Bingbot

What Is Bingbot?

Bingbot is the main web crawler used by Microsoft Bing. It is a computer program that visits web pages, reads their content, and adds them to Bing search.

Definition

Bingbot is a search engine spider for Bing. It moves from link to link across the internet, collects page information, and sends that data back to Bing so pages can be indexed and shown in search results.

Why Bingbot Matters

• Gets your pages into Bing If Bingbot cannot reach a page, that page usually will not appear in Bing search.
• Affects how often content is updated How often Bingbot crawls a page can affect how quickly changes show in Bing results.
• Impacts site performance Too many crawler requests at once can slow a weak server, so managing Bingbot is part of good technical SEO.

How Bingbot Works

1. Finds links Bingbot starts with a list of known URLs, sitemaps, and links found on other pages.
2. Requests pages It visits a URL and downloads the HTML and some related files like images or scripts.
3. Follows rules It checks the robots.txt file and meta robots tags to see what it is allowed to crawl.
4. Sends data to Bing Bing uses the content to understand the topic, quality, and structure of the page.
5. Adds or updates index The page is added to or refreshed in the Bing search index so users can find it.

Bingbot vs Other Crawlers

• Bingbot vs Googlebot Both are web crawlers. Bingbot is for Microsoft Bing, Googlebot is for Google Search.
• User agent Each crawler uses a different user agent string in server logs so you can tell them apart.
• Rules You can allow or block them separately using robots.txt rules for bingbot or googlebot.

Example of Bingbot

Imagine you publish a new blog post. Here is what happens with Bingbot:

1. You add the URL to your XML sitemap and submit it in Bing Webmaster Tools.
2. Bingbot reads your sitemap and then visits the new URL.
3. It reads the title, headings, text, images, and links.
4. Later, when someone searches for that topic on Bing, your blog post can appear in the results.

FAQs

How can I see if Bingbot is crawling my site?
You can check your server logs or crawl stats in Bing Webmaster Tools. Look for user agents that include the word bingbot.

Can I control what Bingbot crawls?
Yes. Use a robots.txt file, meta robots tags, and your XML sitemap to guide Bingbot. In Bing Webmaster Tools you can also set crawl controls for your site.

What is the official Bingbot user agent?
Typical user agents contain Mozilla/5.0 and the word bingbot. You can verify that a crawler is real Bingbot using reverse DNS lookup or tools in Bing Webmaster Tools.

How do I make my site easier for Bingbot?
Keep pages fast, use clean links, create a clear navigation, provide an up to date XML sitemap, avoid blocked resources, and make sure important pages are not blocked in robots.txt.