Google AdWords wasn’t the first search engine to come out with the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) model, but they certainly are the biggest and most well-known. However, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore other search engines such as Bing. In fact, there are many marketers who are making full-time livings on search engines like Bing without spending any money on Google at all.
Here are the differences between AdWords and Bing and why might you choose one over the other:
Conversion Rates
Out of AdWords, Yahoo! (run by Bing) and Bing, Bing traffic tends to convert the best. That means that out of 1,000 visitors, you’ll tend to get more sales from Bing than from AdWords or Yahoo! traffic. One common theory as to why is because people using Google tend to be more savvy computer users and more discerning about where they spend money. Bing users tend to be people who just left their browsers on their default search engines. They’re less discerning with their money and their internet habits.
Volume
This is where Google AdWords wins. For any given keyword, you can expect to get ten percent or less with Bing than what you would get if you bid on the same keyword in AdWords. That doesn’t mean that you can’t make significant money on Bing, it just means that your strategy needs to be different.
Bidding Strategy
Generally, with AdWords you don’t want to go for high-profile, high-competition keywords with high volume, as the bid prices are just too high. With Bing, however, Bing’s PPC bids tend to be a a good deal cheaper than AdWords, and there also tends to be less competition. That means that on AdWords a keyword like “Lose belly fat” may be far too competitive and expensive.
On the other hand, on Bing there will be competition, but you may have a good shot at making money with the keyword because your ads will be seen, not caught up in a bidding war and in a Google score issue. Basically, on Bing you’ll need to take advantage of the lower competition to bid on broader keywords. This will help you offset the lower search volume: You increase your total traffic by bidding on higher traffic keywords.
AdWords versus Bing
There are many similarities in strategies between AdWords and Bing. The principles of writing great ads and split-testing carefully apply to both systems equally. Choosing the right keywords is as important in one as it is the other. On the other hand, these two systems require very different strategies to master.
AdWords often requires drilling down to very precise keywords in order to create profitable campaigns. On Bing, your main challenge is often getting enough volume rather than getting your traffic to convert.
Each search engine is different and needs different approaches. There’s a lot of money to be made in both. Overall, Bing is cheaper, easier to use, converts well, and gives targeted traffic. If you’re not already using Bing, get started today with our 10-video, multimedia course, Bing to Win. You’ll discover how to leverage Bing for both free and paid traffic, for more subscribers, sales and proits.
