When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), Bing has built its own ecosystem of webmaster tools and indexing technologies that go beyond simply mirroring Google.
One of its most notable contributions is IndexNow (located in the Webmaster tools), a protocol that lets webmasters directly notify Bing (and other participating search engines) whenever URLs are created, updated, or deleted—resulting in faster indexing and fresher search results.
A new Search Methodology?
Unlike Google, Bing has clarified its stance on older practices: Christi Olson, former Head of Paid Search at Microsoft, publicly stated in 2020 that the “meta keywords tag is dead”— Bing excludes and ignores it entirely.
Definition of meta tags:
Meta tags are snippets of HTML code placed in the <head> section of a webpage that provide metadata (information about the page) to search engines and browsers. They are not visible to visitors on the page itself but play a role in how search engines understand, index, and sometimes display the page in search results.
However! This is with exception to meta-description/image alt which are also elements of meta tags. These factors still play an important role for SEO best practices/ for search engines to determine the content of the page.
Together, these signals reflect how Bing encourages site owners to adopt modern, transparent SEO practices while offering tools to monitor performance effectively.
How to track SEO in Bing Webmasters
Bing provides a set of webmaster tools (Bing Webmaster Tools, or BWT) somewhat analogous to Google Search Console. Some of its key features and updates include:
Feature | What It Does / Purpose | Notes & Updates |
Search Performance / Reports | Shows impressions, clicks, average position, CTR for pages/keywords on Bing over time. | |
URL Inspection & Indexing Tools | You can check whether a URL is indexed, whether it’s crawlable, see HTTP response codes, and resources blocked. | |
IndexNow / URL Submission | A protocol to notify Bing (and other participating engines) immediately when new content is published, updated or deleted, which triggers faster recrawling. How to use Indexnow?All you need to do is create a key on your server, and then post a URL to the search engine to notify IndexNow-participating search engines of the change. Click here to learn how to insert the key required for URL submission | |
Keyword Research / Query Data | Helps you see what keywords users are searching for, related queries, long-tail opportunities. | |
Backlink / Link Data | Shows referring domains, inbound links to your site, helps you monitor your link profile. | |
Site Explorer / Index Explorer | Reveals which pages Bing has crawled or tried to crawl, number of URLs discovered, how many appear in search, and link counts. | |
SEO Reports / Health Diagnostics | Highlights issues with your website — broken links, crawl errors, blocked resources, indexing issues, etc. | |
Import from Google Search Console | You can import your site and data from GSC to Bing tools to speed up setup and verification. | |
Integration with Microsoft Clarity | Bing integrates behavioral analytics (heatmaps, session recordings) via Clarity for richer visitor insights. |
Strengths of Bing’s Tools
- Indexing (via IndexNow) — you can push updates rather than waiting for passive crawling. (The bing equivalent of Google Search Console).
- Independent keyword & link data — gives you insights specific to Bing (which may differ from Google).
- No cost — all of the core features are free.
- Helpful diagnostics — SEO reports are more integrated and algorithmically prioritized, making site issues easier to spot.
Limitations / Things to Note
- The coverage and user base of Bing is smaller than Google in many markets, so insights may be less representative depending on your traffic sources.
- Some features (e.g. the full depth of backlink reporting) may have limitations, especially for domains not verified in your account.
