We’ve all heard the name Matt Cutts, and a big reason is because he is so outspoken when it comes to the number one search engine’s practices. He is constantly creating videos, attending conferences, and tweeting and sharing information about new Google updates, opinions, and ideas (no matter how vague and frustrating these messages may be at times). However, we have to remember that Matt Cutts is not the only person out there with a little bit of SEO power: we still have Bing.
For some reason, those behind Bing simply aren’t talked about as much as Matt Cutts. Google might control more of the search market (a lot more, controlling 67 percent of the market), but that doesn’t mean that Bing isn’t important. According to the latest comScore search engine rankings for January 2013, Bing’s market share was up from 16.3 percent in December to 16.5 percent in January. This leads you to ask: Who is behind Bing, and is there a reason why we haven’t heard much from them?
More about Head of Bing Webspam Team Duane Forrester
The simple answer to the question above is no, there is no reason why we haven’t heard much from him because we have heard from him. The man behind Bing is just as vocal and accessible as Cutts, but being that Cutts works for the number one and Bing Works for the number two, he just might not be in the spotlight as often. However, the name Duane Forrester is surely something that webmasters and company owners have heard.
To give you a little bit of background on Forrester: He is the Senior Product Manager with Bing’s Webmaster Program and has been working with SEO for over ten years (MSN, General Motors, GAP to name a few). He oversees the Webmaster forums for Bing and runs the public outreach side of the Webmaster program.
Resources Available from Duane Forrester
One thing that Forrester hasn’t really done quite as well as Matt Cutts is create short videos addressing user questions. However, his content is very accessible in the same way as Cutts. You can find Forrester in several different places:
Search Engine Land. Forrester is a frequent author at arguably the most influential SEO blog out there, Search Engine Land. You can easily visit his author page to see everything he has ever written on the topic. Popping up on popular blogs is one thing Cutts never does, so Forrester is unique in this sense.His Own Blog. Duane runs his own blog at theonlinemarketingguy.com. This blog doesn’t give a lot of information about Bing per-se, but it is a place where Forrester can give his opinions on other news in the industry and his view on new practices. The more you can understand about his way of thinking, surely the better you will understand how Bing operates.The Bing Blog. The Bing blog works exactly like the Google blog. If there is new information regarding the search engine, or something that search engine really wants you to know (for example, how much they disapprove of Google’s new enhanced campaigns), it all happens on the Bing blog.Twitter. No surprise here, Forrester is active on Twitter with 6,237 followers (a bit less than Cutts’s 230,752 followers; hence the need for this article).Forrester is likely to get more attention as Bing continues to grow, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t important now. Bing can still drive a lot of traffic to your site, and the better you understand how that search engine works, the easier time you will have taking advantage of the benefits (not to mention get ahead of your Google-obsessed competition).
How to Use this Information to Help Your SEO
Being able to use these resources can help you optimize your website for Bing. Hearing from the person in charge is the easiest way to make sure you’re following quality advice, and it’s a great way to stay up to date when it comes to changes in the algorithm. Forrester offers information that no one else can offer, just like Cutts, so it’s important to listen up.
Why do you think Forrester doesn’t get as much attention as Matt Cutts? Do you think utilizing the resources discussed above will help you in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Amanda DiSilvestro is a graduate of Illinois State University. Although she graduated with an English Education degree, she found herself working as a full-time blogger in the SEO/social media department at HigherVisibility.com. Connect with HigherVisibility on Google+ and Twitter to learn more!
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