SEO jenseits von Google - Darum sind Bing, Ecosia, DuckDuckGo & Co. wichtig
- Google is the most popular search engine worldwide and in Germany (desktop & mobile)
- However, search engines such as Bing, Ecosia and DuckDuckGo are becoming more popular
- Alternative search engines often have less competition for certain keywords
- Here it is often easier to rank high in the search results.
- The optimisation criteria for alternative search engines are often very similar to those for Google
- Good search engine optimisation is also indispensable on shopping platforms and YouTube
In this article we cover the following topics:
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Alternative search engines beyond Google - does that make sense?
Google is the world's number one search engine and has an almost monopolistic market share in many countries. In some countries the market is still contested (e.g. Russia, China), but in Europe and especially in Germany Google's market share is overwhelming. However, the number of alternatives to Google is growing, but most of them are neither well-known nor widely used. Ecosia, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, YANDEX and Baidu are among the best-known or at least most-discussed names.
But what distinguishes the alternatives from Google & how do they compare? Does it really make sense to adapt the online marketing strategy, especially search engine optimisation, to other search engines as well?
Market shares of search engines worldwide: statistics from 2022
Google is the most used search engine in the world. According to Statista, Google had a market share of 84.14% in the global desktop search engine market in July 2022. But Google is also the undisputed leader via mobile devices, with a market share of 87.6%.
The statistics also show the market shares of the international search engines Bing, Yahoo, Sogou, DuckDuckGo, YANDEX and Baidu. In desktop searches, Bing, Microsoft's search engine, is in second place with a market share of 8.85% and Yahoo, with a market value of 2.54%, is in third place. They are followed by YANDEX, DuckDuckGo, Baidu and Sogou.
The ranking for searches with mobile devices is completely different. Here, the search engine Baidu, which originates from China, is in second place with 9.51%. This search engine is the most popular in China and has a share of 51.6% in the domestic market.(1) It is followed by DuckDuckGo in third place, Yahoo in fourth and Bing in fifth.(2)
Why is alternative search engine optimisation relevant?
Given the ever-changing internet landscape, it is more important than ever to keep up with the latest trends in search engine optimisation. One of the most important recent developments in SEO is in fact the rise of alternative search engines. While Google still dominates the international market, other search engines such as Bing, Ecosia and DuckDuckGo are gaining ground, especially in Germany.
An advantage: Alternative search engines often have less competition for certain keywords, making it easier to rank high in search results. Companies that neglect alternative search engines are therefore missing out on valuable traffic and opportunities to improve their visibility.
Bing - the second most popular search engine
As a search engine, Bing is often overshadowed by its more popular counterpart Google. Nevertheless, Bing should not be underestimated - it is the second most popular search engine in Germany, with a market share of 24% in desktop searches in this country. (3) and also ranks high in the global search engine rankings. So what makes Bing so special? First and foremost, Bing is known for providing accurate and reliable results. Moreover, the search engine is supported by Microsoft, i.e. it is the default search engine for Windows and Cortana (Microsoft's voice assistant). In terms of data protection and sustainability, there are no significant advantages for Bing over Google - both collect user data and place a variety of ads in their search results.
Bing SEA
What sets Bing apart from Google, however, is its ease of use. For companies that rely heavily on search engine advertising (SEA), it can be a great advantage that Google Ads campaigns can be easily transferred to Bing. This saves costs because the click prices (CPC) on Bing are a lot lower compared to Google. This is because more companies, and therefore more competition, place ads on Google.
Note: What you should check, however, before you transfer your entire Google Ads campaign to Bing, is the search volume for the keyword you want to rank for. Because on Bing you obviously have less competition, but also fewer searches. The same is true if you decide to use Bing for SEO as well.
Bing SEO
Search engine optimisation for the Bing search engine makes sense if your target group also uses Bing. If this is the case, you can rest assured, because SEO works on Bing in a similar way as on Google. Also on Bing you will find Featured Snippets, Knowledge Panels, Direct Answers and more in the SERPs.
Here are some points that distinguish Bing from Google:
Snippets are usually longer and more rich in text
Meta descriptions are more extensive with Bing
Backlinks are found more slowly because Bing crawls them less often
Etc.
Ecosia - the search engine that plants trees
In a global comparison, Ecosia hardly plays a role, but in Germany the search engine from Berlin, with a market share of 0.73%, ranks in (4) in third place. Ecosia is known for its sustainable approach, through which money is collected and trees are planted with every search. Behind this is a simple remuneration model: the revenue Ecosia generates is used to finance tree planting campaigns in Africa, South America and parts of Asia, in addition to its own costs. A ticker with the currently already financed trees and further information can be found directly on the Ecosia homepage.
