Baidu SEO and Baidu PPC (Baidu Paid Search)

Posted on October 22, 2008
Filed Under online marketing |

I wrote a post about Baidu advertising a while ago and also posted about experiences with Chinese SEO which resulted in an interesting discussion about Baidu SEO. Also, several contact requests raised questions of how to do SEO in Baidu. So, I suppose it’s time for another Baidu SEO post, repeat a few things, answer FAQs and bring new aspects to the surface.

Here are a few typical Baidu SEO questions and my answers to them:

Which are the relevant SEO factors for Baidu search engine optimization?
Page titles, keyword density, amount of inbound links (not relevancy and quality), and as you can hear, some luck and/or connections into the Baidu organisation.

If I optimize for G, do I automatically optimize for Baidu?
Yes and no. In terms of onsite SEO (titles and content) it would fit, but in terms of offsite SEO (i.e. amount and quality of incoming links) it doesn’t.

How sophisticated are Baidus SEO ranking and paid search bidding algorythms?
Baidu’s paid search factors are basically all about the CPC. Higher price, higher ranking. SEO algorythms can be compared with those of G a few years ago, I’d say.

Can you explain the structure of the Baidu search engine result page?
There is a large left column and a smaller sized right column. In the left column you’ll find the paid search results and underneath, the natural search results. Baidu’s paid search results show a 推广 next to the displayed URL. Natural results can be identified by a 百度快照. The paid search results always come first, the natural results always follow.

The right column looks like paid search as well (like G) but it’s not. These slots can be booked for one whole year and if the desired keyword is already taken you have to reserve it. Position 1 to 3 cost an equal annual fee and rotate among each other. The same is for position 4 to 6 and position 7 to 10.

Baidu SEO, necessary at all?

Well, on the first glimpse: No, because of the strange paid search listings. In the long term: Yes! Why? Because already now many Chinese are unsatisfied with the search results of Baidu. Especially the educated people and white-collar worker use G to find relevant information in the Internet. This is not just a perception, that’s a fact (read this post about Baidu’s and Google’s user demographics and search behaviour).

So, sooner or later, Baidu will have to refine their search and bidding rules and also revise the display of natural search results and text ads on their search result pages. Then, that’s what I believe, the effort that is invested now into Baidu SEO will pay off even greater.

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