the game, it’s going to be increasingly difficult for new sites to gain in the rankings and establish themselves without a big advertising budget. Barriers to entry in the online world are getting bigger every year and SEO is going to get more difficult for new sites. What are you waiting for?

    Hopefully these tips help you to better understand the Bing Yahoo search deal and how you can prepare for the changes. What other SEO tips do you have for the new Binghoo? Leave them in a comment below.

    Internet Marketing Blog – Make Money Online Copyright 2009 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

    5 Crucial SEO Tips For the New Binghoo (Microsoft Bing Overtakes Yahoo Search)

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