Can Microsoft’s Bing Beat Google In The Search Engine Wars?

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Internet Marketing Newsletter – Special Report

Can Microsoft’s Bing Beat Google In The Search Engine Wars?

This week, like many online marketers who keep a close eye
on countless profitable keywords, I spent most of my time
giving Bing (the new search engine from Microsoft) a really
good run-through. I was mainly testing it to see how good the
results were compared to those given by Google, who is still
the top dog when it comes to the extremely lucrative online
search market.

My first overall impression of Bing has been surprisingly
positive. I really wasn’t expecting it to be so good, mainly
because it was coming from Microsoft and my opinion of them
lately has been permanently downgraded by my own trials and
tribulations with Vista on my brand new “IBUYPOWER” gaming PC.
What were they thinking… it had me scrambling for my old Windows XP
which I truly love using… let us just hope Bill and the boys get the next
Windows OS right!

In this light, I was very curious to see how Microsoft would
do with this new search engine or site? Would they give us
something useful or totally mess it up?

While one would like to remain objective in analyzing any new
search engine, our own viewpoints do creep into our judgments,
many a time without us even realizing it. So with this in mind,
please read the following information and critique of Bing in
this light. Also, since the majority of my present online income
comes directly or indirectly from Google, most of my own personal
opinions are slanted in favor of Google. I really like Google
and I have been using it personally for years. I can honestly
say I could not get through my marketing day without Google.
And this is not so much Google search, it’s Google Alerts,
Google Analytics, Google Adwords, Google AdSense, Google Docs,
Google Maps, Google Earth, iGoogle… and the list goes on.

But the question at hand – Can Microsoft’s Bing Really, Truly,
Honestly give Google Search a run for those all-important search
engine dollars?

First, you really have to check out the Bing site or interface
and see it for yourself. Like Google’s, it’s very simple with only
search as the main function, as it should be. Your search can be
on the Web, Images, News, Maps, and more… does this sound
familiar to you? Does it remind you of another search engine?

Bing!

There are also links at the top of the Bing homepage pointing
to Sympatico/MSN, Windows Live and Make Bing Your Homepage. There
is also a very scenic background picture which they seem to be
changing/rotating each day. This might seem like a minor point,
but in my opinion it’s a nicely added touch that will help visitors
remember Bing in their mind’s eye. Catching your potential user’s
attention should never be frowned upon when you’re discussing the web.

As a former artist, I am always impressed when I see a nice
layout and design incorporated into a website. Bing gets top
marks for a simple, yet great design. It just has a little more
impact than Google’s now-iconic homage to white space. But will
search users of Bing really be looking for scenic pictures or will
they be looking for good solid results to solve their questions
and problems? In most cases, they will be looking for the latter.
However, the background images on Bing could help distinguish it from
Google because the search results themselves are extremely similar
in many cases. Don’t know if this is good news or bad news for Google?

I was firmly struck with how same the results are in both search
engines. Since I am a full-time online marketer, I monitor countless
keywords on a regular basis (hey, they’re my bread and butter), so
I have to keep a close watch on them. Thankfully, most of my first
page Google keywords are also being displayed on the first page in
Bing, so I can easily remain neutral in any upcoming search wars
should they occur, those Swiss guys have the right idea.

While the results and the way they are displayed, are very similar
in both engines, in my opinion, Bing has a better layout with
a much more pleasing arrangement of their listings. There’s a nice
preview button for each listing and it gives you related searches
and your search history on the left-hand side of the page. More
importantly, the search results are substantive, for example,
if you search for Obama, in addition to the search results you
will get related Obama listings for Issues, Facts, Biography,
Childhood, Speeches and News. Also, in this case, you have around
20 main listings running down the results page as opposed to Google
which usually gives 10 main organic listings. Although this is
changing as Google places in more News, Products, Videos
and Brand Name links into their rather crowded listings.

One slight difference, Google has the “Did you mean” feature
which helps correct your spelling and help you find the right
word you’re searching for. It would be curious to see how many
people/students/searchers use Google not for search but as a
gloried spell-checker! Regardless, this is still a major reason
for many people to keep using Google. Not to be outdone, Bing has
a similar function and will guess at the right word or spelling.

