baidu seo - startseite...never have to work a day in your life”. confucius i have noticed that...
TRANSCRIPT
Baidu SEO
FOCUS SERIES
Baidu SEO
Challenges and Intricacies of Marketing in China
Veacuteronique Duong
First published 2017 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley amp Sons Inc
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study or criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 this publication may only be reproduced stored or transmitted in any form or by any means with the prior permission in writing of the publishers or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address
ISTE Ltd John Wiley amp Sons Inc 27-37 St Georgersquos Road 111 River Street London SW19 4EU Hoboken NJ 07030 UK USA
wwwistecouk wwwwileycom
copy ISTE Ltd 2017 The rights of Veacuteronique Duong to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
Library of Congress Control Number 2017935105 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISSN 2051-2481 (Print) ISSN 2051-249X (Online) ISBN 978-1-78630-111-6
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 Baidu Its Services and Its Competitors 1
11 The history of Baidu 1 12 Very ldquorichrdquo Search Engine Results Page 2 13 Baidu versus HaoSou and Sogou 4 14 Baidursquos services 6 15 Eye tracking on Baidu versus Google 7 16 How does ldquoBaiduSpiderrdquo work 8 17 Understanding the difference between crawl and indexing on Baidu 11
Chapter 2 Technical Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 13
21 Purchasing a domain name with a ldquocnrdquo extension 13 22 Choosing a domain name 13 23 Hosting a site in Hong Kong andor in China 14
231 Recommended hosting companies 16 232 Case study 17
24 Chinese mobile telephone line 18 25 Optimizing an HTML code for Baidu 19 26 Is HTTPS protocol incompatible with Baidu 20 27 ldquoBaidu MIPrdquo a new feature for mobile pages in 2016 22 28 Encoding a Chinese site 24 29 Baidursquos ldquoWebmaster Toolsrdquo 25
vi Baidu SEO
210 Check that the robotstxt complies with the Baidu guidelines 27 211 How should a robotstxt with a high number of restrictions be managed 28 212 Tags and attributes that are not compatible with Baidu 30
2121 The rel=ldquocanonicalrdquo attribute does not work on Baidu 30 2122 The hreflang attribute does not work on Baidu 31 2123 Micro data tags (Schemaorg) do not work in Baidu 32
213 Baidursquos V1 V2 and V3 icons 33 214 The ldquoofficial siterdquo icon on Baidu (官网) 35 215 The Pomegranate algorithm (石榴) 37 216 The Money Plant algorithm against external spam links 37 217 Sitemap for Baidu 39 218 Submitting URLs to Baidu automatically 39 219 Adapt your mobile site to Baidu 42 220 Declaring a mobile site in Webmaster Tools 43 221 Baidursquos official good practices for optimizing a mobile site 44 222 Why should you have a Responsive Design site 45 223 Managing the redesign of a site for Baidu 47 224 Simple and ordinary URLs for Baidu 49 225 URL formats for press sites for Baidu news 50 226 The negative impact of empty internal results pages 50 227 Problems with link analysis and Rapid Positioning 51
Chapter 3 Semantic and Editorial Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 53
31 Baidu Index a useful platform for studying search trends 53 32 Baidursquos keyword generation tool 54 33 Keywords and ranking Term FrequencyndashInverse Document Frequency statistics 55
Contents vii
34 The length of the title and meta description meta-tags 56 35 The influence of keywords on Baidu SEO 58 36 The importance of keyword density 59 37 Strategy for keywords and SERP analysis 61
Chapter 4 Subjects Related to Baidu SEO 65
41 Baidu Certified Marketing Specialist certifications 65 42 Baidursquos browser 66 43 Connecting to a social network directly from the SERPs 68 44 Chinese e-commerce and Baidu SEO current trends 69 45 AutoNavi is outperforming Baidu Maps 71 46 Social networks and Baidu 71
Chapter 5 Methodology of a Baidu SEO Campaign 75
51 First step kick-off meeting 75 52 The SEO project reverse schedule 76
521 How is a Gantt chart created 77 53 The technical audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 80 54 The semantic audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 81 55 Keyword analysis 82 56 Optimizing Chinese meta-tags 83 57 Optimizing headings tags 85 58 Optimizing textual content 86 59 Optimizing Chinese URLs 88 510 Optimizing text anchors 89 511 Optimizing images 91 512 Optimizing breadcrumbs 92 513 Dragon Metrics a special position monitoring tool for China 92 514 Netlinking searching for external links 94
