Although sometimes it may not seem like it, Google is not the only search engine in town. In 2017, Bing (actually Microsoft sites) held 22 percent of the search market share in the United States. That’s enough searches to pay attention to or at least be curious about what your business listing looks like in Bing.
To get started with your Bing business listing, go to: https://www.bingplaces.com/.
You can set up an account or login using your existing Microsoft account.
Bing Places is very similar to Google for Business when it comes to entering your business information. There are places to enter your address and exclude it from displaying, hours, photos, business categories, and a short description.
There is also a verification process to go through that is almost identical to Google for Business. You can verify via an email address or a postcard to your address.
Bing allows you to choose up to ten categories. I suggest selecting from these:
Banking and Finance > Accountant
Banking and Finance > Certified Public Accountant
Banking and Finance > Accounting and Bookkeeping
Banking and Finance > Bookkeeping Service
Banking and Finance > Tax Return Preparation and Filing
Banking and Finance > Financial Investment and Planning
Banking and Finance > Financial Consultant
Business to Business > Business Consultant
Bing displays Yelp content and reviews when showing a profile via the right column or map search, so the good news is you don’t have to get clients to review you directly on Bing.
In the past, I’ve done a lot of paid ad management and SEO on Bing, which was then called MSN Search. Bing’s audience is older, which may also mean more potential for business owners as well as wealthier individuals with complicated tax situations. Bing will be used by people in Microsoft shops, that started on the MSN network or with a MSN email address, and with people who use the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser and never switched to any other browser platform.
Take a look at Bing to see what your business profile looks like to Bing searchers.