If you’re looking to tap into China’s vast online market, simply translating your website into Simplified Chinese won’t cut it. Baidu, China’s dominant search engine, operates differently from Google and rewards websites that truly cater to local audiences—both culturally and technically.

By the end of this guide, you’ll learn:

How to structure your site’s URLs to gain Baidu’s trust.

What professional localization involves (beyond machine translation).

How to optimize site performance.

Strategies to improve discoverability, authority, and user engagement on Baidu.

TL;DR: To rank on Baidu, it’s not enough to just machine-translate your website. You need culturally localized content in Simplified Chinese, a site that loads fast in China, and adherence to local laws and censorship guidelines.

6 Key challenges for multilingual websites targeting Baidu

Baidu’s unique ecosystem poses specific hurdles for foreign websites. Before diving into solutions, understand these key challenges:

Localization over simple translation:

Baidu favors content that feels native, not just word-for-word translated. Cultural nuances, idioms, and tone matter.

Site performance requirements:

Slow or partially inaccessible sites are penalized. Aim for load times under 2 seconds, even on China’s infrastructure.

Limited support for multilingual markup:

Unlike Google, Baidu doesn’t fully embrace hreflang tags. Your URL structure and sitemaps must be crystal clear.

China-specific trust & authority signals:

Baidu values links from local platforms and directories (e.g., Baidu Baike or Zhidao) more than global backlinks.

Content freshness & regular updates:

Frequent, timely content updates enhance visibility on Baidu. A static Chinese section that lags behind your global site won’t cut it.

Local keyword research & intent:

Don’t assume English keywords translate directly. Understand Chinese search intent and optimize content accordingly.

China’s internet infrastructure and Baidu’s China-specific algorithm create challenges that mean simply translating a global site isn’t enough. Let’s start to address some of them with an understanding of how your URL structure can impact your multilingual strategy on Baidu.

Choosing the right URL structure for a multilingual site

Your URL structure sends critical signals to both users and Baidu. Here’s a breakdown of four common approaches to structuring URLs for multilingual sites and how they impact Baidu SEO, user experience, and maintenance:

Subdirectories

Subdirectory URLs include a language or country code directly after the domain name (e.g., website.com/zh/ for Chinese).

Pros:

Shared SEO authority: The Chinese content resides under the same domain, so it can benefit from the main domain’s established backlink profile and domain authority. However, your existing domain may not have a strong authority in China yet.

Simplified maintenance: All your content lives within a single domain, making analytics, technical maintenance, and platform updates more centralized and often simpler.

Lower initial costs: No need to acquire additional domains, manage multiple domain properties, or build a whole new website in China.

Cons:

Weaker local signals: Baidu may not give as strong a local signal to a subdirectory structure, especially if the site is not hosted in China.

Less local branding: Chinese users may not feel the site is specifically tailored to them when the URL looks like just another section of a global .com site, potentially impacting user trust and engagement.

Best for: Companies that want simplicity and can handle building local authority over time.

Subdomains

Subdomains include prefixes to the main domain to show language or country versions (e.g., zh.example.com).

Pros:

Brand association: The subdomain still shares the main brand domain (example.com), which can help maintain a unified brand identity.

Technical separation: You can host the subdomain on separate servers (possibly in China) without affecting the main site. This makes load optimization and compliance (including ICP license) more manageable than a subdirectory.

Some authority transfer: While not as strong as sharing the same root domain’s full SEO equity, subdomains can still benefit to some extent from the main domain’s credibility.

Cons:

Less strong geo signal than a localized TLD: A subdomain of a .com does not carry the inherent local association that a .cn domain does, potentially offering less of a ranking boost in Baidu’s local search results.

Separate analytics and SEO tracking: Though not as complicated as a separate TLD, it still requires a degree of separate tracking and optimization strategies.

Poor web performance: Many global websites load slowly or have reduced functionality in China due to incompatibilities with China’s internet environment. Consider Chinafy to improve site loading times in China without needing to build a new website from scratch.

Best for: Brands needing technical flexibility and moderate localization.

Separate top-level domains (TLDs)

A country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) means using a completely separate domain for China, such as example.cn.

Pros:

Local trust & branding: A .cn domain is strongly associated with China, which often instills greater trust among Chinese users and can be seen as more authoritative and localized.

Geographical targeting: Baidu and other Chinese search engines may rank .cn domains more favorably for local search queries, giving you a slight SEO edge in Mainland China.

Cons:

Increased management complexity: Maintaining a separate domain means managing multiple hosting environments, SSL certificates, and analytics properties.

Separate SEO efforts: SEO equity and link-building efforts don’t automatically transfer from example.com to example.cn. You’ll need to build authority and backlinks for the new domain.

Cost and maintenance: Acquiring and renewing a .cn domain, along with ensuring compliance and infrastructure in China, can add costs and administrative overhead.

Best for: Larger enterprises committed to serious, long-term presence in China.