Bing Romiance

At the moment if you compare web traffic as measured by Alexa.com,
you will see that Google is in the number one spot. It gets the most
traffic of any site on the web but all of this is not search traffic,
only around 65% goes to search if you also count image search – gmail
counts for around 25% of the traffic.

In second place we have Yahoo.com but most people use that site
for email, around 43% and much less use it for search. MSN comes
in at number 6 and again visitors are using it for other things than
for search. You can note that Bing traffic is listed under
“runonce.msn.com” and accounts for roughly 20% of the traffic.

MSN Alexa

Curiously, I see from my own log stats that Bing is regarded as a
site rather than a search engine. Most of my sites use AWStats
and Bing is listed under sites rather than in the search engine
section. I am already seeing some traffic from Bing, be interesting
to monitor this traffic and see if it increases over time…
could be a good indication Bing is catching on with search users.

Bing Obama!

Can Bing truly compete with Google?

Well, judge for yourself, take the Obama test! Do a test search
of Obama in both Bing and Google. Compare the results – which
one do you like? Which one gives a better overall picture/summary
of Obama? Be honest, be true… which results would you like to
see in your searches? Does Bing give Google some real competition?
The answer to that question lies on both those pages… any search
engine who will beat Google must give quality results, as good as
or better than Google. The same holds true for Bing or any of the new
search engines which have appeared recently on the web.

Google Obama!

Frankly, at the moment, I don’t see any search engine (old or new)
giving Google any real serious competition. Mainly because Google
hasn’t just remained a search engine, wisely, it has expanded its
functions and services over a whole list of web activities, way beyond
search. Combined, all these services (mostly free) have propelled the Google
Brand Name into the most serious player on the web. Even if someone
gives Google a run for all those search dollars… Google can easily
win the traffic war on so many other fronts.

Only time will tell if Bing can eat into Google’s 70% or more share of
the very lucrative U.S. search market. But if they keep it simple and
start offering the same or better results than Google, Bing (aka Microsoft)
could give Google a few hiccups, we could actually see some major battles
for the search users’ hearts and minds, especially among the hard-core
searchers. Bing does have an appeal and one can’t forget that Microsoft
does have more than a few pennies to throw at this venture.

In the end, because of Google’s dominance and well-deserved reputation
for giving quality results, not to mention a Brand Name that has probably
already leaped into our genetic code, only marketing and lots of it, will
give Bing an outside chance of beating Google. And if you’re laughing at
that statement, you probably have an attic full of GM stocks gathering dust.

Please Share:

Titus Hoskins
www.bizwaremagic.com

How Many Sites Do You Need To Succeed Online?

BWMagic’s Internet Marketing News!

…….
Contents:

How Many Sites Do You Need To Succeed Online?
…….

As I put the finishing touches on my 10th site,
it suddenly occurred to me, do I really need all
these sites to earn a living from the web?

I answered my own question with a firm NO!

Actually, some online marketers don’t even have a site of their
own and instead they promote other affiliate sites and products
with their marketing. While I don’t personally recommend this
route, many successful marketers have taken it and are quite happy
with not having to bother with the whole business of running
an online site of their own.

But you should have at least one main site, your flagship, your
address on the web where people can find you. This also gives
you an online identity. It tells everyone this is the area or
subject matter you’re promoting…

For years I had one main site which kept me extremely busy and
earned me a modest online income. I still have this site and yes
it still keeps me busy and it is still profitable.

So why build more sites?

Mainly because as you proceed with your online marketing, you
will find niches that require their own sites. You have to expand
and branch out from your main site. The new sites are connected
and supported by your old one. It is a very effective way of
building more quality traffic and business.

But the main reason to build new sites is to prepare yourself
for the future. You must stake your claim in all those
“keyword domains” that still can be had at the moment.

Let me explain further, having your main keywords in the domain
name of your site is important for SEO reasons – search engines
will clearly know what your site is about. More importantly,
and this is why I build new sites, your visitors will CLEARLY
know what your site is about because of its keywords.

I will explain further, my main site is entitled www.bizwaremagic.com
– for the life of me, I don’t know how I came up with that
name, just wanted something to do with “bizware” since the site
is about marketing/business tools. When I created that site around
7 or 8 years ago, I was totally unaware of what keywords were or
how they worked on the web.

