Bing Deindexing is a critical issue with Microsoft Bing. Many people complain that some pages of their website are indexed on Google, but at the same time they are deindexed on bing. What could be the reason for this? Well, in my opinion, you need to understand that Bing and Google are two different search engines. If a page of your website is indexed on one search engine but not on the other, there is no need to be surprised, as both search engines have different algorithms. Their rules for ranking, indexing, and deindexing are different as well. In this blog, I will explain the reasons behind the Bing deindexing issue and how they can be prevented.
Comparing Microsoft Bing with Google;
A common mistake people make with Bing is comparing it to Google. Google is currently the world’s most popular search engine, and its indexing size is significantly larger compared to Bing’s. Additionally, Google frequently updates its indexing system, ensuring it stays up-to-date. On the other hand, Bing, being a smaller search engine, updates its indexing system less frequently. So, When solving or understanding Bing’s issues, you must focus on the fundamentals of search engines while forgetting Google’s approach. For example, crawling is a fundamental search engine operation, and while the concept remains the same, Google and Bing approach it differently. Google adopts a simplistic and minimalistic approach, whereas Bing focuses on a visually rich search results page with large images and more aesthetically appealing ads. Personally, I like google’s search results page style.
Bing has now become as strict with penalizing websites as Google once was. However, Google now uses machine learning and vast amounts of data to automatically address many issues, such as duplicate content or bad backlinks. This means Google rarely imposes manual penalties or de-indexes websites anymore. But Bing, being smaller than Google, still penalizes websites for issues that Google might ignore. Understanding this distinction is crucial for addressing Bing’s problems.
Hosting Companies Blocking Bing Bots;
When Bingbots crawl webpages, their crawling behavior is very aggressive. They repeatedly send requests to the data center, which wastes the resources of hosting companies. To avoid this, companies block Bingbots.
If you want to check whether your hosting company has blocked the Bing bot for your website, visit the website “technicalseo{dot}com” and follow these steps.
technicalseo.com>SEO Tools>Rendering>Fetch&Render
Url k jaga apni website ka url daalye or user agent bing bot select kijiye. If the status code shows 200, your site is fine. If not, contact your hosting provider and ask them to unblock Bing bot IPs.
Keyword Stuffing
First, let’s understand what keyword stuffing is. When a website unnecessarily adds excessive keywords to its articles or content solely to rank higher on search engines, it is called keyword stuffing. This technique harms the user experience and goes against search engine guidelines. It can lead to de-indexation by Bing. While this tactic worked about 15 years ago, it’s now ineffective. Review your content and remove unnecessary keywords. Simplify your content to avoid stuffing. While we discussed the drawbacks of keyword stuffing, it’s equally important to understand the keyword density. The ideal ratio of keywords in any article or webpage, should be between 1% and 2% according to search engines, meaning that If an article has 1,000 words, the main keyword should ideally appear 10 to 20 times.
Duplicate Content Issue;
First, let’s understand what duplicate content is. When very similar content appears on different pages of your website, it is called duplicate content.
This issue arises when:
- The same article is uploaded on different URLs.
- Content is copied from another website.
- Or when content on the same topic is created repeatedly.
Bing penalizes duplicate content by de-indexing websites, whereas Google no longer penalizes for this. Remove copied content from your site, and avoid reposting content from other websites. Duplicate content within your website can arise if multiple URLs lead to the same page (e.g., HTTP vs. HTTPS, www vs. non-www, trailing slash variations). The solution to this is to Use canonical tags to tell search engines which version of the page to index.
Low-Quality Backlinks
Unlike Google, Bing still penalizes websites for spammy and poor-quality backlinks. These include comment backlinks, profile backlinks, and pbn backlinks. So if you are still creating such backlinks, Remove them and focus on building high-quality ones.
Affiliate Websites
If you do affiliate marketing on your website and copy product descriptions from the manufacturer, Bing can penalize you for this as well. Always post unique and valuable content on your website.
Doorway Pages;
These are pages created to target specific keywords or locations, with content that’s nearly identical except for minor changes (e.g., city names). As discussed above, always Ensure each page has unique content and remove doorway pages altogether.
How Bing Index Your Site?
Understanding how Bing actually finds and indexes our website is as important as knowing Bing’s deindexing issues. Having some knowledge about this will help you in resolving the deindexing issue.
Sitemaps;
Just like on Google, If you want to get your web pages indexed quickly on Bing as well, submit your website’s sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools.
I would recommend using an XML sitemap because it it ensures that Bing knows about all the relevant content on your website.
You can submit your sitemap through Bing Webmaster Tools and also make it available in your robots.txt file as well. Once your sitemap is set up and submitted, Bing will crawl it regularly. However, there is no need to resubmit the sitemap unless you make significant changes to your site.
