CONSISTENTLY ACCURATE search results.
I was asked to give an example that I could defend (by reader Alex Wang in Singapore) and so I thought I would do just that in this post. Alex, this is for you.
I started with a search for “Windows 8” and right away, you could find my site on the first page of Google..(click on image for larger screenshot below).
[caption id="attachment_5650" align="alignnone" width="590"]
Windows8update Google results[/caption]
Why does this make sense? Well, let’s see.
- An old trusted domain
- Over 600 blog posts over 2 years
- Over 1200 blog comments
- Tons of inbound links
- Strategic partnerships
- Tons of SEO optimized Windows 8 related content
Windows8update Bing Results[/caption]
Somewhere on Page 6.
That makes absolutely no sense and it seems like there’s no rhyme or reason to it.
Now, it’s easy to dismiss my example because you could say I am disgruntled and pissed off. Not really. As most webmaster will tell you, Google is what we worry about as that’s where the lions share of organic SEO traffic is. My traffic levels are just fine (see my ad page).
If you do a search online for webmaster comments about ranking higher in Bing, the comments are questions are pretty consistent.
They usually go something like this
“My site is doing great in Google but I cant figure out why I am getting no Bing/Yahoo traffic”.Trust me the problem is not mine alone. My larger point here is that in order for all the cool stuff Microsoft is planning for Bing to matter, the search results have to be as good as Google. If there is a continuous perception that the index is not as exhaustive as Google’s, all the cool new additions won’t matter. I actually tried to use Bing consistently a while back but it got exhausting cross referencing Google every time in case there was an option that I missed. Just my 10 cents here but I am interested to hear back from you guys to see if you agree. Update – Seems I am on first page of Bing for “Windows8” and not for “Windows 8”. – Even more confusing to the issue.]]>
Dude, is this just sour grapes? LOL
Not really. Like I said, traffic not really suffering. Just responding to a reader question.
It´s strange, because I use Bing and got windows 8 update.com directly on the first page, the fourth internetadress. I live in Holland. Secondly, because you get your site on the first page does not mean that Google is better than Bing. For somebody else, their website is first on Bing, while yours is on page 6. For that someone else Bing is better than Google.
Third, the fact that your website appears on page 1 from Google search, might simply mean that there is a lot morre traffic for your website on Google than on Bing, eventhough it does not explain why I get your website on page 1 by using Bing.
Another comparison. To think of it, I didn´t even type in your website name, I only always type Windows8 and I get your webstie on page 1 by using Bing. When I type your website name in Bing, I get the same results as when I only type windows 8. When I type Windows 8 in Google, your website is on page 2. Why the difference, I cannot explain. But (conclusion) it seems that Google search is not always as good as Bing. Bing is just as good or even better (maybe depending from which part of the world you are searching.)
There is some level of fluctuation I agree, the point is just that it seems that Google is generally more consistent.
Pretty obvious from their marketshare at this point…
🙂
they’ve also been around a lot longer.
Yeah go figure. Good to hear back from Holland. Still begs the question about consistency.
when I search “windows 8” it appear in page 5 but when I search “windows8” it appear in page 1. (bing)In google “space” doesn’t matter it appear in page 1 .
” it = windows8update.com ”
The reason why your site comes up first might be because it knows where you have been. Have you searched for “Windows 8” before? When I search for “Windows 8” in google, your site is up at page 2, but windows8news.com is the first one. I came to windows8news.com after a search and then I found your site through that sites comments, therefore google never knew that I have been to 8update.com… Make any sense? But as you can see in the image, your top google results are pages that you have googled before and then entered.
When I search for “Windows 8” on bing: windows8news.com is 1st and this site is number 2… By this I can conclude that Bing is the best, because it knows me better than google (I have never used bing before)… I still use google though, just out of habit. I know the things microsoft are doing with bing, but yeah, its like tying your shoe laces the other way around: it doesn’t make it better, it’s just annoying to do 😀
But I don’t think you can put it up like what you do. Google and bing are reaaaaly complicated and they go way beyond how much trafic you get. You can’t specify what makes you go on top (unless you pay money of course).
Naah, you’re talking about Google search history personalization.
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=54048
That’s always turned off for me.
A study just came out, read it in eWeek, about how effective Google and Bing are in luring users to websites. The text below is copied from eWeek.
“Google might dominate the search engine market, but Microsoft’s Bing may be more successful in delivering users to Websites.
According to analytics firm Experian Hitwise, some 80.04 percent of searches executed on Bing resulted in the user visiting a Website. That’s in contrast to Google, which clocked a 67.56 percent success rate. Yahoo led both companies with 81.36 percent.”
I think for companies looking to get more exposure via Bing or Google, this is what counts.
Interesting question is, can we explain this difference in effectiveness by assuming that Bing is more succesfull in search results than Google? I would vote Yeah.