Over the years, I have developed niches related to business tools
and services. It’s no big secret that one of those niches is “Internet
Fax”. Now since those keywords are not in my original site’s name,
I really needed a domain/site that had those keywords and thus I created
a new site that has my keywords and also tells exactly what the site is
about, a guide to online fax.

It is much easier to promote this domain/site on the web because it’s
directly and only related to the subject of Internet Fax. Just by
glancing at the URL – visitors will know exactly what the site is
about.

Why is all this important to you – you ask?

Well, if you’re a webmaster or marketer on the web, you should be
doing the same thing. Staking your claim in the keyword domains that
are still out there. Never underestimate the power of a domain name…
imagine having “hotels.com” “cars.com”… those domains are priceless
for earning revenue on the web.

Getting domains with valuable keywords should be your goal. These are
the keywords web surfers are using to find your product or service.
These keyworded domains will make your marketing simple and easy.

And as you probably already know, most of the shorter keyword domains
are already taken. Marketers have jumped on this concept years ago and
most of the valuable domains are already staked and claimed. In the
future, as these keyword domains age, they will become very valuable,
especially if you build up your links and connections with other
related sites. Your site will be in the mix of things and all that
commercial activity.

Since most of the good shorter domains are already taken, what I like
to do is to add a third word to the main keywords I am targeting, like
in the case above, I added “guide” to “internet fax” since most of my sites
are also about educating potential customers about a particular product or
service. And since it’s about education, I don’t mind using an “.org”
instead the one you should always go with “.com”.

This gives me the opportunity to do comparison pricing, to build a list
of contacts, and to more easily market to people without actually
selling them anything since I am heavily into affiliate marketing and
the major vendors that I am promoting do the actual selling, not me.

But even if you have your own product or service, having your keywords
in the domain is just as important. It will make your marketing job
much easier to do. And if you have a service or product that has a lot
of sub-branches or related products, you just might want to build
new domains/sites directly related to those products.

It’s something you should be seriously considering – while there is
still time to get some of those valuable domains. You will discover
like me, two is much better than one. Actually, in my case, ten is
much better than one!

…………

Kind Regards,
Titus
www.bizwaremagic.com

Finding The Best Internet Marketing Training

…….
Contents:

o How To Find The Best Internet Marketing Training
…….

Since most of the people reading this modest newsletter are
mainly concerned with promoting their websites and/or marketing
their products online, I thought I would go back to the basics.
Mainly because I get so many emails from subscribers
who are just starting out and have many questions about
how to begin all this marketing stuff.

I believe one of the major stumbling blocks (at least it
was for me) most beginning marketers have, is finding
the right online training. Getting those first tips or
pointers on how to proceed is crucial to how well you do.

Which kind of direction you’re given, is vital to how
well you succeed. Those first steps are all important…
so with this in mind, I thought I would give you an article
I wrote several years ago on this very topic:

How To Find The Best Internet Marketing Training

In this article, I explain the many different sources
of online training, you can get – many of them for free.
These resources and marketers were very helpful to me
in my own marketing and I hope some of the information
here may prove helpful to you also…


How To Find The Best Internet Marketing Training
Copyright © 2007 Titus Hoskins

So you want to be an Internet Marketer? You want
to be your own boss. You want to set your own hours
and work from the comfort of your own home, no matter
where in the world you choose to live. You simply want
the freedom working on the web gives you.

Realistically, the only major obstacle in your way
is a good solid training or education in how online
marketing really works.

So just how does one earn a living online?

No doubt you have heard all the over-hyped stories
of how some nearly comatose dim-wit with just a few
functioning brain cells makes a financial killing online.
Or how some geeky high school kid working on a
computer in his parent’s basement cracks the formula
for making big bucks on the net.

However, if you can dismiss all the bogus claims and
see through all the marketing hype, you will find
thousands upon thousands of very ordinary people
quietly working on the web and making a very decent
living from the comfort of their own homes.

All of them had to acquire the skills and knowledge
needed to become part of this new cyber workforce.
Each one had to obtain a good education or training
in order to make the web work for them. They had to
discover the techniques and methods of making a
website or online business produces revenue 24/7/365,
earning income automatically even while they’re
sleeping.

Read More

Kind Regards,
Titus

https://www.bizwaremagic.com