China’s population of over 1.4 billion includes a huge number of students seeking international education, both locally and abroad. 

As China’s dominant search engine, Baidu isn’t just a substitute for Google – which is blocked in mainland China – it’s the primary gateway for parents and students researching schools, programs, and scholarship opportunities abroad. Mastering Baidu SEO is key to ensuring your institution remains visible and competitive in this dynamic market.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to optimize your school’s website for Baidu, so you can connect with prospective Chinese students and families right where they are searching.

TL;DR

Your school can rank on Baidu even if your website is not hosted in China.

Focus on page speed, localized content, and user experience to meet Baidu’s ranking criteria.

Use Baidu Webmaster Tools to index your site, monitor performance, and enhance discoverability.

Chinafy helps optimize your site speed and functionality in China without requiring onshore hosting or building a separate website.

Why Baidu matters for schools

Chinese parents and students are typically keen researchers, especially when it comes to education.

Whether they’re looking for K-12 international schools or universities abroad, Baidu tends to be the primary search engine. So, if you can optimize your site for Baidu, you can position your school as a credible option for Chinese families who are exploring educational opportunities.

Audience reach: Over 600 million monthly active users rely on Baidu.

Visibility: If you don’t appear on Baidu, you effectively miss out on one of the largest student markets in the world.

Competition: Many international schools are already investing in Baidu SEO to stay competitive and appeal to Chinese prospects.

Can an international school website rank on Baidu from outside of China?

Short answer - yes. You can rank on Baidu even if your school’s website is hosted outside of China — as long as your site loads fast, fully, and consistently.

Wherever your site is hosted, two key factors to consider are:

Load speed: A primary challenge for foreign sites is slow load times in China, which hinders their Baidu SEO efforts.

Localization: Show Baidu (and potential students) that you’re committed to serving Chinese visitors by providing Chinese-language pages.

Key differences between Baidu and Google

Some SEO fundamentals remain the same as Google, like focusing on content quality and user experience, but here are a few key differences:

Language & localization

Baidu favors Simplified Chinese content, including meta titles, descriptions, and alt tags. Google, by contrast, supports a multitude of languages more equitably.

Emphasis on site speed

Although both Google and Baidu value fast websites, Baidu’s focus on site speed - or rather penalty for lack thereof - is more pronounced due to China’s internet infrastructure. Baidu’s Lightning Algorithm rewards mobile web pages that load visually within two seconds on mobile devices, penalizing those that take over three seconds. On the other hand, Google’s 2018 “Speed Update” introduced page speed as a ranking factor for mobile searches but stated that “a slow page may still rank highly if it has great, relevant content”.

Test your site speed on our Global Speed Test.

Backlinks

Quality backlinks from Chinese-hosted, reputable sites are useful for Baidu SEO. Links from known educational or news platforms in China can boost credibility.

Censorship & content policies

Baidu aligns with Chinese regulations. Content that violates local rules may be penalized or removed from search results, so ensure your site remains compliant.

Indexing & webmaster tools

Baidu Webmaster Tools differs from Google Search Console. You can submit sitemaps, monitor rankings, and check site health, but features may be more limited.

7 Baidu SEO tips for schools

Even with differences compared to Google, there are several proven strategies to improve your school’s Baidu rankings:

Localize key pages in Simplified Chinese

For example, you could translate admissions pages, program overviews, tuition details, and testimonials.

Consider professional translation or partial localization if full Chinese content is not feasible.

Don’t forget metadata and URLs for Chinese-translated pages.

Improve site speed and functionality

Run a site speed test tailored to China (e.g., Chinafy’s Global Speed Test) to identify bottlenecks.

Resolving these issues goes beyond solely hosting your site in China or using a CDN (Read more on Optimizing Your School Website for China)

Mobile-first design

A large share of Chinese internet traffic comes from mobile devices.

Use responsive layouts, concise forms, and mobile-friendly images.

