How Will Windows 10 Impact on Recruitment?

For years, recruiters haven’t really paid much attention to Bing SEO, instead focusing solely on ranking in Google.

For years, recruiters haven’t really paid much attention to Bing SEO, instead focusing solely on ranking in Google. And why wouldn’t they? Google has occupied the market and been the primary focus for a while now.

So Why Optimise for Bing?

There’s been a fundamental shift in search that’s going to affect us all – the arrival of Windows 10. This means:

  • Microsoft Edge (Internet Explorer’s successor) is now the default browser

  • Bing is now the default search engine of Edge

  • Voice-powered assistant Cortana (which also uses Bing) has made its way onto the PC

It’s safe to say Bing has been well and truly integrated into the Windows 10 experience. Not only this, Microsoft have made it notoriously difficult for users to change the default settings – the design of the upgrade and the default settings APIs have been changed to make it less obvious and more difficult. It is claimed that Bing is used by 45% of UK residents, although for many people this is not a conscious choice. This means that many people are using Bing without realising it, or because they don’t know how or aren’t fussed enough to change the default settings.

The Evolution of Bing

Bing has come a long way and is showing no signs of slowing down. Despite Google controlling the majority of the search engine market share, according to the latest statistics from comScore:

  • Bing has now surpassed the 20% market share in the UK, making it the second most popular search engine
  • It also now powers more than one in five searches in the UK, outperforming Google for growth

If these current patterns of growth were to continue, it’s highly probable that Bing’s market share will increase even further – especially as Bing is now unlocking more data to help empower recruiters to be more informed about their audience. That’s why optimising for Bing matters. 

What Does this Mean for Recruitment SEO?

Well, for all the time and effort that has been put into optimising websites and SEO for Google, the same efforts now need to be applied for Bing. When we speak of search engines, we nearly always mean Google – and SEO is often used to refer to optimisation for Google. However, with the rise of Bing and Cortana, recruitment will no doubt be affected as websites will have only been optimised for Google – who until this point has been the unwavering king of search. It’s crucial that employers stay one step ahead by focusing on optimising for Bing and making this a key priority in their SEO strategy.

 
 

Unlike Google, Bing have been refreshingly open and transparent with their ranking factors, so it’s worth having a thorough look through them. It seems that Bing is taking a pro-SEO stance, and actually guides the user, such as how to build links. Bing also has a number of helpful optimisation tools, such as Bing Webmaster Tools and SEO PowerSuite.

In Summary

Bing’s growing presence and influence within the search market means recruiters cannot afford to ignore its potential for SEO. It also means that we shouldn’t ignore the advantages of utilising Bing for PPC activity, to support the hunt for niche and hard to find candidates, which you can find out about here.

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Bing has many benefits for recruitment marketing campaigns. To take full advantage, please get in touch with us by emailing [email protected] or call us on 01483 719020.

Enhance Media

“Enhance Media have… built up a great knowledge of our business… the information getting out to our potential candidates is relevant and engaging.”

Head of Recruitment and Talent, ITV plc