Honey Badger: Bing Webmaster Tools

Peter Devereaux
by Peter Devereaux 09 Jun, 2011
Honey Badger: Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing announced several updates to its Webmaster Tools platform. The name of the update is Honey Badger to those playing along at home (more on that below). Let's look at some of the new features and why they will prove important to successful SEO at Bing (and perhaps even Yahoo!).

 

- Webmasters can now ask Bing to crawl slower during peak business hours or crawl faster during off-peak hours. This configurable crawl delay is a unique and interesting feature for those concerned with site performance.

- Bing has also rewritten its Index Tracker (the area most SEOs will spend time). The backend has been repurposed to showcase freshness and performance. The best part? New sites will have Index Explorer data the moment they sign up.

- Finally, Bing has finally added user/role management. Site owners can grant administrative privileges (read/write, or read-only access) to others users, and even grant certain users access to subdomains or subfolders.

Kudos to Bing on the moniker of this update to BWT being Honey Badger. The honey badger or ratel is a tenacious small carnivore that has a reputation for being, pound for pound, Africa's most fearless animal despite its small size. It is even listed as the "most fearless animal in the world" in the 2002 Guinness Book of Records.

When your prey is Google, you'll need to be as fearless as a honey badger.

 

Sample of the configurable crawl delay within Bing Webmaster Tools:

 
Peter Devereaux
Peter Devereaux
As the Editor-in-Chief of Website Magazine and President of Website Services, Peter has established himself as a prominent figure in the digital marketing industry. With a wealth of experience and knowledge, Peter has been a driving force in shaping the landscape of digital marketing. His leadership in creating innovative and targeted marketing campaigns has helped numerous businesses achieve their revenue growth goals. Under his direction, Website Magazine has become a trusted source of information and insights for digital marketers worldwide. As President of Website Services, Peter oversees a team of talented professionals who specialize in SEO/SEM, email marketing, social media, and digital advertising. Through his hands-on approach, he ensures that his team delivers exceptional results to their clients. With a passion for digital marketing, Peter is committed to staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and technologies, making him a sought-after thought leader in the field.