Design and development for Baidu SEO

In a market like China, with a unique culture and a crazy affinity with things like numerology, the subtleties one needs to take care of in marketing are very high. Considerations to combination of colors in website design, use of lucky numbers etc. can be equally powerful to your other technical efforts. Moreover, the online tools that are used in China and celebrities who have power over everyday customers are also different from the rest of the world. Thus, you need to make adjustments in your web practices and you need to advertise yourself to newer avenues if you are to create a ripple in the Chinese market. These guidelines outline cultural and social factors that effect SEO for Baidu.

SEO for Baidu: Appeal to Chinese Aesthetics 

Chinese have a strong symbolic association with colors. The color red represents happiness and luck, gold represents fortune, green represents infidelity and bad luck and yellow is associated with eroticism. Since colors are easily translated to meanings, you will increase your appeal and effectiveness if you could match the theme/message of your site/product with corresponding colors. Avoid colors that translate into opposite or offensive meaning.

Moreover, Chinese people have a strong belief in numerology. They believe in lucky numbers and love numbers that sound positive upon pronunciation – phone numbers sounding like money being sold for millions being an example. So, you will increase your click-ability by just changing the title of your post from ‘4 things to consider before buying a kitchen sink’ to ‘3 things to consider….’ (4 being an unlucky number and 3 being a lucky one).

SEO for Baidu: Be where the Chinese are

China has got its own social media sites with millions of active users. Social platforms like WeChat, Tencent QQ, Weibo host thriving communities and discussion boards. Thus, it is a must for any business to have an effective presence across all Chinese social media platforms and capitalize on the promotional and referral capabilities of these  mediums. Having presence on these apps, which are a rich source of organic traffic and an appropriate platform for free advertisement, help with search engine rankings as the search engines take it as a sign of endorsement and legitimacy. Creating business account on WeChat and having an active handle on other platforms while getting them regularly updated in the Chinese language will help you win confidence and trust of the Chinese people.

SEO for Baidu: Use QR codes 

QR codes are immensely popular with the Chinese people and they use it as a primary method for online verification. These code offer solution for online payment, check ins among others and since they were introduced by WeChat pay and AliPay, Chinese people, who do not normally tip in restaurants, have been tipping significantly ever since. Use QR codes for logins to your site, registrations, payments etc. to develop instant rapport with the audience that is already affixed to using these.

SEO for Baidu: Get endorsed by local influencers

Performing the basics of SEO and online marketing right will not suffice if you do not have people with strong online following and influence promoting your product to their legion of admirers and followers. Since China has its own blogosphere and social media, make sure to get your products endorsed by people who are active and popular in these circles. Reach out to active bloggers and convince them to write about your products and promote them. You can barter other online services in exchange and even pay them if their reader base is huge. Find out social media influencers with interests matching your products and get them to advertise your services for faster acceptability and wider reach.

SEO for Baidu: Get listed on local and get featured on Baidu search

The number of inbound links to your site is a huge ranking factor for Baidu regardless of the quality of links. So, get your site and page URLs listed in as many places as you can. Strike a link exchange deal with bloggers and other sites because link stuffing, inbound and outbound, is not a worry. We, however, discourage such practices and urge you to create quality inbound links because the search engine considerations might change anytime soon.

For the most useful dos and don’ts in developing your China centric digital strategies for 2017 and beyond, you can find the articles of this series of posts here:

Michael Simonetti
Posted by:

Post Reads: 6.3K

Share this

Go on, see if you can challenge us on "Chinese aka Baidu SEO: Cultural and social guidelines" - Part of our 168 services at AndMine. We are quick to respond but if you want to go direct, test us during office hours.

