How to Use Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing webmaster tools is a set of three tools designed to help webmasters in optimizing their sites.

There are three different tools available, which are:

• Robots.txt Validation: Checks the site for "incompatibilities" that may affect how the site is indexed in the Bing search engine.
  
• Keyword Research Tool: Helps determine what keywords should be targeted for optimal monetization of the website.
  
• HTTP Compression and HTTP Conditional GET Test Tool: Helps determine if the site is compatible with HTTP Compression and Conditional GET to reduce bandwidth, therefore helping you to save money on your hosting costs.
  

This step assumes you already have a Live account and have signed in to Webmaster tools with it. If you do not have a Live account, create one by following the on screen instructions. After you have created and verified your account, you will be able to sign in to webmaster tools and start this tutorial.

After you have signed in to Bing Webmaster Tools, the first thing you have to do is add a site to the account. Enter the URL for the site you want to add in the appropriate box. Once this is done, you will be presented with two different ways to validate the site to prove it is yours and you have the right to see the information the tools provide you with and make changes to the site.

Method One: Bing webmaster tools provides an XML file that can be uploaded into the root directory of the website to verify ownership. To use this method, download the XML file provided to you in the dashboard, and upload it to your website via FTP. Once it has been uploaded to the server, you can go back to Bing webmaster tools and see that it will run a verification process.

Method Two: If you would rather not upload an XML file to your root directory, you can use the META tag verification method. Simply copy the META tag from the webmaster tools screen and paste into the header of your index page on your website. Once up update the page on the server, you can go back to Bing webmaster tools and see that it will run a verification process.

• Robots.txt Validation: To use this tool, all you need to do is copy the contents of the robots.txt file from your website into the box, and click verify. It will tell you if there are any problems with the robots.txt file.
  
• Keyword Research Tool: To use this tool, you will need a Microsoft AdCenter account. You will also need to have Microsoft Excel, but you can get a trial version of that from the Microsoft website. The tool will help you select the keywords you want to use to monetize your website.
  
• HTTP Compression and HTTP Conditional GET Test Tool: To use this tool, enter the URL of the page you want to test. It will run the test and provide results below. There are two optional components as well. Enter a specific date to test whether or not the compression and get were enabled then with option 2. Option 3 allows for checking with Etags.
  

Great! You can do it, simply by repeating the steps mentioned above, adding another URL and verifying its ownership.