Bing and Automotive SEO
For the last 2 years, I've been preaching that car dealers must only optimize for Google and let the other search engines happen as a result. It has been very much like clockwork that if you can get your dealership ranked at the top for Google, Yahoo! and MSN Live search would soon follow (along with the other search engines).
Things have changed. With Yahoo! now planning to integrate Microsoft's Bing search technology into their website, they have essential evened the field a bit. Google still owns 65% of the search market and is trending to increase, but now that the Bing/Yahoo! combo represents around 30% with a potential to grow, it must be taken seriously and become integrated into a proper automotive SEO strategy.
At TK Carsites, we've been following Bing since it was introduced and have been testing different strategies. The results have been surprising - it's nothing like Google. The difference in what Bing likes and what Google likes are not major, but each has its own strategy that must be applied so that you can go after 95% or more of the people doing searches for your cars in your area.
I would love to go into details about our findings, but instead I will demonstrate the results. We're working on case studies that show where we have had success and where we have fallen short, as well as the things we're doing to correct the short areas. We aren't too concerned about falling short at this point - as you will notice if you search for your dealership, chances are you are ranked well on one or the other, not both.
I'll keep you posted on what we find. For now, it's important for dealers to ask, "What is my website provider or SEO firm doing for Bing?"
Hopefully, they aren't saying that they have it all figured out. They don't and should be willing to admit it.
* * *
Read more about Automotive SEO right here.