URL parameters

Using URL parameters (e.g., example.com/?lang=zh) may seem simpler than restructuring your site, but it’s generally the least favorable option for Baidu-specific SEO. Parameterized URLs often lack the clear, language-specific signals that Baidu prefers.

Pros:

Simplicity: Quick to implement if your site already uses dynamic pages.

Lower maintenance overhead: No need to set up separate subdirectories or subdomains.

Single codebase: Maintain one codebase, adjusting language via parameters.

Cons:

Weaker SEO signals: Baidu tends to prefer static, language-indicative URLs, reducing your site’s visibility in Chinese search results.

Reduced crawl efficiency: Parameterized URLs can appear less authoritative and may not be indexed as effectively.

Poor user experience & branding: Parameters are less intuitive, convey weaker localization cues, and may discourage user trust.

Best for: Temporary or test environments—not a long-term solution.

If your goal is to rank well for a Chinese audience and build trust in the local market, it’s generally better to opt for a more transparent URL structure (such as a subdirectory, subdomain, or a ccTLD) that clearly communicates language and region to both users and search engines.

After deciding on the right URL structure, you’ll need to consider how to populate your site with well-translated, culturally resonant Chinese content. Let’s look at the translation tools available and their pros and cons in the Chinese market.

Optimizing translations for the Chinese market

Avoid relying solely on machine translation tools. While plugins like WPML or Weglot can speed up your multilingual rollout, they often miss cultural nuances and Baidu-specific SEO signals.

Here are some popular translation tools you may consider for your multilingual site:

WPML (WordPress): Comprehensive, supports multiple languages, integrates with many plugins, suitable for complex sites.

Polylang (WordPress): Lightweight, user-friendly language management, good performance, free version available.

TranslatePress (WordPress): Visual front-end translations, works with WooCommerce and page builders, supports machine translation.

Weglot (Multiple Platforms): Cloud-based, quick setup, auto-translation with SEO-friendly URLs, platform-agnostic.

GTranslate (WordPress/Any Site): Uses Google Translate for automatic translations, paid versions for SEO indexing, easy integration.

MultilingualPress (WordPress Multisite): Utilizes multisite for separate language sites, high performance, scalable.

Lingotek (WordPress/Drupal): Integrates with professional translation services and workflows, enterprise-level management tools.

CMS-Specific Solutions:

Joomla: Falang, GTranslate module

Drupal: Built-in multilingual modules, Lingotek, TMGMT

APIs & Custom Integrations: Direct use of translation APIs (Google, DeepL) for custom or more flexible solutions.

Relying solely on translation tools, as efficient as it may be, unfortunately comes with caveats, especially for sites aiming to thrive on Baidu.

Challenges and limitations of translation tools for China and Baidu SEO

Inaccurate cultural nuance: Machine-generated or direct translations often fail to capture the local idioms, tone, and style needed to appeal to Chinese audiences.

Poor SEO alignment for Baidu: Most plugins are optimized for Google, not Baidu, leading to suboptimal keyword usage and technical setup that may harm visibility in China’s dominant search engine.

Compliance and censorship risks: Generic translation tools don’t address Chinese regulatory guidelines, potentially leading to content that violates local laws or is censored.

Reduced credibility: Awkward or incorrect translations can undermine trust and professionalism, making it harder to win over Chinese consumers.

Lack of on-page optimization: Automated translations rarely come with thoughtful on-page SEO tweaks (e.g., meta tags, headings), missing essential local keyword nuances and search intent.

Slow or inaccessible website: Plugins and third-party resources are often incompatible with China’s internet environment, meaning they impact your site’s performance, causing your website to load slowly or incompletely when accessed in China.

Recommendation: Use these tools for initial deployment, then refine manually or via professional localization services.

With these challenges in mind, how can you set your multilingual site up for success in China?

Best practices for multilingual websites targeting Baidu

Actionable Checklist for Baidu-Optimized Multilingual Sites

URL Structure & Hosting:

Choose a subdomain or ccTLD for clarity.

Use Chinafy for faster load times.

Localization & Content:

Use professional translators for nuanced, culturally relevant text.

Conduct keyword research targeting Chinese queries.

Update content frequently to keep it fresh for Baidu’s algorithm.

Technical SEO & Compliance:

Implement proper hreflang tags.

Obtain necessary ICP licenses if hosting in China.

Avoid sensitive content.

Performance & Trust:

Optimize images, scripts, and code for speed.

Build local backlinks from authoritative Chinese platforms.

Monitor load times and rankings with Baidu Webmaster Tools.

Building a multilingual website that ranks on Baidu goes beyond straightforward translation. It demands cultural localization, technical optimization, compliance with Chinese regulations, and a strategic approach to performance.

Ready to optimize your site for China’s largest search engine? Try Chinafy to see immediate improvements in speed, functionality, and search visibility on Baidu.