Baidu SEO: A Quick Overview

Summary: We will examine the search engine optimization techniques applied to Biadu, the Chinese counterpart of Google. Localization is the key.

China is the fastest growing major economy in the World. Every international company look to China as their next golden egg. However China has still a rather closed ecosystem, be it the legislation, the culture, the mindset and the internet. Below is an overview of the SEO industry in China and a simple introduction to doing SEO in Baidu, the dominant search engine in China.

Search Engine Statistics in China

China search engine market share in May 2013, source: China Internet Watch

• Baidu to China is like Google to the World. By May 2013, Baidu has a market share of 67.6%.
• China has the largest population in the world, its online population is also the largest at 568 million in 2012, more than double of the U.S. [source Wikipedia].
• China online shopping in Q1 2013 reached 352.1 billion Yuan, up 36.6% YoY [source iResearch].

Tips on Baidu SEO Strategy

1. Baidu displays paid  and organic search ads very differently from Google . The SERP features three different kinds of sponsored/paid ads, one of which is just identical to normal search results except with the small words ‘推广’ (translate as promotion) added to the right of URL. This may create the false impression of the ad being the first in SERP. So be sure to consider paid ad campaigns when you are working on SEO in China. (Note: It is quite lengthy, costly and difficult to set up a paid search account in China owing to legislation and guanxi, working with local paid search companies is highly recommended.)

Baidu Paid Ads

1. Use Baidu Tongji for analytics as China internet is not very compatible with foreign technologies.
2. Create your website in simplified Chinese only.
3. Choose the same keywords for on-page optimization and paid campaigns.
4. Baidu integrates social media information into its SERP, make sure your keyword strategies also carry through these media: Sina Weibo, RenRen, Baidu Space, Youku and Baidu Tieba (the Chinese counterparts of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Google Groups respectively).

Below are some additional resources for Baidu SEO:

• Baidu SEO: How to rank on China’s largest search engine? – SEOmistry
• Baidu Search Engine Optimisation Guide – Code That