How to Achieve SERP Dominance in China

The document presents an overview of SEO strategies for Baidu, China's dominant search engine, emphasizing the importance of understanding local market conditions and operational challenges. It discusses effective tactics such as leveraging Baidu products and multi-domain strategies, while highlighting the bureaucratic issues related to ICP licensing and hosting in China. Additionally, it offers useful resources and tools for navigating the Chinese SEO landscape.

Transcript

1. TITLE PAGE owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
2. A LITTLE ABOUT ME • SEO Consultant with over 10 years experience both agency and client side • Last “full-time” roles include EU Head of SEO at Samsung partner agency Cheil & Head of SEO at PeoplePerHour • Went into the solo consultancy game in 2020 • Built up a China SEO niche over the years owing to a number of years living/working there/speaking the language and have helped bring the likes of Mulberry, Galeries Lafayette and Louvre Hotels Group into the China digital space • Lazy musician & part-time politics man in free time owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
3. CHINA SEO PUBLICATIONS owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN • https://adage.com/article/viewpoint/advertisers -china-s-search-market/305704 • https://moz.com/learn/seo/content-marketing- china-side • https://builtvisible.com/baidu-seo-guide/
4. RECENT RAVINGS ON CHINA SEO owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN • https://www.theseorant.com/seo-podcast/seo-china • https://www.owainlloydwilliams.com/exploring-baidu-analytics-seo-tools/
5. WHAT ARE GOING TO LOOK AT TONIGHT? • Baidu in 2023: the SERP make-up • Typical China SEO headaches: operational bureaucracy and workarounds • Maximising your SERP real estate using Baidu products • Considerations for a multi-domain strategy • Where to get further China/Baidu SEO tips owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
6. Baidu Search in 2023
7. Chinese Search Engine Market Share – Jan 2023 owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN Source: Statista
8. The Baidu SERP Unpacked: Brand Terms Search term: “三星集团” (Samsung Group) Ads Baidu Baike Organic Related videos PAA
9. Non-brand informational queries Search term: “2023手机推荐” (phone recommendations 2023) Ads Zhihu snippet Baidu Baijiahao Organic result PAA
10. Baidu LOVES Integrating Their Own Products in the SERP Baidu Jingyan/Experience Baidu Zhidao/Q&A Baidu Xinwen/News Baidu Tieba/Forum Baidu Wenku/Docs Baidu Baike/Wikipedia
11. 40%-60% of results on page 1 are Baidu products
12. Typical China SEO Headaches (and workarounds!)
13. Google All But Blocked in China owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
14. Baidu Tools & SEO Help Centre in Chinese owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
15. Even Getting a Baidu Account is a Pain No UK phone number option...
16. Hosting/CDN access in China is Advantageous, But Hard ICP Licencing
17. Who is eligible for an ICP licence? ICP Licencing • Chinese-owned businesses with a Chinese business license can apply for a Business ICP • Partially or wholly foreign-owned (non-Chinese) businesses with any type of Chinese business license (Joint-Venture or WOFE, for example), can apply for a Business ICP • Chinese nationals, using their state-issued ID, can apply for an Individual ICP • Foreign (non-Chinese) individuals, using their passport as ID, who can be physically present in China long enough to fulfill some basic registration requirements, can apply for an Individual ICP
18. This is Before You Even Get Onto Hosting Providers…
19. Censorship Can Happen at Any Time
20. There are some workarounds…
21. Near-China Hosting & CDNs owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
22. Near-China Hosting & CDNs owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
23. Maximising Baidu SERP Real Estate: Baidu Products
24. 40%-60% of results on page 1 are Baidu products
25. Baidu Maps/Local SEO owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN • Like in Google, Local SEO is a big thing for navigational queries or local business info • Baidu map listings take up A LOT of real estate on the SERP • Can be claimed/managed by using verified Baidu account and submitted Chinese business documentation • Can be managed in Baidu Maps app