Chapter 6 Beyond Baidu SEO 97
61 Advice on SMO optimization for WeChat 98 62 Advice for social marketing on Weibo 100
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
Baidu SEO
FOCUS SERIES
Baidu SEO
Challenges and Intricacies of Marketing in China
Veacuteronique Duong
First published 2017 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley amp Sons Inc
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study or criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 this publication may only be reproduced stored or transmitted in any form or by any means with the prior permission in writing of the publishers or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address
ISTE Ltd John Wiley amp Sons Inc 27-37 St Georgersquos Road 111 River Street London SW19 4EU Hoboken NJ 07030 UK USA
wwwistecouk wwwwileycom
copy ISTE Ltd 2017 The rights of Veacuteronique Duong to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
Library of Congress Control Number 2017935105 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISSN 2051-2481 (Print) ISSN 2051-249X (Online) ISBN 978-1-78630-111-6
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 Baidu Its Services and Its Competitors 1
11 The history of Baidu 1 12 Very ldquorichrdquo Search Engine Results Page 2 13 Baidu versus HaoSou and Sogou 4 14 Baidursquos services 6 15 Eye tracking on Baidu versus Google 7 16 How does ldquoBaiduSpiderrdquo work 8 17 Understanding the difference between crawl and indexing on Baidu 11
Chapter 2 Technical Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 13
21 Purchasing a domain name with a ldquocnrdquo extension 13 22 Choosing a domain name 13 23 Hosting a site in Hong Kong andor in China 14
231 Recommended hosting companies 16 232 Case study 17
24 Chinese mobile telephone line 18 25 Optimizing an HTML code for Baidu 19 26 Is HTTPS protocol incompatible with Baidu 20 27 ldquoBaidu MIPrdquo a new feature for mobile pages in 2016 22 28 Encoding a Chinese site 24 29 Baidursquos ldquoWebmaster Toolsrdquo 25
vi Baidu SEO
210 Check that the robotstxt complies with the Baidu guidelines 27 211 How should a robotstxt with a high number of restrictions be managed 28 212 Tags and attributes that are not compatible with Baidu 30
2121 The rel=ldquocanonicalrdquo attribute does not work on Baidu 30 2122 The hreflang attribute does not work on Baidu 31 2123 Micro data tags (Schemaorg) do not work in Baidu 32
213 Baidursquos V1 V2 and V3 icons 33 214 The ldquoofficial siterdquo icon on Baidu (官网) 35 215 The Pomegranate algorithm (石榴) 37 216 The Money Plant algorithm against external spam links 37 217 Sitemap for Baidu 39 218 Submitting URLs to Baidu automatically 39 219 Adapt your mobile site to Baidu 42 220 Declaring a mobile site in Webmaster Tools 43 221 Baidursquos official good practices for optimizing a mobile site 44 222 Why should you have a Responsive Design site 45 223 Managing the redesign of a site for Baidu 47 224 Simple and ordinary URLs for Baidu 49 225 URL formats for press sites for Baidu news 50 226 The negative impact of empty internal results pages 50 227 Problems with link analysis and Rapid Positioning 51
Chapter 3 Semantic and Editorial Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 53
31 Baidu Index a useful platform for studying search trends 53 32 Baidursquos keyword generation tool 54 33 Keywords and ranking Term FrequencyndashInverse Document Frequency statistics 55
Contents vii
34 The length of the title and meta description meta-tags 56 35 The influence of keywords on Baidu SEO 58 36 The importance of keyword density 59 37 Strategy for keywords and SERP analysis 61
Chapter 4 Subjects Related to Baidu SEO 65
41 Baidu Certified Marketing Specialist certifications 65 42 Baidursquos browser 66 43 Connecting to a social network directly from the SERPs 68 44 Chinese e-commerce and Baidu SEO current trends 69 45 AutoNavi is outperforming Baidu Maps 71 46 Social networks and Baidu 71
Chapter 5 Methodology of a Baidu SEO Campaign 75
51 First step kick-off meeting 75 52 The SEO project reverse schedule 76
521 How is a Gantt chart created 77 53 The technical audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 80 54 The semantic audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 81 55 Keyword analysis 82 56 Optimizing Chinese meta-tags 83 57 Optimizing headings tags 85 58 Optimizing textual content 86 59 Optimizing Chinese URLs 88 510 Optimizing text anchors 89 511 Optimizing images 91 512 Optimizing breadcrumbs 92 513 Dragon Metrics a special position monitoring tool for China 92 514 Netlinking searching for external links 94
