10 Baidu SEO 2020 Best Practices for Better Rankings

Do you want to drive more traffic to your Chinese website? You came to the right place.

Learn more about Baidu SEO 2020 best practices and make sure your site is ready.

Baidu SEO strategies cover different facets. Keyword research remains part of the process. But translation, localization, design, and website architecture are crucial for better rankings.

If your website doesn’t support the Chinese language, consider website translation and localization first. These two complement the best practices in Baidu if done right.

So, let’s explore what’s in store for 2020.

#1 Simplified Chinese is a must – if your website doesn’t support Chinese, it’s best to invest in it now. Search engines such as Baidu indexes content in Chinese. If you’re serious in targeting China internet users, launch your all-Chinese website.

#2 Your homepage is a top-priority – Google looks at the relevance of your website, but Baidu is different. It prioritizes the first page of a website. If you want to increase your rankings, use the right keywords and the best home page design.

#3 Baidu prioritizes HTTPs – since 2018, Baidu prefers websites that have HTTPS. Many sites in China don’t have the SSL certificate yet. Other companies only have it in their English version. Make sure you have one for your Chinese website.

#4 Refrain publishing sensitive content – if you have plans in publishing content regularly, refrain from posting content related to anti-government topics. Anything that’s politically, economically, and culturally-sensitive topic or information should be avoided. Some keywords or phrases can be easily traced on webpages.

#5 Avoid JavaScript apps and flash content – if your website has JavaScripts, they might affect your rankings on Baidu SERPs. Baidu crawler can’t interpret JavaScripts. So, if you’re localizing content and codes, you should think of alternative texts for visibility. Avoid using flash content, too, so you should think of other text strings to describe the content or use the appropriate meta tags.

#6 Invest in high-quality content with the right keywords – Baidu wants to make sure that users get the best content whenever they browse. Better quality of content means you have higher chances of being ranked. Plus, include high-quality backlinks from Chinese websites whenever you publish content. Refrain from including backlinks from foreign websites.

#7 Say no to duplicated content – Want to maintain good rankings? Make sure you don’t have duplicated content on your Chinese website. Plagiarism is a big no-no on Baidu, and you would be penalized.

#8 Get a dot-CN domain – Baidu prefers websites that have the dot-CN domain. Which means, it’s better to have a site that is locally hosted. If you want to gain more traffic from China, it’s best to maintain a Chinese website with a .cn or .com.cn domain.

#9 Use other Baidu services to boost your presence – Like Google, Baidu also offers other services such as Maps, online Wikipedia, PPC ads, and more. To increase your online presence, create a Baidu Baike page of your company. Baidu Baike is Baidu’s Wikipedia version.

#10 Always publish fresh content – Publishing new content helps in improving your rankings. Investing in high-quality content, which is produced by Chinese writers who know the Baidu best practices can yield fruitful rewards after. Upload at least 1-2 posts per month to let Baidu crawlers know your site is existing and has high-quality content.

Your takeaway

Is your website Baidu-ready? Which of the best practices do you think should you prioritize these days? Let us know how LIMPID team can help you.