Add Your Comment

Trusted by

QV Skincare
Tomorrow Stars Basketball
Beaumont
Movember
POSTER Magazine
CSquared Executive
Moov Head Lice
Castran Gilbert
Melrose Health
Jalna
High Street Armadale
Naturtint
Grow Your Business
Acquia Certified Site Builder Drupal
Magento Solution Specialist
James Buyer Advocates
Thomson Geer
Aqium Gel
Maxine
OJAY
Inferflora
Etihad Stadium
Arc One
The Canberra Times
Australian Anthill
Magento
Drupal
MAP
Appstore
Catholic Insurance
Rackspace
LBG Australia and New Zealand
PranaOn
Oakdale Meat Co
Viktoria & Woods
National Museum of Australia
Tek Ocean
Coles
Ebay
Bintani Australia
VISSF
Hanover
Vitura Health
King Wood Mallesons
The University Of Melbourne
The Fortune Institute
HGG 
NextTech
McArthur Skincare
Unsw Australia
The Burger Cheese
Vendor Advocacy Australia
OMS – Order Management System
Jetstar
Boston Consulting Group
Craft CMS
Mecca Brands
Metricon
131 Pizza
Chia
French Tables
Max’s
Sports Power
Melbourne Heart
White Suede
Tassal
SunSense Digital Agency
Novvi
Hairhouse Warehouse
Bank of Cyprus
Cleanfit
One Shift
Ego Pharmaceuticals
NMI Insurance
Paypal
Matchbox Homewares
Kay&Burton
Rock Pool Group
SwinBurne University of Technology
Think & Grow Rich Inc
AC/DC
Natralus Australia
Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals
Uber
RMIT University
Watches of Switzerland
Eway
News
Shell
Palace Cinemas
Bostik
Parker Lane
Gadens
Australian Organic Food CO
Florsheim Shoes
MyAccount
iPrimus
Switzer Media+Publishing
Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre – MSAC
Loan Market
Macmillan Publishing
Madman Entertainment
Toni&Guy
Crumpler
Windsorsmith
Gilbert+Tobin
DUSA, Deakin University Student Association
Carlton Football Club
ISO Certified
Ubertas Group
Arthur Galan
Federation University Australia
Wild Rhino Shoes
Mamma Lucia
Adobe Professional
ISO CERTIFIED 27001
Celebrate Health
Grainshaker
Engineers Without Borders
Toy World
DepSkin.com
National Relay Services
21st Century Australia Party
Street Kitchen
Elucent
Royal Freemasons
Schiavello
Bigcommerce
Xavier
Cell Therapies
Australian Government
CB Richard Ellis
Heat Holders
Google
Oracle
Buy Aussie Now
Atlantic Group of Companies
GPT Group
Passage To India
WTFN
Fast.co
The Royal Melbourne Hospital
Associated Press
Kadac
Bulk Nutrients
Cronos Australia
Plan It Sync It
ACTUATE IP
Van Egmond Group
Grays Ecommerce
Bondi Sands
Cooper Mills
Amino Active
Garmin
Victorian Government
The Age
Fairfax Media
CAN- Common Wealth Bank
Melbourne Central
Liveoneday
Federation Square
Mark Alexander Design
Ello
Green St Juice CO
DeeWhy Market
SMH – The Sydney Morning Herald
ADP Payroll
Dial Before You Dig
Scrum.org
Engine Swim
Passage Foods
Australian Physiotherapy Association
Sunday Creek
Plants
Melrose MCT
Peter Mac
Fresh Cheese Company
Telstra
Marshall White
Tribe
Positive Poster
Focus On Furniture
Forbes
ABC
Herbert Smith Freehills
Instant RockStar
Smart Company
BlackMores
Dinosaur Designs
Brisbane Times
GooglePlay
BHF
TPP
Rydges

Testimonials

I strongly recommend AndMine and Michael's work to any forward thinking company. They have helped us rapidly evolve our business with great success in a very difficult period in retail. From online to offline they are the new generation of advertising delivering brilliant results and service. From simple EDM's to our new online store and creative campaigns, they have gone above and beyond, engrained themselves in our business and amplified our brand. We look forward to what Michael and the team achieve for us next. Harry Goles, OJAY Clothing

More Testimonials
AndMine-Google-Partner-Signature