China has taken on a more significant role in the world in the past few years, and the realm of the Internet is no exception. Businesses seeking to make an impact in China have to realize the critical role that their web marketing and SEO activities play. As of 2010, 484 million people in China access the Internet on a regular basis.
For any business operating in China, online visibility is of utmost importance. Just imagine the potential number of users waiting to discover your business via the Internet! In order for your business to achieve its goals in China, it is paramount that you gain visibility on search engines; and in China, when speaking of search engines, there is only one name that matters most: Baidu. Forget Google or Yahoo or MSN – while these search engines may have a share of the market in China, Baidu’s scale of operations and range of influence simply dwarfs any other search engine.
So what is Baidu? Simply put, Baidu is China’s answer to the world’s Google. Baidu is the search engine of choice for the average Chinese Internet user.
That being said, Baidu should be the primary factor in mind when mapping out your SEO strategy for China. It is much like focusing on Google search results for web sites targeting users from other countries.
The first thing you have to understand is that Baidu is a slightly different animal from Google. While they are both search engines, you need to realize that you have to alter your approach in order to achieve excellent SEO results for your web site targeting Chinese users.
One, you need to make use of simplified Chinese for keyword research. You need to do this on the outset – get someone to do research in Chinese. Merely translating your English keywords to simplified Chinese won’t cut it.
Two, you’ll be better off with a Chinese domain extension: .com.cn or .cn. The same goes for hosting. It is better to use a Chinese web hosting server for your web site. These things will help you achieve higher search engine rankings.
Three, your content should be in simplified Chinese. Again, it is better to have a human translator do this work rather than to utilize an automated translator. From the actual content to meta tags – you cannot leave it up to a machine to do the translating as the chances are that you will not get the accurate keywords that you need.
Four, you need to focus on the quantity of links pointing to your web site. In contrast to Google, Baidu gives more value to the number of back links, rather than the quality. Of course, it is still a better practice to work on getting quality links. However, this means that you will have to double your efforts to get as many back links as possible.
The points listed above are only some of the things that can give you the edge in the world of China SEO. The good news is that we can do all these things for you – and more!
Our team is made up of highly experienced and ethical SEO specialists, who know the inner workings of Baidu. We also pride ourselves in understanding Chinese search engine practices, not only for Baidu, but also for other major search engines such as Google, MSN, or Yahoo. We focus on organic SEO and aim to achieve long term results, to ensure you a stable top spot in search engine results.
We offer our services to a wide array of clients:
• Foreign companies carrying out business in China
• Local Chinese businesses, including retailers, service firms, and other entities
• Chinese manufacturers and trading companies that do business internationally
• SEO companies that are outsourcing projects for clients that have China-specific needs.
Our commitment is to provide reliable and excellent results to our clients. For more information, get in touch with us.