One natural result of this flux has been the opening of the
floor for wider opportunities in organic search. Brands also might
want to pay closer attention to Baidu's smaller competitors in the
Chinese search engine market.
Baidu organic search engine optimization will heat
up
Organic search engine optimization strategy for Baidu has never
been more important. Ads are now limited to a maximum percentage of
30% per page, and the entire right-hand side of Baidu's results
pages, which previously hosted lists of paid ads, has completely
gone. Organic results now have a default higher positioning than
before, with the extra ranking potential placing a greater onus on
brands and webmasters to firmly implement a thorough Baidu-friendly
SEO approach in order to vie for the top places.
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Historically, many brands opted to either pledge fully into paid
search marketing or launch directly translated Chinese websites
that lack simple Baidu algorithm-friendly optimization. Some major
Western brands are not even indexed in Baidu, due to failing to
submit their sites to Baidu or not embarking on localized keyword
research strategies. Like Google, Baidu has its own products and
practices for these. And it certainly pays -- now more than ever --
for China digital marketers to acquaint themselves with them.
While Baidu SEO best practices may be a bit of a gray area for
many Western brands, there are various English-language guides that
cover some key aspects and differences from Google. For example,
meta keyword optimization still remains a strong ranking factor for
Baidu, a practice that Google withdrew some years ago. Webmasters
are also advised to keep their site architecture simple, as Baidu
currently doesn't have the extensive crawling capabilities of
Google.
The Baidu Webmaster Tools College, which offers vast amounts of
information, news and updates on algorithm changes, is the official
go-to resource for this, albeit in Chinese.
Now is the time to embark on full-blown organic strategy for
Baidu. Brands can be sure to expect other brands to get smarter,
and for competition to increase from now on.
Opening the door for competitors
Following the scandal, Baidu suffered somewhat of a reputation
crisis and also reported a 34% drop in net
income in the second quarter. Despite retaining a majority of
the Chinese search market, it has also been falling behind digital
peers Tencent and Alibaba for some time value-wise, because it has
a narrower array of innovative revenue sources. This, combined with
a tougher pay-per-click environment, may see rivals such as Sogou
and Qihoo 360 come further into the fray and finally fulfill their
long-awaited status as legitimate competitors in the Chinese search
sphere.
Sogou for example, which has its origins in the hugely popular
Sohu news portal, has been quick to pounce on the Baidu medical
scandal by launching its own dedicated search options for medical
information. It also offers a less competitive pay-per-click
environment overall, as well as a slightly more mature audience
demographic than Baidu, with only 20% of its users being under the
age of 23. The affluent 24-40 age bracket -- the bulk of Sogou's
user base -- also has greater spending power, which offers brands
the chance to tap into a higher-value audience for less than they
might spend on Baidu.
Sogou -- like fellow competitor Qihoo 360 -- also has its
origins in software, which it integrates into its wider marketing
package to provide further avenues for brands to market on. Take
Sogou Pinyin for example, a popular software that allows people to
type Chinese characters using their keyboard's Roman letters. Sogou
leveraged this to allow brands to feature customizable widgets --
complete with product images and links -- in the window of the tool
when users type in the brand name.
This simple piece of innovation offers brands prime visibility
and is something that pits Sogou against Baidu in terms of
innovation and its stake in the future of Chinese search. Consider
this, along with a recent partnership with Bing to improve its
English search experience in China, and we may see a shift in the
status quo. (The Chinese government has blocked access to Google
and a host of Silicon Valley sites including Facebook and YouTube,
but Bing still operates.)
Baidu's response to the scandal was swift and efficient enough
to steady the ship and realign its status in the world of paid
search, albeit with a markedly less gung-ho approach. Further down
the line, however, the shakeup is likely to pave the way for
competitors in the Chinese search environment to up their game.