Baidu is the dominant search engine in China, with more than 70% of the market share. If you want to reach the Chinese audience with your news site, you need to optimize it for Baidu's ranking factors and algorithms. Here are some tips on how to do that.
Baidu prefers domain names that are short, simple, and related to your niche. It also favors .cn or .com domains over other extensions. Avoid using hyphens, numbers, or special characters in your domain name, as they may confuse Baidu and lower your credibility. If possible, register your domain name for at least three years, as Baidu considers this a sign of stability and trustworthiness.
Baidu's algorithm differs from Google's in several ways. It places higher emphasis on factors like website speed, mobile-friendliness, content quality, and backlinks from Chinese websites. Keyword research: Use Baidu-specific keyword research tools like Baidu Keyword Tool or Dragon Metrics. Content guidelines: Adhere to Baidu's strict content guidelines. Avoid plagiarism, spam, and sensitive topics. Local preferences: Cater to Chinese user preferences. Use simplified Chinese characters, write culturally relevant content, and optimize for mobile users. Additional tips: Register your domain name with a .cn or .com extension for better Baidu recognition. Consider AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
Baidu values site speed as a key factor for user experience and ranking, so you should aim to make your site load as quickly as possible, particularly on mobile devices. To do this, you should use a reliable hosting service that has servers in China or nearby regions. Additionally, you can compress images, videos, and other media files, minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, enable caching and gzip compression, and use a content delivery network (CDN) to reduce latency. All of these measures can help improve your site speed.
Baidu prioritizes speed, especially for mobile users. So, make your news site a mobile champion! Embrace AMP for super-fast articles, shrink and optimize images without sacrificing quality, and consider lazy loading non-essential ones. Streamline your code by minifying and combining files, while maximizing browser caching and a CDN for rapid delivery. A bonus? Hosting in China or nearby regions further accelerates connections for Chinese users. Remember, Baidu loves speed alongside relevant content and local presence. Master both for an optimized news site that thrives in the Baidu ecosystem!
Baidu has strict rules for content quality and originality. You should avoid publishing any content that is duplicated, plagiarized, spammy, or violates the Chinese laws and regulations. You should also update your content regularly and provide fresh and relevant information to your readers. Baidu rewards sites that have rich and engaging content, such as long-form articles, multimedia, infographics, and interactive features.
Keywords are essential for Baidu to understand and rank your content. You should conduct keyword research and analysis to find the best keywords for your niche and audience. You should also use keywords naturally and moderately in your content, title, meta tags, headings, and URL. Avoid keyword stuffing, as Baidu may penalize your site for over-optimization. You should also use synonyms and variations of your keywords to increase your relevance and diversity.
Backlinks are links from other sites that point to your site. They are an important indicator of your site's authority and popularity for Baidu. You should aim to get backlinks from reputable and relevant sites that have high traffic and domain authority. You should also diversify your backlink sources and anchor texts to avoid suspicion and manipulation. Avoid buying or exchanging backlinks, as Baidu may detect and devalue them.
Baidu provides various tools and resources to monitor and analyze your site's performance and optimize it. These include Baidu Webmaster Tools, which allows you to submit your site, sitemap, and robots.txt file to Baidu, check indexation and crawling status, and diagnose and fix errors. Baidu Analytics tracks and measures traffic, conversions, behavior, and sources. You can also use Baidu Keyword Planner to find and select keywords for your content and ads. And the Baidu Mobile-Friendly Test evaluates and improves mobile compatibility and usability. By following these tips, you can optimize your news site for Baidu to gain more visibility in the Chinese market.