Bing Takes Local To a New Level

Bing has just released a major upgrade to their local listings.  In the new Bing Business Portal, Bing is offering several new features beyond the standard local listing that can help your local organization.

Some New Bing Business Portal Features:

• Fields for Twitter and Facebook accounts (you won’t find this in Google Places)
• Logo upload (branding)
• Photos (upload up to 9 photos.  This is separate from the logo)
• Business specialties
• Free mobile site
• QR code
• Deals (offer discounts and specials)

“Business” Portal isn’t just for businesses.
Just because they call it Bing Business Portal doesn’t mean it’s just for businesses.  This is something I think Google got right by calling their local product “Google Places”.  It’s a less exclusive name.  But I digress.  Any local organization should have a Bing Business Portal, be it a church, ministry, school or business.  So, don’t be fooled by the name.

How do You Get a Bing Business Portal?
You can get your business portal by going to http://www.bing.com/businessportal and creating one.  If you already had a local listing in Bing, then you just need to login and your portal should already be there.

You can find more information on Bing’s Business Portal at http://www.bingbusinessportal.com/faq.aspx.  Matt McGee over at Small Business Search Marketing also has a great article, “Complete Guide to Bing’s New Local Business Portal”

What is your favorite new feature in Bing’s Business Portals?

What other features would you like to see added?