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Seo – Google Versus Bing

It is common knowledge that Google has been the most popular search engine around the world for many years. The popularity of Google is so established that the Brand name has become synonymous with the verb to ‘search’. However, when business’ are undergoing seo, there is another competitor that cannot be ignored. Gaining 15% marketing share in the 3 years following its launch and powering Yahoo! searches, Microsoft’s Bing is a growing Google contender. Since the algorithms for both of these search engines are different, the techniques used for search engine optimization also vary for Google and Bing.

The Algorithms
One of the noticeable differences between Google and Bing is that Bing’s search result rankings are influenced by whether the page is linked to MSN pages as it gets 21% of its traffic from this source. It the page is not linked to MSN it may not show as high on Bing’s SERPs, even if it is more relevant to the search phrase.

Backlinks
Comparisons between backlinks have shown that ceteris paribus, the top ten search engine results in Bing have fewer backlinks than those ranked for Google. In Google’s rankings, the intent is to acquire links from pages that are as relevant as possible, with the target keywords featured in the body of the text. However, Bing favours links that feature the targeted seo keywords in the title tag.

PageRank
Google’s algorithm, PageRank, assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, with the purpose of measuring its relative importance against web pages within a set. PageRank 2 sites regularly appear in the top ten result in Bing, whilst this is a rare occurrence on competitive phrases in Google. However, it is unsurprising that a Google-patented page ranking method would carry less weight with Microsoft’s Bing.

Fresh Content
In 2010 Google introduced Caffeine in order to keep up with the evolution of the web and to meet rising user expectations. Using Caffeine, Google’s analyses the web and updates the search index on a continuous basis. As new information is found on new or existing pages, this is added to the index allowing users to find current information more easily. As a result, Google rewards fresh content with better search engine rankings. It follows that Bing hasn’t matched the speed of indexing that Google has accomplished making it less relevant to Bing rankings.

Flash
Web pages created with Flash fare much better on Bing than on Google. Google is unfavourable to these sites.

Inbound Anchor Texts
A common facet to both major search engines is anchor texts, from quality sources seems to be a large factor with Bing, even more so than with Google. A notable factor in relation to anchor text is that Bings puts more emphasis on anchor text links that have the linking phrase in the title of the page.

These are just a few observation about the differences between optimisation for Google and Bing. Since they are constantly being updated, it is advisable to consult seo social media specialists and seo website designers in order to fully utilise search engine optimisation tactics.

References
http://sixrevisions.com/content-strategy/seo-for-bing-versus-google/

http://www.seowizz.net/2009/06/bing-seo-how-does-it-differ-to-google.html

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-differences-between-google-and-bing/12678/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Google-and-Bing—Their-Advantages-and-Differences&id=2969967

http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html

Google Semantic Search : How it Will Affect Your Business

In order to stay at the forefront of search engines and retain its dominance among competitors, Google is continually being tweaked. In 2011 it was Big Panda, and now in 2012 it’s Google’s Semantic search that will result in a difference of how people perform online search queries. With that being said, let’s discuss the details of this change, how it will affect search engine optimization and what businesses need to do to maintain their page ranking.

The primary difference between how Google has performed searches in the past and how it will perform Semantic searches is the way it treats keywords. In the past, Google would match users with search results that directly correspond to the keyword entered. Basically, there has been a limited amount of intelligence behind search results and people have been able to manipulate page ranking by simply focusing on specific keywords that get lots of natural searches.

With Semantic searches, Google will utilize artificial intelligence to attach meaning to the keywords that a user enters. For example, if a person enters the keywords "New" and "York", Google would be able to make an inference between the words and would display results pertaining to the city. Essentially, this means that Google will be able to draw meanings behind combinations of keywords and will be better able to understand the user’s intention. As a result, this will make it more difficult for individuals to manipulate Google to rank highly for a certain keyword.

While it’s still unclear as to the specific impact that Semantic searches will have on business websites, it will definitely affect search engine optimization and how potential customers find websites. It means that it’s no longer enough to simply concentrate on a keyword and use traditional keyword density to appease search engines. Instead, the content on a website will have to directly relate to the keywords that a user enters on a deeper level.

For websites that offer real value and aim to answer a question or solve a problem for users, Google’s Semantic search shouldn’t be overly detrimental. However, websites that have previously used black hat SEO techniques to manipulate Google will probably lose their ranking considerably. To limit the impact of this change, businesses should make sure that the content on their website is truly relevant to the searches that potential customers make. Keywords shouldn’t be manipulated on the superficial level just to bring in traffic. Instead, there should be a Semantic relationship between the content of a website, the keywords used and the search terms that potential customers use.

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