China has a population of over 1.4 billion. In addition, by 2022 it’s expected to cross 1.41 billion. That means, if you launched a Chinese business, you’d have the opportunity of targeting over one billion customers. However, when it comes to going online, your traditional Google SEO techniques become useless. Google is restricted in China. As an alternative, they use Baidu, the second largest search engine. Therefore, if you are planning on entering the Chinese market digitally, then you’ll have to be familiar with Baidu SEO to get ranked on their SERPs.
Baidu is the Google of China, as it currently has more than 70 million daily active mobile search users. Baidu was launched in the year 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li. Since then, it has grown as an exceptional Chinese search engine. When Google was banned in China in the year 2010, Baidu took over the Chinese search market. Since then, it has become a necessity to focus on Baidu SEO if you wish to get noticed in the Chinese market.
Baidu is a Chinese platform; therefore, you can’t expect to get ranked on it with traditional SEO tactics. You’ll have to evolve and adapt Baidu SEO tactics to succeed. If you have a budget, you can either get listed on a B2B Chinese directory or hire a professional digital service provider to boost your presence on Baidu. For those that are planning on getting ranked simply with the help of the best Baidu SEO techniques, here are a few tips for you.
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Crucial Baidu SEO Techniques
1. A .CN is Essential, or Don’t Bother
As you know, China has a habit of doing things their way, it should be pretty clear that Chinese websites will always be favored in contrast to sites of other nations. If you want to increase your chances of getting ranked on the first page of Baidu, you should get a .CN domain. Even though your site has high-quality content and exceptional speed, a .com domain will hold you back.
On the other hand, if you really wish to witness your website go up and generate Chinese traffic, then consider getting a hosting from either China or Hong Kong. A Chinese hosting will get you a ICP certificate (a permit to run your site in China). That doesn’t mean .Com sites don’t get indexed by Baidu. You’ll find many websites with a .Com domain on this search engine. However, with the help of a .CN domain, you can increase your chances of ending up on the first page.
2. Simplified Chinese is Preferable
In 2017, it was discovered that out of a population of over 1.3 billion people, only 10 million speak English. That means, if your website that you plan on launching in China is in English, then the majority will have a problem in understanding it. Our advice is to use .CN domain as a Chinese version. That way, you’ll have Chinese users active on your site.
Also, remember to appoint a translator who is familiar with simplified Chinese. Avoid uploading content in traditional Chinese as it is disliked by Baidu. To enhance the quality of your content, you can also hire a professional Chinese content producer to produce unique content for your domain. Excellent quality, uniqueness and simplified Chinese is the recipe for higher ranking.
3. Avoid Censored Content
China is known for enforcing strict internet laws. The Great Firewall of China was created to restrict any content harmful to the privacy of Chinese citizens and the government. Since Baidu is a Chinese search engine, their algorithm is also programmed to avoid indexing or ranking any censored content. In addition, if you do use any content banned by the government, your actions could lead to your site being added in the blocked list.
To ensure all your content gets indexed and ranked, only produce content that is permitted. Apart from that, you should also keep track of the links you use on your website. If the link you use features censored content, your site will also lose its ranking or even get penalized for it. All sites that don’t follow digital laws set by the Government may face severe consequences.
4. Work on Quality and Quantity
Baidu focuses strongly on the quality you deliver, not the quantity. Therefore, if you publish two blogs a day without optimizing it or using the right keywords, Baidu bots may ignore your webpage. Similar to Google, Baidu is also strict against those digital marketers that rely on spam and black hat SEO techniques to increase both their traffic and ranking,
Baidu SEO techniques strongly focus onT marketers to go for the quality. All you have to do is avoid connecting with websites with low authority and high spam score. Instead, hunt down relevant websites that reflect a high DA. In addition, focus on producing error-free and unique content. Once you are done with that, optimize your content by making it SEO friendly. Use relevant keywords naturally without making it seem promotional. Improve the readability with a suitable combination of high-quality images and keywords. No matter which search engine you plan on getting ranked in, without quality content, you’re going nowhere.
Wrap Up
Baidu SEO, though seems quite similar to Google, is an entirely different journey, especially for those living outside China. The Chinese market is growing rapidly, and with the kind of population and resources they possess, you can’t ignore the business opportunities that lye there. However, competition is pretty intense as over the years; they have attracted many investors and business owners to put their money in China. You could also enter this market, and the best and fastest way is by getting noticed on Baidu, the leading Chinese search engine.
All tips mentioned above are crucial for getting your website indexed and ranked on Baidu China. Though there are many more SEO techniques to use, the ones mentioned above are the more important ones.