Update content regularly

Baidu values “freshness,” and your audience will likely also prefer up-to-date content, so keep parents and students engaged with new articles, campus updates, and event announcements.

Consider adding a blog or news section specifically catering to Chinese students and parents.

Submit to Baidu Webmaster Tools

Verify your domain, submit sitemaps, and monitor crawl status.

Track how your pages perform on Baidu and optimize based on insights.

Note: if you use Chinafy, we automatically submit your URLs to the Baidu Spider.

Consider a .cn domain for websites serving only China

Baidu favors websites that are localized for China, and a .cn domain can indicate this. However, a .cn domain typically requires a Chinese business entity and other prerequisites.

Fortunately, if your site is accessible from China and optimized for speed and functionality, it can still rank effectively on Baidu, even without a .cn domain.

Note: Chinafy can help you achieve near-onshore web performance even if you choose to keep your hosting outside China.

Engage with Chinese platforms

Baidu also has platforms like Baidu Zhidao (Q&A forums) and Baidu Baike (a Wikipedia equivalent). By participating in these forums or contributing to Baidu Baike, you can increase your site’s visibility and credibility, ultimately aiding your Baidu SEO efforts.

Highlight your school’s achievements, alumni success stories, or unique programs.

Basic Baidu keyword research tips for schools

Here are some ways to find keywords for your Baidu SEO strategy:

Start with core keywords

Identify terms that directly relate to your school, such as “国际学校” (international school) or “国际高中” (international high school).

Use Baidu auto-complete

Discover trending terms with Baidu’s autocomplete feature. For example, inputting “学校” (school) might generate related terms like “学校英语” (English school) or “学校官网” (school official website).

Explore related searches

You can also explore “related searches” (相关搜索) on Baidu to discover searches that users commonly pair with your initial query.

Localized keywords

In the Chinese market, localization also involves cultural alignment, regional dialects, and search habits. For example:

高品质教育 (high-quality education)

升学率 (higher admission rate)

STEM课程 (STEM curriculum)

Work with local partners to properly localise keywords or reach out to work with some of our partners.

Baidu keyword planner

Accessible through a Baidu PPC account, Baidu Keyword Planner provides insights into search volumes and related keywords in a similar way to Google’s keyword planner in Google Ads.

Optimize your school’s website for China with Chinafy

Improving your site’s speed and functionality in China can be complex and resource-intensive. Using Chinafy offers an all-in-one solution to help schools and educational institutions:

Accelerate load times: We resolve both infrastructure and code-based barriers that slow down your site in China.

Treat blocked or slow-performing resources: Our platform identifies and optimizes for any resources (like Google APIs and hundreds more) that may be blocked or non-performant.

Auto-push URLs to Baidu: We make your indexing process easy, so your latest pages can properly reach Baidu’s search engine faster.

Expert support & partner network: If you need local marketing expertise or Baidu Ads help, we can connect you with specialists to build a complete China strategy.

With Chinafy, your school can achieve near-onshore performance while remaining offshore.

Key takeaways

Baidu puts your school in front of China’s student population

Connect with China’s huge pool of prospective students, parents, and potential education partners by ranking on Baidu.

Localization is important

Translate or partially localize content in Simplified Chinese, especially high-traffic pages like your application, international admissions, or scholarships pages.

Website speed is a priority

Baidu’s Lightning Algorithm penalizes slow sites. See how your site currently performs in China and contact Chinafy to get started with optimizations.

Use Baidu Webmaster tools

Monitor performance, index your pages, and gain insights into how Chinese users interact with your site.

You can rank outside of China

Hosting outside of China doesn’t block your Baidu visibility if you optimize for speed, user experience, and compliance.

Slow load times or non-performant resources keep your institution hidden from Chinese families and prospective students. Chinafy can help you optimize your existing site for China and connect you with our Baidu partners to bolster your China marketing efforts.

Get started with Chinafy and open your doors to new opportunities in China.