2026年11月13日
This article is a localized edition of the Japanese original. Read the Japanese original
Bing Webmaster Tools is a free tool from Microsoft for checking how your site is doing in Bing search. It is Bing's counterpart to Google Search Console: you can see how many pages are indexed, impressions and clicks in search, crawl errors and more. The screen names and steps in this article were checked against official information from Microsoft, Yoast and WordPress.org as of November 2026.
WordPress has no "Bing Webmaster Tools settings screen" of its own. There are three things to do: add the site to Bing Webmaster Tools, prove that you own it, and submit a sitemap.
1. Sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools
Open Bing Webmaster Tools and sign in, for example with a Microsoft account. If you import sites from Google Search Console, you will be asked to grant access to the Google account you use for Search Console.
2. Add your site (two ways)
Option A: Import from Google Search Console
If your site is already verified in Search Console, this is the least work. On the add-site screen, choose to import from Search Console, allow access to your Google account, and pick the sites to import. Imported sites are added already verified.
Things to keep in mind:
- Bing periodically syncs with your Search Console account to re-check ownership. If you revoke access to the Google account, you need to verify again with another method.
- You can import up to 100 sites at a time.
If you don't use Search Console yet, reading Google Search Console basics first lets you set up both in the same flow.
Option B: Add the site by URL
Enter the URL of your site's home page in the URL field (matching exactly what is shown in the browser, such as https://example.com/, including https and whether there is www) and add it. The next screen asks you to choose a verification method.
3. Verify ownership (Option B)
Bing Webmaster Tools offers the following three methods. On WordPress, the meta tag or the XML file is the easiest.
| Method | What to do | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| XML file | Download BingSiteAuth.xml and upload it to the site root (usually the folder that contains wp-config.php) |
You can use FTP or the server's file manager |
| Meta tag | Put <meta name="msvalidate.01" content="verification-code"> in the <head> of the home page |
You use an SEO plugin |
| DNS | Add the record shown on the verification screen to your DNS (with supported DNS providers, Domain Connect can add it automatically) | You manage the domain's DNS |
If you use Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO has a field for the Bing verification code.
- On the Bing verification screen, choose the "HTML Meta Tag" method and copy the code shown
- In the WordPress admin, open "Yoast SEO" → "Settings" → "Site connections"
- Paste the code into the "Bing" field and save
- Go back to the Bing verification screen and click "Verify"
Yoast SEO outputs this code as an msvalidate.01 meta tag on the home page only.
Other SEO plugins such as Rank Math and All in One SEO have a similar field. Where it is depends on the plugin version, so check each plugin's documentation.
If you don’t use an SEO plugin
The XML file method is the simplest. Put the downloaded BingSiteAuth.xml in the site root without renaming it, open https://example.com/BingSiteAuth.xml in a browser to confirm its contents are shown, and then click "Verify".
You could also write the meta tag directly into the theme's header.php, but it disappears when the theme is updated, so we don't recommend it.
When verification fails
- The URL you registered differs from the real one (
httpvs.https, with or withoutwww) - Opening
BingSiteAuth.xmlredirects to another URL, or the file name or contents have changed - A caching plugin or CDN is serving a copy of the page from before you added the meta tag (clear the cache and try again)
- A security plugin, a WAF or
robots.txtis blocking Bing's crawler
4. Submit your sitemap
Once ownership is verified, submit your sitemap URL from "Sitemaps" in the left menu. The sitemap URL of a WordPress site depends on what generates it.
| What you use | Sitemap URL |
|---|---|
| WordPress core (5.5 or later, no SEO plugin) | https://example.com/wp-sitemap.xml |
| Yoast SEO | https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml |
| Other SEO plugins | The URL shown on the plugin's settings screen |
Open it in a browser and make sure XML is displayed before you submit it. If you get a 404, open "Settings" → "Permalinks" in the admin, click "Save Changes" without changing anything, and try again. For Yoast SEO's sitemap, see also Setting up Yoast SEO's XML sitemap.
5. Notify search engines of updates right away with IndexNow (optional)
IndexNow is a way to tell search engines about a URL when you publish, update or delete a page. Submissions go to an endpoint shared by participating search engines such as Bing, so you don't have to register with each search engine separately.
On WordPress, you can use the IndexNow Plugin for WordPress published by the Bing Webmaster team.
- Go to "Plugins" → "Add New", search for "IndexNow", then install and activate the one whose author is Bing Webmaster Tools
- Open "Settings" → "IndexNow" and click "Let's Get Started!"
The plugin generates the IndexNow API key automatically and hosts it on your site, so you don't need to create one yourself. It is designed not to submit noindex pages, and you can see the submission history on the same screen.
Some SEO plugins, such as Rank Math, can also submit to IndexNow. If you turn on both, the same URLs are submitted twice, so use only one of them.
Screens to check after registering
- Search Performance: impressions, clicks and search queries on Bing
- URL Inspection: whether a specific page is indexed
- Sitemaps: whether your submitted sitemap was read and has no errors
No data is shown right after you register. Check back after a few days.
Questions about WordPress? The publisher of this site is based in Japan and replies in Japanese. Contact (Japanese)