When doing keyword research, most businesses focus on ranking on Google. However, with other search engines becoming more popular, this can be a mistake. In fact, according to Bing, 33% of all searches in America now happen on Bing. That translates to over 5 billion searches happening on the search engine in the United States.
Therefore, if you are only targeting Google and not optimizing for all search engines, it means you are losing potential traffic. This article will examine how to customize your keyword research to target different search engines. But before we do that, let’s compare the approaches between the two leading search engines.
Google Keyword Research Vs. Bing Keyword Research
On all search engines, keywords are an essential part of SEO. They are what connect searchers with the articles they are looking for. However, there are differences between how Google and Bing understand search queries. Here are the major differences in approaching both types of SEO.
Google’s Keyword Ranking
Google understands the user’s search intent by considering semantic search. That means that Google doesn’t only look at the keyword but also the context in which it is used. When optimizing your site for Google, you should create a comprehensive page backed by keyword research.
Instead of focusing on repeating exact-match keywords, you should pay special attention to topical relevance. By including words related to the topic in your article, Google will be able to understand the topic and rank it accordingly.
Bing Keyword Ranking
According to the Bing Webmaster tool, people optimizing for the search engine should use precise and targeted keywords. That means when optimizing for Bing, you should focus on using the exact keyword you are targeting.
Tools To Do Keyword Research
The three leading search engines have different tools that you can use to do keyword research. Here are the tools you can leverage to do keyword research for Google, Bing, and Yahoo search engines.
Google Ads Keyword Planner
One of the top tools you should visit first when doing keyword research for all search engines is the Google Ads Keyword Planner. With this tool, all you need to do is enter your seed keywords, and the tool will generate numerous keywords you can target. You can then evaluate your keywords using metrics such as:
- Search volume
- Competition
- Bid Range
The tools also allow you to clean the results by removing negative keywords, adult keywords, and brand names. While the tool may not provide many keywords, it’s still a good starting point. Remember that it’s aimed at advertisers and may not provide all the metrics you need. However, it’s still a great tool, especially because its data is directly from the source.
Google Search Console
While Google Adword Keyword Planner focuses on data from across the web, the Google Search Console focuses on keywords you are already ranking for. Those keywords can be a good starting point as you are already ranking for them compared to new ones.
To see your Google Search Console data, go to Search Performance>Search Results>Impressions. You will see all the average positions for each keyword. You will also see the clicks and impressions on your keywords. While you can see the top 1000 keywords, you can focus on the first 20 to optimize around them.
Google Trends
Google Trends provides a good overview of the seasonality of a topic. This can help you find evergreen keywords. It can also show you the interest of a keyword in a particular location.
Bing Webmaster
Like Google, Bing also has a keyword research tool with powerful features. It will show the performance of a keyword on the SERPs over a particular period or when the average position of the keyword has changed. Unlike GAKP, which focuses more on paid searches, Bing webmaster shows organic searches.
BiNG Autocomplete Tool
Just like Google, when a user enters a search on Bing, the search engine completes the suggestion. It shows the most popular keywords that users are looking for. The tool can be a good source of keywords.
Bing Related Searches
The related search feature on Bing will show you the popular phrases related to your keyword. This can offer good suggestions on longtail keywords that can bring the most traffic.
Yahoo Search Assist
Like the other search engines, Yahoo also has an autocomplete tool called Search Assist. which comes as an add-on. When you search for a term on the Yahoo search engine, it will try to complete your search. You can, therefore, see the key phrases people use to search for keywords similar to yours.
While the search assists works similarly to Google Suggest, it’s more advanced as it adds keyword suggestions before and after your suggestion. Therefore, it can be a good tool to help you find longtail keywords. To use the tool, simply type a phrase in your niche and let the tool complete the suggestions. Take note of the phrases it gives for further review.
Yahoo related search
Yahoo also has a related search box that can be a good source of keywords. Check the “also try” link at the top of the Yahoo SERP, as it has suggested keywords closely related to yours. If your keyword also matches within Yahoo ads, you will find PPC phrases in the ad box. The search engine also has a “people also ask” section that can provide additional keywords.
Ahref Rank Tracker
To help you track the performance of your keyword on all search engines, Ahref has a feature known as ranktracker. It has a drop-down menu that will enable you to choose the search engine you want to track a keyword for.
Final Thoughts
Unlike what many website owners think, search today isn’t exclusively on Google’s hands. Other search engines, in particular, Bing and Yahoo, are also attracting considerable traffic. Besides, the competition level on these tools may differ from that of Google. So it can be easier to rank them. Using the above tools, you can customize your keyword research for other search engines.
