Optimizing Crawl Controls and Sitemap Submission in Bing Webmaster Tools

Optimizing Crawl Controls in Bing Webmaster Tools

Crawl Control in Bing Webmaster Tools allows you to manage how Bingbot accesses and crawls your website, which is essential for balancing server load and ensuring your content is indexed efficiently.

• Crawl Rate Adjustment: You can set how often Bingbot visits your site. This is particularly useful if your server is under heavy load or if you want to prioritize user experience during peak hours.
• Crawl Scheduling: Schedule Bingbot to crawl your site during off-peak hours, minimizing impact on server performance and user experience. For example, if your site experiences high traffic during business hours, set crawling to occur overnight.
• Crawl Rules: Specify which sections of your site should be crawled more or less frequently, helping Bingbot focus on important or frequently updated content.
• Server Load Management: By adjusting crawl rates and schedules, you can prevent Bingbot from overwhelming your server, especially after large content updates or during sales events.

Submitting and Optimizing Sitemaps

Submitting a sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools is a straightforward process that can significantly improve how quickly and thoroughly your site is indexed.

• Sitemap Submission: Navigate to the Sitemaps section in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit your XML sitemap. Bing will confirm acceptance and begin crawling the listed URLs.
• Monitoring: After submission, monitor the Sitemaps dashboard for success/failure status, the number of URLs discovered, and any errors or warnings (such as broken links or blocked pages).
• Sitemap Priority: Bingbot heavily relies on XML sitemaps for discovery, more so than Googlebot. Ensure your sitemap is always up to date and accurately reflects your site structure.
• Robots.txt Compliance: Bingbot strictly respects robots.txt directives. Misconfigurations here can silently block important pages from being crawled, so regularly audit your robots.txt file.
• Mobile and Speed: Bing prioritizes mobile-ready, fast-loading pages. Ensure your site is optimized for mobile and performance to maximize indexing.
• Structured Data: Use schema.org markup for articles, products, and local businesses. Clean, structured HTML is rewarded in Bing’s index.

Best Practices for Ongoing Optimization

• Regular Audits: Use Bing’s Site Scan and URL Inspection tools to catch broken links, duplicate metadata, and crawl blocks. Address technical SEO issues promptly.
• Keyword Strategy: Leverage Bing’s keyword data to identify low-competition, high-volume terms that may be overlooked on Google.
• Backlink Analysis: Review your backlink profile and compare it with competitors to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
• Automation and Alerts: Set up email alerts for crawl errors and schedule regular site scans to stay on top of issues without manual intervention.
• Content Updates: For sites with frequent updates (e.g., news, e-commerce), consider more frequent monitoring to ensure new content is indexed quickly.

Summary Table: Key Actions for Crawl and Sitemap Optimization

Conclusion

Optimizing crawl controls and sitemap submission in Bing Webmaster Tools involves a combination of technical configuration, regular monitoring, and strategic content updates. By leveraging these features, you can ensure your site is crawled efficiently, indexed thoroughly, and positioned for maximum visibility in Bing search results.