Depending on who you ask, Bing has captured anywhere from 11% to 30% of the search market that’s so heavily dominated by Google. Even so, that represents at least a billion and a half search queries in a given month, and Microsoft’s search engine is still growing.
For businesses, it might not quite drive the traffic (Web or otherwise) that Google does, but it’s still worth ensuring that your company is properly represented on Bing. To help, Microsoft launched the Bing Business Portal earlier today.
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The new portal allows companies to customize their presence on Bing by adding photos, logos and pertinent details like hours of operation, parking availability and other business information. Bars and restaurants can upload their menus and businesses of any kind can offer special deals through the site. To claim their listing, businesses can verify ownership via telephone or postal mail.
From there, it’s a matter of logging into the Bing Business Portal, where companies can manage their listing, adding as much detail as they see fit.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because this is what Google has been offering businesses for some time, starting with Google Local and continuing today with Google Places.
As Microsoft gradually chips away at Google’s dominance and gains more users, it only makes sense to see them courting businesses, for whom the search engine is becoming an increasingly valuable source of Web traffic and customers.
To get started, head over to portal and click the aptly-labeled ‘Get Started Now!’ button.
How much traction does your business get from Bing? Would you use these listing management tools? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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