To submit sitemap to bing, follow this path
Sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools> Click “Add a Site” button and enter your website’s URL>Follow the verification process>After your site is verified, go to your website’s dashboard in Bing Webmaster Tools>Configure My Site>Click on “Sitemaps” >Enter the full URL of your sitemap (e.g., https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml) and click “Submit”>After submitting, Bing will process the sitemap. You can view the status and any errors under the “Sitemaps” section.
Important Points About Submitting Sitemap to Bing;
- Bing prefers XML sitemaps. But it also supports RSS 2.0 feeds, Atom 0.3 feeds, and text sitemaps.
- An XML sitemap can contain up to 50,000 URLs and have a maximum file size of 50MB (uncompressed). For larger sites, you can use multiple sitemaps and a sitemap index file.
- Make sure that sitemap is encoded in UTF-8. It means that your sitemap should use a standard way of writing text that bing can understand properly. UTF-8 is a universal language for computers that ensures computers can correctly understand any information or input.
- Bing strongly recommends using secure (HTTPS) sitemaps.
Another important factor is ensuring that your links are crawlable. Bingbot follows both internal and external links to discover new pages and content. The key here is to ensure that you are not using excessive or spammy links that could negatively impact your site’s indexing. Build your internal and external links in an organic manner, ensuring that they are relevant and guide the Bingbot to your content efficiently.
Manage Redirects Properly;
It’s also essential to manage your redirects correctly. If you decide to move content to another URL, make sure you use the proper HTTP redirects. A 301 permanent redirect signals to Bing that the content has permanently moved to a new location, while a 302 temporary redirect should be used for content that will be moved for a short period.
Using redirects appropriately ensures that Bing doesn’t mistake your content for a 404 error (page not found) and deindexes it. A common mistake is using a rel=”canonical” tag in place of a proper redirect, but this can confuse search engines and result in unintended consequences. Always use the correct redirect method to maintain your page’s indexing and authority.
Understanding How Bing Handles JavaScript and Dynamic Content
Bing is capable of processing JavaScript, but it comes with certain limitations. Large websites that rely heavily on dynamic content or excessive use of JavaScript might experience slower crawling and indexing times. For large sites, Bing recommends using dynamic rendering. This process serves pre-rendered content to Bingbot while providing JavaScript-based content to regular visitors.
If your website is rich in JavaScript, ensure that Bingbot can properly crawl it by setting up the correct rendering methods. This ensures that all your content, even dynamic content, is visible to Bing’s crawler and can be indexed properly.
Content is King So Keep It Rich and Relevant
Once you have handled the technical aspects of your site, it’s time to focus on the content. Bing, like any search engine, thrives on high-quality, unique, and engaging content. Websites that lack sufficient content or primarily focus on ads or affiliate links often find themselves slipping in rankings or even being excluded from Bing’s index entirely.
To avoid this, create content with your users in mind, not search engines. Bing values content that is clear, relevant, and helpful to your audience. The more unique and comprehensive your content is, the better your chances of staying indexed on Bing.
Additionally, make sure your content is easy to navigate and provides a satisfying user experience. A well-structured site with proper heading tags, alt text for images, and clear navigation paths will help Bing understand your pages better and rank them accordingly.
Making Content Discoverable: The Role of Images and Videos
As part of your content strategy, don’t overlook the importance of images and videos. Not only do they make your pages more engaging, but Bing can also extract information from these media to improve indexing. Be sure to use descriptive titles, captions, and alt text for your images and videos to help Bing understand what they’re about.
Images and videos should also be optimized to improve your website’s load time. Large, unoptimized media can slow down your page’s performance, potentially causing issues with Bing’s crawling efficiency. Compress your images and videos and use the appropriate formats to ensure that your site remains fast and efficient.
The Importance of the Robots.txt File
The robots.txt file plays a crucial role in managing how Bingbot crawls your website. If you want to prevent Bingbot from crawling specific pages or sections of your site, you can use the robots.txt file to block access. However, be cautious with the use of this file, as blocking too much content can result in important pages not being indexed.
It’s also worth noting that using a “Disallow” in robots.txt doesn’t guarantee that a page won’t appear in search results. To block a page from appearing in Bing’s search results, it’s better to use the “noindex” meta tag. Regularly review your robots.txt file and keep it up to date to avoid unintentionally blocking important pages.
Conclusion;
So, now you have a good understanding of how to prevent Bing from deindexing your website. This involves a combination of proper technical SEO practices, quality content creation, and strategic link building. By focusing on the fundamentals of how Bing indexes content and understanding its specific requirements, you can ensure that your website remains in Bing’s good books and continues to rank well.
Always remember that while Bing and Google share similar principles, their algorithms are different. By keeping these distinctions in mind and following the guidelines provided above, you can minimize the chances of your website being penalized or de indexed on Bing.
