Do you want to attract more Chinese visitors to your website?
Assuming that you’re using Google Analytics as your go-to SEO tool to track your English website data, and China is on the top 10 of the countries with more visits, perhaps it’s about time to explore how Baidu works.
Google doesn’t work in China as of this writing. But Baidu, the most popular search engine, can help you gain more exposure and visits.
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But you need the help of SEO specialists to set up your account.
A Chinese website is recommended to maximize its full features. Although you can still submit your English website for indexing, it’s better to do it right with the appropriate keywords for your pages.
Baidu SEO in China
Here are some basics you need to know about Baidu:
- Webmaster Tools
Just like Google, Baidu has its webmaster tools to ensure your Chinese website is indexed correctly and also access real-time data for analysis. It is best to work with Baidu SEO specialists to handle these tools such as content or site indexation, check broken links, track keywords, impressions, click-throughs and more.
Before accessing these tools, you need to sign up for a Baidu account.
- Baidu MIP (Mobile Instant Pages)
Website speed and performance are crucial when it comes to SEO strategy. Baidu offered the MIP, a.k.a Mobile Instant Pages, which is almost the homegrown equivalent of Google AMP, to optimize the website page load speed. It imports a page into the MIP server as a cache, resulting in an improved page weight for the mobile version.
Chinese users love browsing online, sharing content and shopping for products using their mobile phones.
- Handling 404/Deleted Pages
Broken links can have a negative effect on your website. When managing these links, the Search Console on Google does have its own way of handling it and webmaster can install plugins on the website. But on Baidu, it’s more complicated, but fortunately, an update in May provides suggestions on how to handle them using its very own webmaster tools. - HTTPS for better SERPs
In May, Baidu also rolled out its HTTPs site authentication not just for the security of the website but also to gain better exposure on Baidu SERPs. The pages that have “https://“ are the ones that will get indexed and presented on search engines after you passed the authentication process. - Advertising tools
Baidu also has a host of advertising tools for companies that have allotted a budget for comprehensive and targeted SEO and marketing campaigns. Baidu PPC services are recommended for companies that have a strategic SEO plan handled by local specialists to ensure that the pay-per-click ads are fully optimized and maximized.
Baidu has its Form Submission, Phone Number and Call Extension, and Xunke Conversion Extension to help you generate leads.
An overview of Chinese SEO and basics of how it works.