Baidu is the most popular website in China and the biggest search engine, amassing 70% of the search market share in the country. With the help of Baidu, you can reach close to 500,000,000 internet users which comprises 95% of the internet users in China. So it makes a lot of sense to advertise on Baidu and use it as a prominent ad network for your business in China. If you are planning to invest on Baidu advertising, it is most definitely a good move. However, before you begin you must know/consider a few things before advertising on this Chinese search engine. Here is a list.
1. Everything is going to be in Chinese
Kind of obvious, you need to be aware of the fact that everything is going to be in Chinese on Baidu. This means your website, the content on your website, your ad copies… all of these must be in fluent Chinese. Thus ensure you know Chinese or you have someone in place to help you with the translation. Note that even the account management interface of Baidu is in Chinese. Thus, knowing Chinese is a must for Baidu advertising.
2. You Need an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license
Secondly, your website needs to have an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license from the government to authenticate that your site is a verified content provider in China. Baidu wouldn’t let you run ad campaigns unless your site is equipped with this license. And it might take close to a month to obtain the ICP license from the government. Thus, if you are serious about Baidu advertising get an ICP license as soon as possible.
3. Host the website in China
Although there is no hard and fast rule that your website has to be hosted in China for Baidu advertising, it is better if you are hosting the website in China. China is very strict about sending its users to foreign websites and if you are hosting the site from another country, you might miss out on many opportunities. Also, if you are hosting the site in China it is supposed to be faster and more efficient.
4. Gain Baidu’s trust
Baidu works a lot similar like Google. In order to rank higher in the search results page, you need to earn the trust of the search engine by being a content provider who is relevant and informative. However, unlike Google the rating you receive from Baidu is visible next to the ad that you place. A V symbol with a number 1,2 and 3 is going to present next to verified ads and the site with a V3 symbol has the highest trust from Baidu. Thus, for better Baidu advertising focus on securing a V3 verification for your site.
AdsToChina.Westwin.com provides digital marketing services including mobile marketing, website localization, WeChat and Weibo social media marketing, PPC advertising, market strategy, and search engine marketing service across major search engines in China, including Baidu ( adstochina.westwin.com/what_we_do/ ), Qihoo360, Sogou, etc. To know more, visit https://adstochina.westwin.com/who_we_are/index.shtml.