When it comes to search engines, Google is the undisputed big kid on campus, boasting 76.89% of searches in North America. So it can be easy to forget about other search engines like Bing (the default search engine on Microsoft products and Amazon Kindles) and DuckDuckGo (DDG) (the privacy-focused search engine that doesn’t track you).
But don’t let the small numbers fool you, optimizing for alternative search engines like Bing and DuckDuckGo needs to be part of your SEO strategy.
DuckDuckGo and Bing By Number
DuckDuckGo boasts nearly 3 billion search queries a month, while Bing earns more than 27 billion web searches per month. While it might be tempting to ignore these Davids to Google’s Goliath, we would urge you to think again.
Assuming your site is already optimized for Google search, with some straightforward adjustments, you can also become a Bing and DDG standout. By optimizing for multiple platforms, you’ll ensure your business reaches a larger audience, gains their trust, and maintains strong rankings even if search engines modify their algorithm.
How to Rank on Bing
Who uses Bing? In an ongoing study by Similarweb, the majority of Bing users are:
- Age 25-34, followed by age 35-44.
- Male.
- Located in China the United States, accounting for just over 50% of visitors.
- Interested in adult categories, programming and developer software, and Video game consoles and accessories websites
Here are a few tactics to help you rank on Bing:
Let Them Help You – Webmaster Tools
Similar to Google’s Search Console, Bing offers a free service called Webmaster Tools, which provides features like site scans, SEO reports, URL inspections, a keyword research tool, and sitemap submissions. Comparing these resources can be valuable, as it helps determine whether your SEO challenges are unique to Google or affect multiple search engines (Bing also includes Yahoo data).
Backlinks Bode Clicks
Both Google and Bing value quality backlinks, which are links from other people’s sites to yours. If these sites come from trustworthy sources, such as those ending in .edu, .org, and .gov domains, it’s even better, especially for Bing. Domain age also holds significant importance for Bing; the older (and therefore wiser) the site that links to yours, the better. Remember that the same spammy tactics that can get you into trouble with Google also apply here, such as link buying, link spamming, and link manipulation.
User Engagement Matters
While Google’s algorithm also values user engagement, Bing has historically been more transparent about its reliance on these metrics. To determine user engagement, Bing asks questions like: Did users click through to search results for a given query, and if so, which results did they click on? How much time did users spend time on these search results pages? And, did the user adjust or reformulate their query based on the search results produced?
Knowing that Bing relies on these engagement metrics, prioritize the optimization of meta titles and descriptions, and create compelling content that directly addresses the user’s search query.
Make Content Queen
Bing likes to find answers and it wants to find them fast, so as a part of your content strategy, ensure that your content is clear, rich, based on keyword research, and well organized.
Don’t overstuff your webpage with ads or affiliate links as Bing views this as untrustworthy and will penalize you. Similar to Google, Bing also prefers fresh, unique, and evergreen content that includes images and videos relevant to the topic of the page.
How to Rank on DuckDuckGo
Who uses DuckDuck Go? According to a study done by Startup Bonsai, the majority of DuckDuckGo users are:
- Age 25-35, followed by age 35-44.
- Male.
- Located in the United States, the UK, and Germany, accounting for over 50% of visitors.
- Interested in adult categories and news sites.
Here are a few ways to optimize your site for DuckDuckGo:
Hit Up Other Search Engines
While it may seem counterintuitive, one of the best ways to rank in DDG is to submit your site to other search engines. DuckDuckGo is a hybrid search engine, meaning that it both crawls your site (with its custom crawler DuckDuckBot) and pulls from over 400 existing directories, such as Wikipedia, Apple Maps, Yandex, and Bing.
Use this guide to submit your site to multiple search engines. And, ensure your business or brand is mentioned on well-established sources to improve visibility.
Focus Local
Because DuckDuckGo does not track its users, it does not automatically know where they are located. It uses Geo::IP to estimate locations using IP addresses, meaning users have to state exactly where they are if they want personalized results.
It is important to include specific location information in your copy and meta tags, including any colloquial or abbreviated terms that may be unique to your neighbourhood. It’s also a good idea to include any major streets or intersections, any nearby landmarks, or any other terms users may use to specify where they are.
Build Quality Backlinks
Similar to both Google and Bing, one of the best ways to rank on DDG, as stated by them, is to ‘get links from high-quality sites‘—sites that exhibit high domain authority, indicating trustworthiness in the eyes of both search engines and users.
Content, Content, Content
As DuckDuckGo doesn’t rely on user data for personalized results, prioritizes content that closely matches the user’s search intent. Like on other search engines, your content should be high-quality, clear, and concise, but focused on providing value to a broad audience, not tailored to individual users based on previous searches or behaviour.
A Fun, Non-Ranking Feature: Bangs!
Bangs are DDG shortcuts that take you directly to your desired site when entered into the search bar (!twitter, !ebay, !reddit). They don’t directly influence search rankings but, if your website is often searched using a specific Bang, it could indirectly drive more traffic
Major players have their own shortened bangs, such as !g for Google, !yt for YouTube, and !a for Amazon. Bangs can also include your search query, eliminating the need to enter it again on the page. For instance, if you’re searching for hats on Amazon, you could simply type “!a hats”. Similarly, looking up SEO on Wikipedia would be as easy as “!w seo”.
If you have your own site’s bang, you can submit them here.
Keep SEO for Alternative Search Engines in Perspective
Neglecting to build an SEO strategy for alternative search engines like Bing and DuckDuckGo, regardless of their market share, can lead to missed revenue. And while it is wise to optimize for multiple different search engines, be sure not to run afoul of Google’s preferences. No search engine is fundamentally changing the landscape of SEO, however by making a few adjustments and broadening your perspective on alternative search engines, you might witness some remarkable new growth.
Search engine optimization can be difficult whether on Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo, which is why Method and Metric is here to help. If you want a surefire way to improve your online visibility and grow your revenue get in touch today.
