Bing Local Ranking Factors

[JoyHawkins]

I've found in this industry that everyone is obsessed with Google. What I'd like to know is what everyone has found are the most important ranking factors for Bing Local? Just because they aren't Google doesn't mean they aren't important!

 

[iggypop]

They use the same factors as google just weigh things differently like domain age,unique content,links back things of that nature.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Thanks iggypop. Do you have any resources to utilize or blogs to follow that deal with Bing Places For Business?

 

[Phil Rozek]

@Joy
Bing is important...just not as important as Google

@Iggy
Thanks.

@Colan
To my ongoing amazement, there's very little in the way of resources on how to rank well in Bing Places. Chris Silver Smith's piece from last year is good, if kinda basic: 10 Basic Bing Local Optimization Tips

But beyond that, I do know Facebook likes are a big factor, as are Yelp reviews. Getting on Bing Webmaster Tools probably wouldn't hurt, either.

 

[Nyagoslav]

I am preparing a research on the Bing Local ranking factors, because for quite a while I've been saying that Bing's ranking factors, while probably similar to Google's (I mean it's natural that they would use same factors, it is hard to "invent" new factors), are very different in terms of "weight". Without adding too many spoilers, here's what I think:

There are two sides to the story:

1) There are natural differences between Bing and Google such as crawl rate and frequency, crawl depth, etc., which might affect how Bing sees not just websites, but also citation sources.

2) There are different kinds of local listings on Bing - some are coming directly from Yelp, some are coming from CityGrid/InfoUSA, some are coming from Nokia (or vice versa), and of course - some are created by users. There seem to be different factors playing different role for each of these listings and their rankings.

I hope I will be publishing the findings by the end of the next month.

 

[Phil Rozek]

That sounds great, Nyagoslav - can't wait to see what you've got!

 

[Colan Nielsen]

I am preparing a research on the Bing Local ranking factors, because for quite a while I've been saying that Bing's ranking factors, while probably similar to Google's (I mean it's natural that they would use same factors, it is hard to "invent" new factors), are very different in terms of "weight".

Awesome, can't wait.

 

[Marie Ysais]

I look forward to that report at the end of the month! There is very little information out there and the information I did find is very basic.

 

[Jo Shaer]

Here in the UK - and also Canada, India and Germany apparently - Bing Local is now Here Prime Places...

They say this is the way that you get your listing on Bing Maps now...

 

[heartgann]

I don't know exactly how Bing manages to rank local sites but I find their searches very credible. Not sure if they use the same factor or algo that Google is using but I think they are better off which one to list in their database and which one should not be in there.