Chapter 6 Beyond Baidu SEO 97
61 Advice on SMO optimization for WeChat 98 62 Advice for social marketing on Weibo 100
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
FOCUS SERIES
Baidu SEO
Challenges and Intricacies of Marketing in China
Veacuteronique Duong
First published 2017 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley amp Sons Inc
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study or criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 this publication may only be reproduced stored or transmitted in any form or by any means with the prior permission in writing of the publishers or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address
ISTE Ltd John Wiley amp Sons Inc 27-37 St Georgersquos Road 111 River Street London SW19 4EU Hoboken NJ 07030 UK USA
wwwistecouk wwwwileycom
copy ISTE Ltd 2017 The rights of Veacuteronique Duong to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
Library of Congress Control Number 2017935105 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISSN 2051-2481 (Print) ISSN 2051-249X (Online) ISBN 978-1-78630-111-6
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 Baidu Its Services and Its Competitors 1
11 The history of Baidu 1 12 Very ldquorichrdquo Search Engine Results Page 2 13 Baidu versus HaoSou and Sogou 4 14 Baidursquos services 6 15 Eye tracking on Baidu versus Google 7 16 How does ldquoBaiduSpiderrdquo work 8 17 Understanding the difference between crawl and indexing on Baidu 11
Chapter 2 Technical Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 13
21 Purchasing a domain name with a ldquocnrdquo extension 13 22 Choosing a domain name 13 23 Hosting a site in Hong Kong andor in China 14
231 Recommended hosting companies 16 232 Case study 17
24 Chinese mobile telephone line 18 25 Optimizing an HTML code for Baidu 19 26 Is HTTPS protocol incompatible with Baidu 20 27 ldquoBaidu MIPrdquo a new feature for mobile pages in 2016 22 28 Encoding a Chinese site 24 29 Baidursquos ldquoWebmaster Toolsrdquo 25
vi Baidu SEO
210 Check that the robotstxt complies with the Baidu guidelines 27 211 How should a robotstxt with a high number of restrictions be managed 28 212 Tags and attributes that are not compatible with Baidu 30
2121 The rel=ldquocanonicalrdquo attribute does not work on Baidu 30 2122 The hreflang attribute does not work on Baidu 31 2123 Micro data tags (Schemaorg) do not work in Baidu 32
213 Baidursquos V1 V2 and V3 icons 33 214 The ldquoofficial siterdquo icon on Baidu (官网) 35 215 The Pomegranate algorithm (石榴) 37 216 The Money Plant algorithm against external spam links 37 217 Sitemap for Baidu 39 218 Submitting URLs to Baidu automatically 39 219 Adapt your mobile site to Baidu 42 220 Declaring a mobile site in Webmaster Tools 43 221 Baidursquos official good practices for optimizing a mobile site 44 222 Why should you have a Responsive Design site 45 223 Managing the redesign of a site for Baidu 47 224 Simple and ordinary URLs for Baidu 49 225 URL formats for press sites for Baidu news 50 226 The negative impact of empty internal results pages 50 227 Problems with link analysis and Rapid Positioning 51
Chapter 3 Semantic and Editorial Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 53
31 Baidu Index a useful platform for studying search trends 53 32 Baidursquos keyword generation tool 54 33 Keywords and ranking Term FrequencyndashInverse Document Frequency statistics 55
Contents vii
34 The length of the title and meta description meta-tags 56 35 The influence of keywords on Baidu SEO 58 36 The importance of keyword density 59 37 Strategy for keywords and SERP analysis 61
Chapter 4 Subjects Related to Baidu SEO 65
41 Baidu Certified Marketing Specialist certifications 65 42 Baidursquos browser 66 43 Connecting to a social network directly from the SERPs 68 44 Chinese e-commerce and Baidu SEO current trends 69 45 AutoNavi is outperforming Baidu Maps 71 46 Social networks and Baidu 71
Chapter 5 Methodology of a Baidu SEO Campaign 75
51 First step kick-off meeting 75 52 The SEO project reverse schedule 76
