Why You Should Invest in Baidu SEO for 2017 & The Future
For a while, many search marketers were wary of investing in Baidu search. Ranking organically was seen as a difficult task, especially among the plethora of ads littering the SERPs. With new laws and regulations put in place last year, 2016 was seen as a “coming of age” for Baidu. So with that said, here’s why you should invest in Baidu guide for the remainder of this year and the future!
Towards the end of last year, Baidu introduced their Mobile Instant Page (MIP) project – essentially their version of Google’s AMP. This caught the attention of search professionals around the world, telling us that Baidu is finally getting with the times.
Baidu’s Eco-Empowerment
In short, the concept of eco-empowerment is made up of two main elements: page load speed and HTTPS. Baidu has not taken the initiative to give a better user experience but also aims to improve efficiencies in terms of rolling out updates and monetization.
On the user-side, they’ve rolled out the MIP project in order to speed up load times on mobile devices. They’ve found that for every half second of loading delay, 3% of users will bounce and revisit the results page. Additionally, there have been extra security measures taken for safety. Baidu has introduced “Not Set”, their equivalent of Google’s “Not Provided” that we’re all so familiar with.
One of the biggest improvements to Baidu as of late has been the rollout of Spider 3.0, helping to increase crawl speeds by 80% and allowing Baidu to index trillions of pages, real time. Additionally, Divine Domain – a project with hopes of further increasing indexing speed, is slated to be released anytime now. Things are really looking up for Baidu!
Baidu’s MIP Project – Mobile Instant Page
We touched on it a bit earlier, but Baidu’s take on Google’s AMP is really something for the books. Mobile Instant Page has already been implemented on millions of pages, reportedly improving page load speeds by up to 80% and improving click-through rates anywhere from 5-30%.
Taking a closer look at MIP, we’ve found that it’s technologically and structurally similar to AMP; the code is pretty much identical too. Taking notes from the AMP’s rollout, Baidu has added a section within Baidu Webmaster Tools to track page submissions. There are also themes with built-in MIP across a number of popular Chinese CMS systems similar to WordPress. Also, you’ll notice MIP’s “Flashy” icon (below) accompanying results within the SERPs.
Baidu’s Market Share Locally & Globally
If you’ve spent any time in China over the past couple years, you’ve probably found that Google and most of their products simply don’t work. Google left China back in 2006 and since then, the only Google product that remains is Google Translate. AMP’s are inaccessible within mainland China as well.
While some believe that if Google had stuck around (or if it wasn’t blocked by The Great Firewall), Baidu wouldn’t have become such a dominating force. While that may be up for debate, even before Google had left they never exceeded Baidu’s market share.
In fact, it’s better to look at Baidu and Google as friendly competitors, especially since Baidu has been eyeing other regions for potential opportunities. Forming partnerships with alliances like Merkle is a sign that Baidu is looking to expand.
Furthermore, you’re now able to run Baidu PPC campaigns through Google’s DoubleClick for Search. On the flip side, Baidu is working with Google to standardize AMP & MIP efforts. And if you’ve been a proponent for microdata like me, you’ll be pleased to learn that Baidu plans to support Schema.org markup sometime this year.
Algorithm Updates 2016-2017
Baidu has rolled out a number of updates over the last year and a half in hopes of improving the online ecosystem. Some of the more notable updates include Ice Bucket, Skynet, and Blue Sky.
Green Radish: targets links schemes – link spam, comment spam or any hacked pages.
Pomegranate: penalizes those with low quality pages, i.e. large ads, pop-ups, thin content etc.
Anti-app-fraud: while there isn’t an official codename for this update, it’s intended to target mobile pages designed to lure visitors into downloading marketplace apps.
Ice Bucket: this update is mobile-specific, targeting spammy ads and pop-ups within mobile pages.
Skynet: penalizes mobile pages with PII leak risks and those with malicious intent.
Blue-Sky: combats content spam and link/directories for sale.
Moving Forward – Baidu SEO in 2017 & Beyond
In the past, organic search campaigns were at best an afterthought for many brands in China. With too many paid ads crowding the SERPs limiting organic exposure, there was little incentive to do the legwork required for ranking organically. On top of that, the role of an SEO in the past was quite volatile; most brands wanted quick results and instant exposure, pushing more to invest in paid search efforts.
The good news here is that things are changing. With the implementation of Baidu’s MIP project, alongside the number of algorithm updates pushed out over the last 18 months leads us to believe that Baidu guide is here to stay. Baidu has also reduced the number of paid results from 10 to less no more than 5 per query, which leaves a lot more real estate for organic results.
Lastly, here are 5 steps to getting started with Baidu SEO if you haven’t already:
- Register for Baidu Zhangzhang aka Baidu Webmaster Tools. Just like Google’s counterpart, you’ll receive imperative SEO data regarding your site(s) including link management and brand/site name protection. At the moment, Zhangzhang is only available with a Chinese interface.
- Site speed and security is of the essence. If your site isn’t tuned up for fast speeds, we suggest starting with implementing HTTPS and optimizing pages for quicker loading times.
- If you’re in media and publishing, be sure to abide by the new internet advertising laws within China, updated as of September 2016, otherwise, you run the risk of being penalized for spam if your campaigns are too aggressive.
- If you’re already working on a site rich in content, shift your focus to optimizing for mobile. Be sure to not only have a mobile-responsive site but also implement MIP.
- Technical SEO tactics aren’t going anywhere. Well-versed in microdata and structured data markup? Great. Implement it where you can. Also, take notes from Google’s updates as Baidu seems to only be a few steps behind at this point. Implementing leading developments like MIP, Progressive Web Apps, and structured data will ensure that your site remains ahead of the curve.
