We’ve all seen the movies: AI has been a long time coming, and it’s growing to be a part of everyday life. Of course, at Mediaura, we first think of what that means for the digital marketing services we provide to our clients.
Bing’s new chatbot, which uses a tool from OpenAI (the company behind Chat GPT), is the next step in the search engine game. It’s set to change the internet — and SEO — and we want to help you navigate this new digital landscape.
First, let’s talk about what Bing is: It’s a search engine, so-called because you use it to search the internet for information. Bing sometimes gets a bad rep for being a lesser-known search engine compared to Google — but it still boasts a sizeable 900 million searches a day. And with its new AI integration, it could steal some of that precious market share from Google.
Bing is taking the concept of “search”, and turning it into “ask.” While this is a dramatic departure from how we use the internet currently, your business’ website can still maintain relevance by following the existing principles of good SEO.
How will this affect me, the searcher?
When you search for something on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, or elsewhere, you generally expect to see pages of links that hopefully align with your query (what you typed in the search box). With Bing’s AI chatbot, you get to consult an expert on everything. Is it perfect? Not yet (see this article about some eerie conversations between a user and the bot). But that’s the idea. When you search for something on the internet, oftentimes you are asking a question. Rather than giving links to webpages with the answers, the chatbot will crawl the web, and answer it itself.
You won’t literally have to turn your query into a question; but search engines are becoming more conversational, and responding to you as though you did.
How will this affect me, the business owner?
This means that ideally, your website should be answering said questions through thorough and informative content. People want to know about your business and the goods and/or services you provide! As a business owner, don’t hesitate to put your knowledge and expertise out there on the web. Whether on the main pages of your site or in your blog content, information is gold when it comes to SEO.
Bing’s new chatbot will rely on websites like yours to answer users’ questions. If you as a business, can show your expertise through web content, Bing chat is more likely to use your site as a reference. What does this mean? Your site is reputable, and that is a massive ranking factor for all search engines, including Google.
How can I prepare my website for Bing’s new chatbot AI?
Well, we already covered it, but content is king. No matter what you do, don’t be afraid to post content about it for all the world to see; the people who are looking will find it. But of course, things get more technical than that. This is where we get to the concept of Schema Markup.
What is Schema and how do I use it to my advantage?
Schema is a way to help search engines understand what your website is about. Think of it as formatting for your website, but in a way a search engine like Bing or Google can read. It’s not something that can be seen by visitors to the site but is implemented through your site’s code. There is Schema available for lots of different kinds of content— articles, blogs, FAQs etc. FAQs are particularly important here, because they provide answers to questions, of course. As SEO experts, there are certain ways we can make sure your website is optimized to answer the questions of your customers — for example — what kind of floor should I put in my bathroom? If your website is built to answer that question — both through your written content and through the backend technical aspects — we can help you become a trusted source of info in that realm. We, of course, will also rely on the tried-and-true bread and butter of SEO strategy — keywords. Using keywords that are commonly found in your customers’ searches is the foundation of any good SEO strategy, and with the implementation of search engine chatbots, keywords are as important as ever.
What next?
Bing’s chatbot is here. What happens next is up to you. Do you want curious customers to find your website by asking questions relevant to your brand? At Mediaura, we believe in you, and want people to find your presence online. Let us help you connect with customers, and give us a click or call today.
