Let’s not sit here and pretend that Bing doesn’t get the short-end of the stick compared to Google when it comes to SEO. In fact, I’ve yet to have ONE lead come to me and ask, “how do I get my site to show up on Bing?”
But just because it doesn’t happen, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen.
Bing might not get all the shiny attention that Google does, but it’s still a great way to drive organic traffic to your website. Plus, it takes the bare minimum to start showing up on Bing if you’re already working on your “Google” SEO (honestly, SEO carries across search platforms. Google just knows how to claim that brand name if you know what I mean).
So, how do you show up on Bing? You submit your sitemap, just like you do for Google.
And it’s extremely easy (especially if you already have your Google Search Console set up). Here’s how to submit your sitemap in Bing Webmaster tools:
What is a Sitemap and How Does it Impact SEO?
A sitemap is essentially a file that provides information about all the pages (or a certain type of page), videos, and other files on your website and the relationship between them. It’s a crawler-friendly (like Bing or Google) outline of your website that makes it easier to find and rank your pages and content in search engines.
Most (if not all) website builders include a sitemap file when your website is created. It’s just finding the right link. For example, if you have a Squarespace, Wix, Hostinger, or Shopify, your sitemap is already created and located at: https://[yourwebsitenamehere].com/sitemap.xml
The only popular exception is Showit, which creates your sitemap at https://[yourwebsitenamehere].com/siteinfo.xml
By submitting a sitemap to a search engine (both Google and Bing), you’re telling it that it needs to index your webpages vs. waiting for them to be randomly stumbled upon by crawlers. THIS is important because if your pages aren’t indexed, they don’t show up in search.
How to Submit Your Sitemap on Bing Using Bing Webmaster Tools
There’s a good chance that your sitemap will be pulled over from Google Search Console when you create your account, but that’s not the case for every time. So, here’s what to do either way!!
#1. Create Your Bing Webmaster Account
The first thing you want to do is create a Bing Webmaster account. This is easiest if you already have a Google Search Console account set-up (moral of the story, set GSC up BEFORE you set-up your Bing Webmaster).
Next, you’re going to link the Google account that is connected to your Google Search Console. This is what allows you to import all your information over!!
#2. Import Your Information Over
Once you’ve connected your account, you’ll be asked if you want to import information over or start from scratch. Choose to import.
You’ll be prompted to choose your verified domain (the one that’s in Google Search Console) from a list. Choose it! This will pull over your verification (preventing you from having to add header code or another CNAME to your domain registrar).
In some cases, this may even pull over your sitemap from GSC if you’ve already submitted one!! Meaning that you wouldn’t have to finish out this process and submit your sitemap again.
#3. Submit Your Sitemap
Next, you should see a screen similar to this one. From here, look at the left-side menu and navigate to/click on “Sitemaps.”
If you don’t see a similar screen, click this link here to take you to the Webmaster Home. This should show you the main dash and give you access to the same left-side menu.
Once you get to Sitemaps, if it shows you have “known Sitemaps,” your job for today is done (yay!!). But, if your screen looks like the one below, it means you need to click “Submit sitemap.”
Once you click, you’ll be prompted with a pop-up (see below) to enter your website’s sitemap URL. If you’re not sure what it is, please refer to the chart in the beginning of this post for some of the most popular website builders.
Repeat this process for whatever sitemaps you have (shop, content, etc.). When you’re done submitting your sitemaps, your page should look similar to this:
And you’re done!! It’ll take a few minutes to a few hours to process your sitemap (really depends on the size of your website), but you’ll start to see data in your Bing Search Performance dashboard in the next 24-48hrs.
What if You Don’t Submit Your Sitemap on Bing?
Considering it’s the main way to blatantly tell Bing (and consequently, Bing users) that you EXIST, if you don’t submit it, it’s the same as walking around invisible and hoping someone spills paint on you so you can finally be seen.
While you can still get traffic from Bing and Bing can technically still show your pages in search, the chances are extremely slim.
And with multi-platform visibility and consistency becoming more and more of a requirement (thanks to generative search platforms that pull from everywhere to curate their best answers), it would be a huge miss to skip out on submit your sitemap to Bing.
What’s Next? How to Grow Your Site Using Organic Search (AKA SEO)
Submitting your sitemap to Bing (and even Google) is just ONE way to improve your SEO, a way that actually works best if you’ve already built some of your SEO foundations like choosing your primary keywords, adding your meta descriptions and page titles, and optimizing your images.
Otherwise, it’s time to focus on your ongoing strategy like blogging, guest posting (or guest podcasting), improving your online presence as a whole, or refreshing your website’s SEO if you’re still not seeing results.
And, as always, I’m here if you need me!!
