# Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing Webmaster Tools (previously the Bing Webmaster Center) is a free service as part of Microsoft's Bing search engine which allows webmasters to add their websites to the Bing index crawler, see their site's performance in Bing (clicks, impressions) and a lot more. The service also offers tools for webmasters to troubleshoot the crawling and indexing of their website, submission of new URLs, Sitemap creation, submission and ping tools, website statistics, consolidation of content submission, and new content and community resources.

## Features

Bing Webmaster Tools provides many features that can be accessed by webmasters after they verify the ownership of their websites using methods such as MetaTag verification, adding CNAME record to DNS entry, XML verification and Domain Connect.
It contains the following tools and features to support webmasters to access data and manage their websites on Bing:
* Submit Urls allows webmasters to submit thousands of URLs present in their website for faster indexing. The number of URLs they can submit can be as much as 10,000 URLs per day.
* Crawl issues allows webmasters to discover potential issues with their websites such as File Not Found (404) errors, blocked by REP, long dynamic URLs, and unsupported content-types.
* Backlink data allows webmasters to access data about their referring links. Part of this feature was acquired from Yahoo! Site Explorer.
* Advanced filtering allows webmasters to quickly scope the results in their website reports to zoom into the data they need.
* Data download allows webmasters to access the first 1000 results in a CSV file to analyze the results.
* Keyword search tool allows webmasters to explore new keywords.
* Robots.txt validator allows webmasters to check if their robots.txt file meets the standard.
* Markup validator allows webmasters to check if their site meets W3C standards.
* Sitemaps allows webmasters to check if Bing is viewing their sitemap correctly.
* Outbound links allows webmasters to see the outbound links Bing sees.

## Setting Up Bing Webmaster Tools
### Step 1: Create a Bing Webmaster Tools Account

Visit the Bing Webmaster Tools Site: Go to the Bing Webmaster Tools homepage.
Sign Up: Click on “Sign Up” and choose to create an account using an existing Microsoft, Google, or Facebook account. This speeds up the registration process as it pulls your details automatically.

### Step 2: Add Your Website

Enter Your Site URL: Once logged in, you’ll see an option to add your website. Enter the full URL of your site and click “Add.”
Choose Verification Method: You have multiple options for verifying ownership of your site:
* Import from Google Search Console: If you already use GSC, you can import your site directly.
* Manual Addition: If not, you will need to verify ownership through one of the following methods:
** XML File Upload: Download the Bing verification XML file and upload it to your website's root directory.
** HTML Meta Tag: Copy a meta tag provided by Bing and paste it into the HTML of your homepage.
** CNAME Record: Add a CNAME record to your domain’s DNS settings.

### Step 3: Verify Your Website

After implementing one of the verification methods, return to Bing Webmaster Tools and click “Verify.” If successful, you’ll gain access to your dashboard.

### Step 4: Submit Your Sitemap

Locate Your Sitemap URL: Ensure you have an XML sitemap ready, which lists all pages on your site.
Submit Sitemap: Navigate to the “Sitemaps” section in the dashboard, enter your sitemap URL, and click “Submit.” This helps Bing crawl and index your site more efficiently.

### Additional Tips

Monitor Performance: Use the dashboard to track how Bing indexes your site and view performance metrics.
Submit URLs for Faster Indexing: For new or updated content, use the URL submission feature to prompt Bing to crawl those pages sooner.
Following these steps will ensure that your website is properly set up in Bing Webmaster Tools, allowing you to leverage its features for improved visibility and performance on Bing's search engine.