IT contractors helping firms make the most of search engine optimisation (SEO) should be aware that the characteristics of Google and rival search engine Bing are quite different.

This is according to consultancy ideaTaxi.com, which claims that SEO for Bing is actually vary easy, with major ranking resting on the domain names and URLs.

Google, meanwhile, requires a more complex and detailed strategy for adding SEO value.

The company's SEO director Sam Tilston explains that the best approach to take is to incorporate the webmaster guidelines for both Google and Bing into the website design.

"By making sure the site complies with these guidelines and the site is useful for visitors you should see good results in search engines," he commented.

According to the latest research from Ars Technica, as of April 2010 Bing had a market share of 9.92 per cent in the US, although worldwide this share is just 3.39 per cent.