521 How is a Gantt chart created 77 53 The technical audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 80 54 The semantic audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 81 55 Keyword analysis 82 56 Optimizing Chinese meta-tags 83 57 Optimizing headings tags 85 58 Optimizing textual content 86 59 Optimizing Chinese URLs 88 510 Optimizing text anchors 89 511 Optimizing images 91 512 Optimizing breadcrumbs 92 513 Dragon Metrics a special position monitoring tool for China 92 514 Netlinking searching for external links 94
Chapter 6 Beyond Baidu SEO 97
61 Advice on SMO optimization for WeChat 98 62 Advice for social marketing on Weibo 100
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
First published 2017 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley amp Sons Inc
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study or criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 this publication may only be reproduced stored or transmitted in any form or by any means with the prior permission in writing of the publishers or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address
ISTE Ltd John Wiley amp Sons Inc 27-37 St Georgersquos Road 111 River Street London SW19 4EU Hoboken NJ 07030 UK USA
wwwistecouk wwwwileycom
copy ISTE Ltd 2017 The rights of Veacuteronique Duong to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
Library of Congress Control Number 2017935105 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISSN 2051-2481 (Print) ISSN 2051-249X (Online) ISBN 978-1-78630-111-6
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 Baidu Its Services and Its Competitors 1
11 The history of Baidu 1 12 Very ldquorichrdquo Search Engine Results Page 2 13 Baidu versus HaoSou and Sogou 4 14 Baidursquos services 6 15 Eye tracking on Baidu versus Google 7 16 How does ldquoBaiduSpiderrdquo work 8 17 Understanding the difference between crawl and indexing on Baidu 11
Chapter 2 Technical Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 13
21 Purchasing a domain name with a ldquocnrdquo extension 13 22 Choosing a domain name 13 23 Hosting a site in Hong Kong andor in China 14
231 Recommended hosting companies 16 232 Case study 17
24 Chinese mobile telephone line 18 25 Optimizing an HTML code for Baidu 19 26 Is HTTPS protocol incompatible with Baidu 20 27 ldquoBaidu MIPrdquo a new feature for mobile pages in 2016 22 28 Encoding a Chinese site 24 29 Baidursquos ldquoWebmaster Toolsrdquo 25
vi Baidu SEO
210 Check that the robotstxt complies with the Baidu guidelines 27 211 How should a robotstxt with a high number of restrictions be managed 28 212 Tags and attributes that are not compatible with Baidu 30
2121 The rel=ldquocanonicalrdquo attribute does not work on Baidu 30 2122 The hreflang attribute does not work on Baidu 31 2123 Micro data tags (Schemaorg) do not work in Baidu 32
213 Baidursquos V1 V2 and V3 icons 33 214 The ldquoofficial siterdquo icon on Baidu (官网) 35 215 The Pomegranate algorithm (石榴) 37 216 The Money Plant algorithm against external spam links 37 217 Sitemap for Baidu 39 218 Submitting URLs to Baidu automatically 39 219 Adapt your mobile site to Baidu 42 220 Declaring a mobile site in Webmaster Tools 43 221 Baidursquos official good practices for optimizing a mobile site 44 222 Why should you have a Responsive Design site 45 223 Managing the redesign of a site for Baidu 47 224 Simple and ordinary URLs for Baidu 49 225 URL formats for press sites for Baidu news 50 226 The negative impact of empty internal results pages 50 227 Problems with link analysis and Rapid Positioning 51
Chapter 3 Semantic and Editorial Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 53
31 Baidu Index a useful platform for studying search trends 53 32 Baidursquos keyword generation tool 54 33 Keywords and ranking Term FrequencyndashInverse Document Frequency statistics 55
Contents vii
34 The length of the title and meta description meta-tags 56 35 The influence of keywords on Baidu SEO 58 36 The importance of keyword density 59 37 Strategy for keywords and SERP analysis 61
Chapter 4 Subjects Related to Baidu SEO 65
41 Baidu Certified Marketing Specialist certifications 65 42 Baidursquos browser 66 43 Connecting to a social network directly from the SERPs 68 44 Chinese e-commerce and Baidu SEO current trends 69 45 AutoNavi is outperforming Baidu Maps 71 46 Social networks and Baidu 71
Chapter 5 Methodology of a Baidu SEO Campaign 75
51 First step kick-off meeting 75 52 The SEO project reverse schedule 76
