Unless you are living under a rock you’ve probably heard about Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing.   

There’s a lot of buzz about it for several reasons.  First, it’s a Microsoft product and anything with the name Microsoft affixed to it gets a lot of press.  Second, there’s been a lot of gamesmanship between the big three (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft) ever since Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo.  Third, Microsoft has spent a kazillion dollars on marketing for Bing. 

So what does the introduction of Bing mean for your search engine optimization efforts?  Is it a game changer? Should you revamp your strategy on the account of Bing? 

The simple answer is: not yet.  According to Reuters/StatCounter, Bing did make gains in search engine popularity in June.  However, it’s still way behind Google.  Assuming the surge in popularity of Bing is related to having a great product and not the marketing blitz (which is a whole other conversation), it’s still going to take a really long time for Bing to overtake Google at the current pace. 

I just reviewed our June inSITE reports for our search engine optimization clients.  Without crunching hard numbers, traffic to our clients’ sites referred from Google looked about the same.  Additionally, Bing remained in third place among search engine referral traffic.   

However, for the WRIS site Bing was ahead of Yahoo (but still behind Google).  I have no idea what that means.  Perhaps, people looking for web design or SEO services are more apt to try Bing?  Whatever the reason, I found it interesting.  I’m looking forward to next month’s data to see if the results stay the same or change. 

So in conclusion, don’t change your search engine optimization strategy just yet.  But definitely keep an eye on Bing.

I often get asked by new clients if they should spread their pay-per-click advertising dollars between Google, Yahoo and MSN or just stick with Google AdWords.

My standard response is “if you have the money and have optimized your Google AdWords accounts already than go for it – otherwise, stick to doing one (Google) really well.”

The latest stats from HitWise seem to confirm this advice:

Search engines continue to be the primary navigational tool of the Internet, and Google continues way ahead of the pack. Just fewer than 73% (72.74%) of all searches carried out online in the U.S. in April this year were via Google.

Google is overwhelmingly where the searchers are, so that’s where you should concentrate your budget.  Of course, that can mean more competition and maybe added expense.  But for a small and medium size business with a limited budget, you need to weigh the upside of exposure with the added cost (if any).