Bing recently published an update on its guidelines for ranking content. Of course, Google is the most popular search engine, but it's likely there will be some overlap between Google and Bing. If your website design's content is optimised for Bing, chances are it will have a good chance of ranking for Google too.

Bing have devoted an entire section explaining the various factors it uses to rank content. It's worth noting that Microsoft products and services aren't prioritised, nor is it possible for companies to pay their way to the top. Here's all the things you can do to optimise the content on your small business website.

Positive factors

Relevance

Does your website design's content match the intent of the search query? If so, then that's a good start. It's important that you've got substantive content, otherwise Bing will have no idea what your website is even about.

Credibility

Can you be trusted? If your website is new or looks a bit spammy, this will work against you. Authoritative links from a range of websites will help improve your credibility, as will the amount of visitors you get.

User engagement

Another factor that plays a part is what users do when they visit your website design. If users click through to your professional website and spend a lot of time browsing, this is a positive. If users quickly return to Bing and reformulate their search query, this shows low engagement.

Freshness

Bing factors in new and fresh information. If you have a blog that is regularly updated and visited this will help your ranking.

Page speed

Just like Google, Bing puts a big emphasis on website speed. Everyone hates slow loading times. If your website is quick to load and provides a great user experience, this will factor into your ranking.

Location

Another major factor is the location of your website, the language used and the location of visitors.

Images

If possible, use unique and original images that are relevant. Include descriptive titles, filenames and text. Optimise these so they look good but do not impact on loading and site speed.

Negative factors

Scraped content

Copying content from other website designs does not add value and is an example of something to be avoided.

Affiliate websites

If your website contains little content and merely has lots of links, it will be demoted.

Automatically generated content

Content that is created by a computer process, machine or auto-generated will work against your site.

Worried about creating great content and describing your images? If you're interested in a website, why not leave it in the hands of the professionals. At DotGO, we've been creating affordable business websites for nearly two decades. Get in touch with us for a quick friendly chat, and find out what we can do for you.