521 How is a Gantt chart created 77 53 The technical audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 80 54 The semantic audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 81 55 Keyword analysis 82 56 Optimizing Chinese meta-tags 83 57 Optimizing headings tags 85 58 Optimizing textual content 86 59 Optimizing Chinese URLs 88 510 Optimizing text anchors 89 511 Optimizing images 91 512 Optimizing breadcrumbs 92 513 Dragon Metrics a special position monitoring tool for China 92 514 Netlinking searching for external links 94
Chapter 6 Beyond Baidu SEO 97
61 Advice on SMO optimization for WeChat 98 62 Advice for social marketing on Weibo 100
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 Baidu Its Services and Its Competitors 1
11 The history of Baidu 1 12 Very ldquorichrdquo Search Engine Results Page 2 13 Baidu versus HaoSou and Sogou 4 14 Baidursquos services 6 15 Eye tracking on Baidu versus Google 7 16 How does ldquoBaiduSpiderrdquo work 8 17 Understanding the difference between crawl and indexing on Baidu 11
Chapter 2 Technical Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 13
21 Purchasing a domain name with a ldquocnrdquo extension 13 22 Choosing a domain name 13 23 Hosting a site in Hong Kong andor in China 14
231 Recommended hosting companies 16 232 Case study 17
24 Chinese mobile telephone line 18 25 Optimizing an HTML code for Baidu 19 26 Is HTTPS protocol incompatible with Baidu 20 27 ldquoBaidu MIPrdquo a new feature for mobile pages in 2016 22 28 Encoding a Chinese site 24 29 Baidursquos ldquoWebmaster Toolsrdquo 25
vi Baidu SEO
210 Check that the robotstxt complies with the Baidu guidelines 27 211 How should a robotstxt with a high number of restrictions be managed 28 212 Tags and attributes that are not compatible with Baidu 30
2121 The rel=ldquocanonicalrdquo attribute does not work on Baidu 30 2122 The hreflang attribute does not work on Baidu 31 2123 Micro data tags (Schemaorg) do not work in Baidu 32
213 Baidursquos V1 V2 and V3 icons 33 214 The ldquoofficial siterdquo icon on Baidu (官网) 35 215 The Pomegranate algorithm (石榴) 37 216 The Money Plant algorithm against external spam links 37 217 Sitemap for Baidu 39 218 Submitting URLs to Baidu automatically 39 219 Adapt your mobile site to Baidu 42 220 Declaring a mobile site in Webmaster Tools 43 221 Baidursquos official good practices for optimizing a mobile site 44 222 Why should you have a Responsive Design site 45 223 Managing the redesign of a site for Baidu 47 224 Simple and ordinary URLs for Baidu 49 225 URL formats for press sites for Baidu news 50 226 The negative impact of empty internal results pages 50 227 Problems with link analysis and Rapid Positioning 51
Chapter 3 Semantic and Editorial Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 53
31 Baidu Index a useful platform for studying search trends 53 32 Baidursquos keyword generation tool 54 33 Keywords and ranking Term FrequencyndashInverse Document Frequency statistics 55
Contents vii
34 The length of the title and meta description meta-tags 56 35 The influence of keywords on Baidu SEO 58 36 The importance of keyword density 59 37 Strategy for keywords and SERP analysis 61
Chapter 4 Subjects Related to Baidu SEO 65
41 Baidu Certified Marketing Specialist certifications 65 42 Baidursquos browser 66 43 Connecting to a social network directly from the SERPs 68 44 Chinese e-commerce and Baidu SEO current trends 69 45 AutoNavi is outperforming Baidu Maps 71 46 Social networks and Baidu 71
Chapter 5 Methodology of a Baidu SEO Campaign 75
51 First step kick-off meeting 75 52 The SEO project reverse schedule 76
521 How is a Gantt chart created 77 53 The technical audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 80 54 The semantic audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 81 55 Keyword analysis 82 56 Optimizing Chinese meta-tags 83 57 Optimizing headings tags 85 58 Optimizing textual content 86 59 Optimizing Chinese URLs 88 510 Optimizing text anchors 89 511 Optimizing images 91 512 Optimizing breadcrumbs 92 513 Dragon Metrics a special position monitoring tool for China 92 514 Netlinking searching for external links 94
Chapter 6 Beyond Baidu SEO 97
61 Advice on SMO optimization for WeChat 98 62 Advice for social marketing on Weibo 100
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
vi Baidu SEO
210 Check that the robotstxt complies with the Baidu guidelines 27 211 How should a robotstxt with a high number of restrictions be managed 28 212 Tags and attributes that are not compatible with Baidu 30
2121 The rel=ldquocanonicalrdquo attribute does not work on Baidu 30 2122 The hreflang attribute does not work on Baidu 31 2123 Micro data tags (Schemaorg) do not work in Baidu 32