Baidu SEO: Green Radish Algorithm’s Update Notification
On July 1st , Baidu announced a new notification for its Green Radish Algorithm Update (百度绿萝算法2.0更新公告). The coming update is dedicated to filtering out the websites that have promoted plenty of backlinks thought Press Release. – Not only PR, Q&A’s websites are also concerned (Baidu Zhidao for example).
I know some of you have built backlinks using these SEO techniques on Baidu. Let’s have a first overview of the problem and how to solve it:
- Delete the backlinks that you have built – Do you have the whole list, if not, you should start praying.
- Change your domain – Fantastic idea!
- Bride Baidu – seriously, why don’t you bride them for top rankings?
- Hack the websites you have built backlinks – isn’t it illegal?
So, now we define the only potential way to avoid troubles on Baidu SEO, solution 1, disavow the backlinks.
We will be able to clearly see the impact on Baidu SERP soon; waiting for it you should consider the following SEO guidelines as soon as possible:
- Instead of removing the blacklisted backlinks, you could choose to build more “white backlinks” on Baidu products, such as: Baike, Tieba and etc.
Be noticed that it can be risky on Tieba, be very careful on your content.
- Try to build high quality PR on news websites, such as Sina, tech2ipo, and those that have high Baidu page rank.
- Ask the web master to remove your backlinks.
- The easiest way is to disavow backlinks on Baidu Zhanzhang. I guess you are already using it right? Otherwise open an account if you plan to index your website on Baidu. Here are the steps to follow to disavow a link on Baidu:
Baidu didn’t talk about the links on Social websites; we will keep an eye on it.
It can be easy for a competitor to create blacklisted backlinks to your website. Be careful and keep an eye on Baidu Zhanzhang dashboard.
Stay with us to keep informed the latest news in China E-Marketing and Search engine optimization. Feel free to contact us for more information.
Our Web Marketing team is always pleased to take care of your SEO strategy.
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Baidu SEO : Off-page optimization
1).Baidu Webmaster Tools
Much like how Google has its key SEO and content tools for brands and marketers to use and monitor campaigns, Baidu’s equivalent is the Baidu Webmaster Tools. It has various features for webmasters under six categories including site management, data submission, site configuration, site analysis, site security, and other tools.
Some of the most useful features include validating an HTTPS site with Baidu, applying for brand terms protection, automatically submitting content to Baidu for indexation, submitting broken links to Baidu, minimizing negative SEO effects caused by site migration, etc.
2).Optimize backlinks for Baidu SEO
Creating great content will bring organic traffic to your site. However, to get the most exposure, you need to also proactively promote your content.
To optimize your promotion efforts, identifying the right websites to promote to will be very important for your brand exposure. Ideally, the desired website should be authoritative, relevant to your brand and contain a diverse range of content.
To jump-start link prospecting, here are 3 suggestions:
- Pick sites that rank well in your targeted keywords;
- Analyze the value of a backlink from these sites
- Reach out to the sites that backlink to your competitors’ site on related topics, they might be willing to backlink to your site as well. Furthermore, check if they have any broken links to competitor sites or content on your site that may work better than the competitor site they’re currently linking to, and try to get the link replaced with yours.
As with any Chinese digital strategy, there is a wide range of facets to consider, and we understand that getting set up with Baidu SEO can be overwhelming. If you have any questions about creating a Baidu account or want a better understanding of SEM and SEO marketing in China, contact us!
Increasing your Site’s Ranking on Baidu SERP
Baidu SEO : On-page optimization
1).Creating high-quality content regularly
If your website has been ranking well on Baidu in the past, newly published content with simple keyword targeting can often outrank competitors, even if the content has fewer backlinks.
If your website has already ranked well on Baidu, it is easier to continue to do so if you have freshly published content with targeted keywords even if there are not many backlinks. But if your site is new, it will take around 6 months or longer to build up your web presence. Baidu favors new content more so than in comparison to Google. Although originality is not emphasized by the search engine, parallelisms from other sites and pages is punished by the search engine and unique content does make better rankings. To prevent your original content from being copied by other sites, make sure you submit new content to Baidu immediately after publishing via Baidu’s Webmaster Tool.
2).Defining a keyword planning strategy
Finding the right keyword list is the first step to defining a keyword strategy for your Baidu SEO campaign. Typically, search suggestion (autocomplete), related searches, Baidu keyword planner tools like Baidu Top Keywords – Live Keyword Feed, Baidu Index, Baidu Keyword Research Tool(available if you have a PPC account and the registration is free), paid search data, search engines’ webmaster tools (e.g. Google Search Console or Baidu Webmaster Tools) are common places to look for extra keywords.
After deciding on which keywords to use, the next step is how and where to allocate them.
Baidu tends to require a higher keyword density (around 8%-12%) than that of Google to rank higher. However, it only has a positive effect on Baidu SEO provided that the keywords flow smoothly and are relevant to the content and the brand. Keyword stuffing happens when some brands’ attempts to reach a high keyword density via unnatural stuffing of targeted keywords.
3).Use appropriate tags and descriptions
Baidu’s ranking algorithm looks at tags and descriptions as a way to process relevant keywords and descriptions. You are encouraged to place your company’s name or important keywords at the top of every page on your site by Baidu.
Even though JavaScript is widely used by most websites nowadays, Baidu is a bit behind when it comes to processing JavaScript. If you used any JavaScript and CSS libraries or other CDN hosted files on your website, please keep in mind that they should also be hosted from within China.