26. Baidu Baike owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN 2nd organic result (Maps is 3rd!) • Baidu’s own Wikipedia • Will typically occupy top 1-3 results of organic results on entity searches • Again, Can created and edited by using verified Baidu account and submitted Chinese business documentation • Strict editorial and content approval policy • Use this as a separate website for brand awareness opportunities
27. Baidu Baike
28. Baidu Zhidao owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN • Popular Q&A forum, will be at the forefront of all informational/long-tail queries in the SERP • Great for getting involved in the conversation and marketing your brand • Requires Baidu account to get involved • Account verification options opening door to micro influencer status on certain topics
29. Maximising Baidu SERP Real Estate: Multi-Domain Strategy
30. When/Why Would We Consider This? owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
31. Many Sectors are Heavily Regulated in China owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN
32. Case Study: Trading Industry
33. Website.com/.cn /products /product-a /product-b /news /global /covid /tools /about-us /pricing /careers Case Study: Trading Industry 1) Chinese translation of main site (near-China hosting) Microsite A (Trading Learning/FAQ Centre) Microsite B (Seasonal Offers Site) Integration with WeChat/Chinese Social Media/CRM Microsite C (Interactive live forex ticker) Aggressive linkbuilding 2) Lead Gen Microsites
34. Considerations For This Approach owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN • While spreading SEO efforts like this across different domains may seem a bit mad, it allows the option to spread risk within regulated industries that could see websites blocked/site outage • You’re able to experiment and have a bit of fun (think old school churn and burn) with sites targeting different unbranded keyword buckets for quick lead gen • Linkbuilding in China is a grey area, though you’ll do well to adhere to similar modern-day quality content marketing practices where possible • It’s not risk averse and you may need to have a fallback strategy in place with backup domains and automated redirect scripts in case things go awry
35. Here’s What This Could Look Like (Sorry, NDAs etc) Branded search term Chinese version of site (with sitelinks rich snippets) Placement on third-party industry listing site Learning centre microsite (with sitelinks rich snippets) Baidu Zhidao FAQ listing
36. Key Takeways owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN • It’s difficult to ascertain the ideal setup for launching a site in China without in- market business credentials, though there are some accessible workarounds • Baidu will often be your biggest competitor in the SERP. Use this to your advantage. • If you have the resources, a multi-domain strategy targeting different search terms can bear fruit • Don’t get in trouble with China’s censors.
37. China SEO Resources 资源
38. Useful China SEO Tools owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN Get a Baidu account: https://passport.baidu.com/v2/?reg&overseas=1 ICP licencing: http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/chinese-icp- licensing-what-why-and-how-to-get-hosted-in-china-- cms-23193 Baidu Webmaster Tools & Learning Centre https://ziyuan.baidu.com/ https://ziyuan.baidu.com/college Baidu Analytics: https://tongji.baidu.com/ In China page speed testing : https://www.17ce.com/ https://tool.chinaz.com/sitespeed SO Trends https://trends.so.com/ Baidu Index (content & keyword research) https://index.baidu.com/v2/index.html Dragon Metrics https://www.dragonmetrics.com/
39. Useful China SEO Resources owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN Ultimate Guide to Baidu SEO in China – Dragon Metrics https://www.dragonmetrics.com/baidu-seo-guide/ SEO for China: Chinese Search Engine Optimization (Kun Tang, Marcus Pentzek) https://www.amazon.com/SEO-China-Chinese-Search-Optimization/dp/B0B5MK9SBV Tianxianmao (SEO Forum) https://www.tianxianmao.com/ Tangren SEO (SEO Forum) https://www.tangrenseo.com/ Heimaoxuexi (Black Hat World!) https://www.heimaoxuexi.net/
40. Follow these people for more on China SEO owainlloydwilliams.com | @Owain_LW @SearchLDN Kun Tang: https://twitter.com/KunTangChina Marcus Pentzek: https://twitter.com/MPentzek Adam di Frisco: https://twitter.com/di_friscoSEO Du Ye SEO: https://www.weibo.com/maxjincz Karl Gao (WeChat ID: karl_gao) Bai Yang SEO (WeChat Official page)
41. THANKS!