If you’ve spent months optimizing your site for Google and completely ignored Bing, you’re leaving traffic on the table. Yes, Bing only holds a small slice of the search market compared to Google — but “small slice” of billions of searches still adds up to a lot of potential visitors. And here’s the kicker: Bing powers search results for Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and even parts of ChatGPT’s web search, so optimizing for Bing actually stretches further than most people realize.
If you’ve never touched Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT) before, this guide walks you through everything a beginner needs — from setting up your account to submitting your sitemap to actually understanding the reports without getting overwhelmed.
What Is Bing Webmaster Tools, Anyway?
Bing Webmaster Tools is a free platform from Microsoft that lets website owners monitor how their site performs in Bing’s search results. Think of it as Bing’s version of Google Search Console. It shows you:
- Which pages are indexed
- What keywords are bringing in clicks
- Crawl errors and technical issues
- Backlink data
- Mobile-friendliness and site health scores
If you’re already using Google Search Console, a lot of this will feel familiar. The interface is a little different, but the core purpose is the same: help you understand how search engines see your website.
Why Bother With Bing in 2026?
A lot of beginner bloggers skip Bing entirely because “everyone uses Google.” Fair point, but consider this:
- Less competition. Fewer sites actively optimize for Bing, which means it’s often easier to rank there than on Google.
- Older, wealthier audience. Bing’s user base skews toward desktop users, often in the US, and studies have repeatedly shown they tend to have higher average income — great news if you’re running an affiliate or e-commerce site.
- AI search integration. Since Bing’s index feeds into Microsoft Copilot and partners with OpenAI’s web search features, having a Bing-friendly site improves your visibility across an entire ecosystem of AI-powered search tools.
- It’s free and takes 15 minutes. There’s really no downside to setting it up.
Step 1: Create Your Bing Webmaster Tools Account
Head over to Bing Webmaster Tools and sign in with a Microsoft account (or your Google or Facebook account — Bing added this option a while back to make onboarding easier).
Once you’re logged in, click “Add a Site” and enter your domain URL, something like https://creetons.com.
Step 2: Verify Site Ownership
Bing needs proof that you actually own the site before it shows you any data. You’ll get a few verification options:
- XML file upload – Download a small verification file and upload it to your site’s root directory.
- Meta tag – Add a snippet of code to your homepage’s
<head>section. - DNS record (CNAME) – Add a CNAME entry through your domain registrar.
- Import from Google Search Console – If you’ve already verified your site with Google, this is by far the fastest option. One click, and Bing pulls your verified sites automatically.
For most beginners running WordPress, the meta tag method is the easiest. Just paste the code into your theme’s header using a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers, save, and click Verify on the Bing dashboard.
Step 3: Submit Your Sitemap
Once verified, go to the “Sitemaps” section under Configure My Site. Submit your sitemap URL — usually something like https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml if you’re using Yoast SEO or Rank Math.
This tells Bing exactly which pages exist on your site and speeds up indexing significantly. Without a sitemap, Bing has to crawl and discover pages on its own, which can take much longer.
Step 4: Use URL Submission for Faster Indexing
Bing Webmaster Tools has a genuinely underrated feature: manual URL submission. Under “URL Submission,” you can submit individual pages directly for crawling — up to a daily quota depending on your site’s verified status.
This is incredibly useful when you publish a new blog post and don’t want to wait days for Bing’s crawler to find it naturally. I’d recommend making this part of your regular publishing routine: write the post, hit publish, then submit the URL to Bing right away.
Step 5: Explore the Key Reports
Once your site has some data flowing in (usually within a few days to a couple weeks), here are the reports worth checking regularly:
Search Performance
Shows impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and average position for your keywords. This is where you’ll spend most of your time figuring out what’s actually working.
Site Health
Flags crawl errors, malware issues, and other technical problems that could hurt your rankings.
Backlinks
Bing shows you which sites link back to you — useful for tracking your off-page SEO efforts and spotting toxic or spammy backlinks early.
Keyword Research Tool
Yes, Bing has its own built-in keyword research tool, and it’s free. It won’t be as robust as paid tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, but for beginners on a budget, it’s a solid starting point for finding search volume and related terms.
Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring it after setup. Verifying your site and forgetting about it defeats the purpose. Check in at least monthly.
- Not fixing crawl errors. Small errors pile up and can quietly hurt your visibility over time.
- Skipping mobile optimization. Bing’s site scan checks mobile-friendliness, and a poor score can hold back your rankings just like it does on Google.
- Forgetting to resubmit your sitemap after big site changes. If you restructure your URLs or migrate platforms, update Bing right away.
Final Thoughts
Bing Webmaster Tools isn’t going to replace Google Search Console as your primary SEO dashboard, but it shouldn’t be an afterthought either. It takes minimal effort to set up, gives you visibility into an entirely separate audience, and — thanks to its ties with Copilot and AI-driven search — its relevance is only growing.
If you’re serious about growing organic traffic in 2026 and beyond, spend the fifteen minutes it takes to get verified, submit your sitemap, and start tracking your performance. Future you will thank present you for not leaving that extra traffic on the table.