For the search results, Ecosia uses the results from Bing, because Ecosia does not operate its own web crawler & index. The quality of the search results is therefore high - however, with each query, information such as the user's IP and their search query is also transmitted to Bing. Nevertheless, data protection should not be a reason not to use Ecosia. After all, whether Bing, Google or another search engine has this data makes little difference. But the fact is: with this green search engine you can minimise your CO2 footprint.
Ecosia SEO & SEA
Ecosia is based on Bing. This means that the ranking factors of both search engines are identical. The three most important ranking factors of Bing & Ecosia are: Relevance, Timeliness and Ease of Use.
DuckDuckGo SEO - the data secure search engine
In today's digital age, data security & privacy is more important than ever. For this reason, more and more people are turning to DuckDuckGo, the search engine that does not collect or store user data. In Germany, it is the fourth most popular search engine. (5) DuckDuckGo gets its results from its own web crawler and enriches them with additional results from other search engines, especially Bing. Which also means that the measures regarding optimisation hardly differ from those of the Microsoft search engine. In order to remain competitive and deliver good search results for the appropriate search queries, DuckDuckGo also has similar SEO criteria to Google, for example: good & relevant content counts, the user and their experience are the focus.
Since DuckDuckGo, unlike Ecosia, does not share your user data and IP, local SEO is different with this search engine. Be as precise as possible with your location information and optimise not only for city names, but rather for districts or even street names.
SEO auf Shopping Plattformen: Amazon SEO & Co.
Search engine optimisation is irreplaceable, especially for shopping platforms and online shops, because it ensures that potential customers find their way to you. If you have an online shop that does not rank on the first page of search engine results for a certain product or category, few people will buy anything from you. SEO helps consumers find what they are looking for.
A good Amazon SEO strategy includes the onpage optimisation of your product and its category. Write texts for your articles and optimise them with the relevant keywords. Don't forget to think from the perspective of potential buyers. Of course, you can also do this for any other online shop or platform beyond Amazon.
Video SEO: Youtube SEO
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. Therefore, it is no surprise that video SEO is becoming increasingly important. However, optimisation for YouTube works a little differently than for Google and Co. That's why we have put together the 5 most important tips for you on how to optimise your videos for the YouTube algorithm.
Use keywords in the title and description: As with any other SEO measure, the use of relevant keywords is important for YouTube rankings. Make sure you use keywords in your title, description, comments and video tags.
Create transcripts for your videos: Transcripts help YouTube understand the content of your video, which can improve your ranking. You can either create a transcript yourself or use a service like Rev.com.
Optimise your thumbnail image: Your thumbnail is one of the first things users see when they find your video. So make sure it catches the eye and matches the content of the video. This way you can actively increase the CTR.
Promote your videos on social media: Social media can be a good way to attract visitors to your videos. Make sure you share your videos on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and other platforms (depending on your target audience).
Use info cards: Info cards are a great way to keep viewers engaged with your videos. You can use them to promote other videos or playlists or to link to external websites.
Conclusion on the topic of SEO for alternative search engines beyond Google
In a world where the majority of internet traffic goes through a handful of major search engines, it's easy to understand why many businesses focus their search engine optimisation efforts on the most well-known platform - Google. However, it is also worth optimising for alternative search engines. While they may not bring in as much traffic as the big names, alternative search engines can still deliver a steady stream of targeted traffic. And in some cases, they even offer better ranking and visibility opportunities. For example, many alternative search engines give more weight to new and relevant content, which means that a well-timed blog post or article on Bing, Ecosia or DuckDuckGo can have a great reach, especially if your target audience uses one of these alternatives. You can also use one of the search engines to rank for a specific keyword for which there is simply too much competition on Google.
Also for data protection & sustainability reasons, it can make sense to also do SEO on Google competition. More and more people care about these points in a new digital world.
Sources:
(1) https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/225953/umfrage/die-weltweit-meistgenutzten-suchmaschinen/
(2) https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/222849/umfrage/marktanteile-der-suchmaschinen-weltweit/
(3) https://about.ads.microsoft.com/de-de
(4), (5) https://www.similarweb.com/de/engines/germany/
Image sources:
- Bing Logo/bing.com
- Ecosia Logo/ecosia.org
- DuckDuckGo Logo/duckduckgo.com
- Amazon Logo/amazon.de
- YouTube Logo/youtube.com
- extracoin/123rf.com
About the author: Louisa Anger
Louisa specialises in writing search engine optimised texts and articles in the online marketing field. She researches and writes SEO-optimised content for various companies from different industries. At SEO-Suchhund, Louisa is the person responsible for the topic of SEO content.