As per recent comScore figures, Bing’s share in the U.S. online search market has risen to 17.4 percent, which is 13 percent higher than what it was a year ago. While Google continues to remain the dominant search engine by far, but Bing’s slow but steady growth has made it a significant player in online search. If your medical or dental website has already achieved good search rankings on Google, it makes sense to divert some of your focus towards Bing and make a mark there as well.

Backed by Microsoft

Microsoft, the owner of Bing, is a powerful competitor, and it is investing heavily to promote Bing. Top-notch brands such as Apple are pursuing closer associations with Bing, as they realize its growing influence. Bing will be the ‘default search engine’ for Apple’s voice technology Siri. Microsoft’s aggressive business strategies and relationships to promote Bing are good enough reason for medical and dental SEO experts to start paying attention to Bing rankings.

Demographic Advantage

Internet search users in the age group of 45 to 65 years and above are represented more on Bing than on Google. This data has been released by the leading Internet analytics firm Alexa. This effectively means that businesses and professionals that are looking to market their services to seniors can specifically benefit from Bing. That age demographic forms the primary patient base for many doctors and dentists.

Ranking for Images on Bing

Bing has placed very high emphasis on image search. It has recently upgraded the image search technology, which now enables a user to search for images by usage rights. Getting ranked for images on Bing is not too difficult. Targeted keywords should be a part of the image file name and alt tag of each image should be included. If any outbound or inbound links to the image are included, it further boosts the chances of ranking high.

Association with Yelp, Twitter, Facebook

Unlike Google, which is exclusively focused on its own products and services in its search, Bing has created tie-ups with leading networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Yelp. Yelp powers the review system on Bing, which means that your location on Yelp and reviews will help boost your maps rankings for various keywords. Bing features recent tweets from your Twitter account and its integration with Facebook allows you to optimize your search rankings with your active engagement on social media.