213 Baidursquos V1 V2 and V3 icons 33 214 The ldquoofficial siterdquo icon on Baidu (官网) 35 215 The Pomegranate algorithm (石榴) 37 216 The Money Plant algorithm against external spam links 37 217 Sitemap for Baidu 39 218 Submitting URLs to Baidu automatically 39 219 Adapt your mobile site to Baidu 42 220 Declaring a mobile site in Webmaster Tools 43 221 Baidursquos official good practices for optimizing a mobile site 44 222 Why should you have a Responsive Design site 45 223 Managing the redesign of a site for Baidu 47 224 Simple and ordinary URLs for Baidu 49 225 URL formats for press sites for Baidu news 50 226 The negative impact of empty internal results pages 50 227 Problems with link analysis and Rapid Positioning 51
Chapter 3 Semantic and Editorial Advice and Tips for Baidu SEO 53
31 Baidu Index a useful platform for studying search trends 53 32 Baidursquos keyword generation tool 54 33 Keywords and ranking Term FrequencyndashInverse Document Frequency statistics 55
Contents vii
34 The length of the title and meta description meta-tags 56 35 The influence of keywords on Baidu SEO 58 36 The importance of keyword density 59 37 Strategy for keywords and SERP analysis 61
Chapter 4 Subjects Related to Baidu SEO 65
41 Baidu Certified Marketing Specialist certifications 65 42 Baidursquos browser 66 43 Connecting to a social network directly from the SERPs 68 44 Chinese e-commerce and Baidu SEO current trends 69 45 AutoNavi is outperforming Baidu Maps 71 46 Social networks and Baidu 71
Chapter 5 Methodology of a Baidu SEO Campaign 75
51 First step kick-off meeting 75 52 The SEO project reverse schedule 76
521 How is a Gantt chart created 77 53 The technical audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 80 54 The semantic audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 81 55 Keyword analysis 82 56 Optimizing Chinese meta-tags 83 57 Optimizing headings tags 85 58 Optimizing textual content 86 59 Optimizing Chinese URLs 88 510 Optimizing text anchors 89 511 Optimizing images 91 512 Optimizing breadcrumbs 92 513 Dragon Metrics a special position monitoring tool for China 92 514 Netlinking searching for external links 94
Chapter 6 Beyond Baidu SEO 97
61 Advice on SMO optimization for WeChat 98 62 Advice for social marketing on Weibo 100
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
Contents vii
34 The length of the title and meta description meta-tags 56 35 The influence of keywords on Baidu SEO 58 36 The importance of keyword density 59 37 Strategy for keywords and SERP analysis 61
Chapter 4 Subjects Related to Baidu SEO 65
41 Baidu Certified Marketing Specialist certifications 65 42 Baidursquos browser 66 43 Connecting to a social network directly from the SERPs 68 44 Chinese e-commerce and Baidu SEO current trends 69 45 AutoNavi is outperforming Baidu Maps 71 46 Social networks and Baidu 71
Chapter 5 Methodology of a Baidu SEO Campaign 75
51 First step kick-off meeting 75 52 The SEO project reverse schedule 76
521 How is a Gantt chart created 77 53 The technical audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 80 54 The semantic audit for Chinese SEO on Baidu 81 55 Keyword analysis 82 56 Optimizing Chinese meta-tags 83 57 Optimizing headings tags 85 58 Optimizing textual content 86 59 Optimizing Chinese URLs 88 510 Optimizing text anchors 89 511 Optimizing images 91 512 Optimizing breadcrumbs 92 513 Dragon Metrics a special position monitoring tool for China 92 514 Netlinking searching for external links 94
Chapter 6 Beyond Baidu SEO 97
61 Advice on SMO optimization for WeChat 98 62 Advice for social marketing on Weibo 100
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
viii Baidu SEO
63 Mei Nu in China a marketing method 104 64 Wang Hong (网红) the new online promotion model 106
Conclusion 111
Glossary 113
Bibliography 121
Index 123
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
Preface
ldquoChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your liferdquo
CONFUCIUS
I have noticed that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Asian search engines is not discussed much in the West This is particularly true of Baidu which is the most popular search engine in China and one of the five most consulted in the world Advice and tips for Chinese SEO are often vague I therefore decided to write this book based on official reports from Baidu in order to help and guide people companies and brands wishing to be ranked and therefore visible on Baidu and other Chinese search engines (HaoSou Sogou etc)
