FEATURE Search Engine Optimisation in China What companies should bear in mind when marketing to the world’s largest online population By Alain Kaiser EVER before has there been a bigger erty to be the most relevant to what was it depends on the search query, Baidu can demand from foreign companies and typed in by the user, it analyses a wide range display up to eight paid ads before the first brand advertisers to establish and of different factors. These are all interrelated, natural search result appears. In contrast to Ndevelop a digital presence in China. but can be classified into four broad catego- Google’s style, these paid results are not as With over half a billion netizens, the country ries: content, website infrastructure, back obviously marked as advertisements to users. features the world’s largest online population, links and social signals. Relevant and unique Hence, even if perfect SEO optimisation is with one out of five internet users across the content is still by far the most important done for a search term, a website will only globe being Chinese. At the same time, the ranking factor. However, even if a website come up at the ninth position and can only Chinese internet landscape is undoubtedly has the most suitable content for a certain expect approximately 4 per cent of all users one of the most challenging in the world to search term, no search engine will list it as to click on it. navigate. Digital marketers must build and the first search result if the website’s server execute strategies that encompass the ever- is very slow. Most sites of international firms changing and accelerating range of available are hosted abroad instead of in China, and channels and services, which include social users may have to wait 30 seconds for the >> The Chinese search media marketing, display and banner ad- page to be loaded. Page rank, or back links, vertisements, retargeting to email and text simply means that other relevant websites on engine giant, Baidu, messages, and search engine optimisation. the internet have hyperlinks that point back They must also take into account the local to the website in question, thereby validating holds more than 80 per characteristics of the Chinese online world. the page as a trusted source of information. The more links a page has, the higher it will cent market share, while What is SEO? rank in search results. Social signals are references from social media channels and Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the are important because it is a good indicator Google has less than 6 active practice of increasing the traffic and that people are “talking” about a site -- and ranking of a web property on the results page this popularity helps rankings. per cent, followed by of a search engine through non-paid listings. The most common goal of SEO is to have a SEO in China lesser known search website rank of “1” for selected search terms. However, apart from this active, “positive” As with most industries in China, the search pursuit, many neglect the potential of using engine market landscape is quite different engines such as Sogou SEO to combat negative or unwanted results than in other parts of the world. The Chi- for certain search terms. Think, for example, nese search engine giant, Baidu, holds more and Soso << of how potential consumers are affected by than 80 per cent market share, while Google negative customer reviews that appear on the has less than 6 per cent, followed by lesser first page of search results for a company’s known engines such as Sogou and Soso. b) Baidu universal search results. In addition name or brand. If possible, companies would Meanwhile, there is the emergence of many to paid advertisements, Baidu tends to display like to remove this negative “publicity” and new and so-called “vertical search engines” many of its own related services in the first populate the first few pages with neutral or that cater towards a certain topic, e.g. eTao few natural search results. These include favorable results. This is referred to as “online by Taobao/Alibaba Group for shopping and relevant discussions on Baidu Zhidao (similar reputation management.” Qunar for travel. to Yahoo Answers), Baidu Tieba (Baidu’s discussion board) or Baidu Baike (similar to How does SEO work? There are two significantly different aspects Wikipedia). This means that SEO work also of Baidu that make its SEO different than has to be done on these services. For a search engine to recognise a web prop- Google's: a) Paid advertisements. Although 26 SHANGHAI BUSINESS REVIEW JULY 2012 www.sbr.net.cn Feature Just as in the realm of search, local providers More localisation of social media platforms tend to beat out >> By the end of 2011, globally used social media networks. Thus, Additionally, many search applications, such whereas other countries frequently use Face- 356 million users – or as the mobile versions of Baidu and Google, book and Twitter, in China it is Sina Weibo have begun to support Chinese language voice or Tencent Weibo, and RenRen or Kaixin, almost 70 per cent of all searches. When people speak to express a which are dominant. In some cases, foreign search request, they often formulate their re- service providers are not even accessible from quests in a different way than when they type within China. This also requires an entirely Internet users in China them in. When typing, users tend to use short different strategy to off-page SEO through phrases, such as “best hotel in Shanghai,” but social signals than in other countries. – were going online when speaking, they are inclined to use more natural language, as in “which is the best hotel Going SoLoMo through their mobile in Shanghai.” Therefore, marketers will need Globally, the largest trend in online user be- to take into consideration such additional havior is the so-called “SoLoMo” experience phones << search expressions when formulating keyword – an abbreviation for “social, local, mobile.” strategies. All three factors are having huge impacts on Baidu tend to show different search results Well-planned and executed SEO in China can SEO in China. on one’s mobile phone for the same requests produce excellent results. The key is to develop All search engines will continue increasing (e.g. “closest Italian restaurant”), as the latter an integrated SEO strategy first, and to then the influence of social signals on natural shows results relative to the user’s current build it up with localised on-page optimisa- search rankings. Consequently, all major location. tion – such as via translation, hosting the site search providers, with Google taking the in China, and integrating Weibo-like sharing By the end of 2011, 356 million users – or tools, as well as by attracting local links from lead with Google Plus, are currently adding almost 70 per cent of all Internet users in their own social services. In China, Alibaba’s related Chinese websites and maximising China – were going online through their references on Chinese social media. Laiwang is already in place while Baidu will mobile phones. It is predicted that by 2013 soon acquire or develop their own social mobile devices will trump personal com- About the Author: Alain Kaiser is an online networking sites, while they have already puters as the chief means of accessing the marketing strategist and technical supervisor for started displaying Sina Weibo entries for Internet. SEO results for mobile searches can Web2Asia, a digital marketing service company popular queries. be very different than on a PC browser – both offering market entry and online marketing With the rise of smartphones, followed by due to added location-based information and solutions to international consumers brands, with applications that use built-in GPS technol- because search engines take into account unique know-how and experience in E-commerce ogy to offer location-based services, being whether the results content is displayed cor- set-up and management in China. localised is central to success. Google and rectly on mobile devices. .