As well as examples of and advice on SEO for Chinese search engines in the second part of this book the reader will find tips for carrying out marketing in China using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat as well as ldquothe Meinu tacticrdquo which works very well in China
This book draws on my experience research and analysis It is particularly based on 5 years I have spent as a
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
x Baidu SEO
CESEO-certified SEO consultant and on my work with AUTOVEILLE and ASVD (founded in 2010 and 2013 respectively) two organizations specializing in Chinese SEO and e-reputation management in China which support the most prestigious multinational brands as well as start-ups in their set-up development and visibility on the Asian Internet This book is aimed at people who already know a little about Google SEO and SEO agencies wishing to develop on the international stage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and believed in me during all these years of technical and scientific research in the constantly evolving discipline of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
My particular thanks go to all those who guided and supported me in the writing of this book
ndash my family my father mother and sister
ndash Alexandre Sisavanh (friend and ASVD partner who gives me advice and support every day)
ndash Zsuzsanna Barabas and Manuela Saacutenchez Peacuterez (friends who are always ready to listen)
ndash my Masterrsquos lecturers Jean-Michel Daube and Damien Nouvel (INALCO)
ndash my friends who are an important part of my life
ndash the members of SEO Camp
ndash my colleagues at Fabernovel Data amp Media (Geoffrey Antoine Tony Steve among others)
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
Preface xi
ndash my former colleagues at Datawords (Yaou Yufeng among others)
ndash my former colleagues at Red-On-Line (Ros Alda among others)
Veacuteronique DUONG - 楊傳潔 CEO at AUTOVEILLE Twitter veroduong
April 2017
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
Introduction
In the West the search engine Google more or less has the monopoly of Internet searches in most countries but in China and in Asia more generally this is rarely the case Asian Internet users regularly use other search engines such as Naver Daum (Korea) Yahoo (Taiwan Japan etc) Baidu HaoSou (360) and Sogou (mainland China etc) and their market shares are often more significant than that of Google
Baidu is a Chinese search engine created in January 2000 by Eric Xu and Robin Li two computer engineers The crawler was launched around 2 years after Google Considered an imitation of Google especially in its early stages Baidu gradually developed and evolved into a ldquocreative search enginerdquo
Baidu offers more functions and services than HaoSou (360) Sogou Yahoo etc Each of them is trying to become the number one search engine in China and the competition is fierce
In June 2016 an MIT1
study placed Baidu among the five most innovative and ldquointelligentrdquo companies in the world 1 MIT Technology Review June 2016 see wwwtechnologyreviewcom
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color
xiv Baidu SEO
along with Amazon Illumina Tesla Motors and Aquion Energy
The aim of this book is to provide on the one hand a wide range of practical and technical advice for being present and visible among the sites ranked by Baidu and on the other tips for a web marketing strategy based on social networks and some Chinese methods
This book consists of six chapters
ndash Chapter 1 presents a detailed introduction to Baidu and its challengers
ndash Chapter 2 outlines the steps to follow and the pitfalls to avoid in SEO
ndash Chapter 3 devotes particular attention to semantic aspects
ndash the ancillary services offered by Baidu as well as the characteristics and constraints related to the use of e-commerce and social networks are discussed in Chapter 4
ndash the methodology and optimization of an SEO campaign are expanded on in Chapter 5
ndash Chapter 6 presents some Chinese marketing models such as Mei Nu and Wang Hong
This book addresses a specific theme step by step It also contains a glossary of words and techniques used by Internet professionals and a bibliography
The figures in this book are printed in grayscale However color versions have been made available online and the e-book will be available in full color