As the dominant search engine in China with over 70% market share, Baidu plays a central role for businesses looking to reach Chinese online audiences. However, optimizing for Baidu isn’t the same as optimizing for Google, and SEO goes beyond just keywords. From language localization and mobile-first design to code-level optimizations that align with China’s internet ecosystem, a targeted technical SEO approach is essential.

TL;DR: Optimizing technical SEO for Baidu requires fast-loading pages, mobile-first design, localized content, and adherence to Chinese regulations. Utilize Baidu’s Webmaster and Analytics tools to track and enhance your site’s performance effectively.

Below is a comprehensive technical SEO checklist to help your site perform better on Baidu, ensuring that users in China experience a fast, fully-functional version of your site.

Optimize site speed and functionality for China

Why web performance matters in China:

Baidu favors websites that load quickly and fully. Most global websites face performance challenges in China due to code-based and infrastructure incompatibilities. Slow-loading or partially broken pages can lead to lower rankings and missed opportunities.

China web performance checklist:

Test your site speed: Run visual speed tests from China to see exactly how your site loads visually for local users. You can also use our global speed test to compare loading speeds in different cities.

Options to optimize speed and functionality:

Full Rebuild: Remove inaccessible third-party resources, host onshore, add a China-specific CDN, obtain necessary licenses, and manually submit URLs to Baidu. This method requires significant investment and ongoing maintenance.

Use a China-friendly CDN: Deploy a CDN that serves content closer to China. While this improves load times, it may not resolve issues with blocked or slow third-party resources.

Implement Chinafy: Integrate Chinafy into your existing site to boost load times by 30%-40% and ensure full compatibility without requiring a complete rebuild.

Prioritize mobile-first design

Why it matters:

China is a mobile-first market. Baidu’s algorithms reward sites that offer seamless, responsive experiences. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, it will struggle to rank.

China Mobile-Friendly Website Checklist:

Responsive design: Use responsive layouts that adapt seamlessly to various screen sizes.

Mobile load speed: Avoid heavy scripts and large images that slow mobile load times.

Tap-friendly elements: Design buttons, links, and form fields to be easily clickable on small screens, enhancing user experience on mobile devices.

Baidu MIP: Consider implementing Baidu’s Mobile Instant Pages (MIP) for even faster mobile rendering.

Simplified Chinese and localized content

Why it matters:

Effective localization is a crucial component of your broader SEO strategy. Here are key technical steps to help Baidu understand and properly rank your site’s localized version:

Language attributes: Set the HTML lang attribute to zh-CN for Simplified Chinese pages to signal language relevance.

Character encoding: Use UTF-8 encoding to ensure Chinese characters render correctly.

Localized metadata: Optimize titles, meta descriptions, and headings with localized keywords, and ensure Baidu can correctly parse them.

Consistent URL structures: Use clean, localized URLs (with Pinyin or simplified Chinese characters if appropriate) to help Baidu index and interpret content relevance more effectively.

Ensure efficient crawling and indexing

Why it matters:

Baidu’s crawler, Baiduspider, has unique preferences and indexing behavior. Proper sitemap configuration and URL structures help Baidu discover and index your pages effectively.

China crawling and indexing checklist:

Sitemap submission: Submit an XML sitemap to Baidu Webmaster Tools (Baidu Ziyuan) for efficient indexing.

Clean URL structures: Use short, descriptive URLs with no unnecessary parameters.

HTML over JavaScript: Baidu struggles with complex JavaScript. Ensure essential content is accessible in HTML form.

Baidu-friendly tags: Implement meta tags, including the ‘description’ and Baidu-specific tags, to help Baiduspider understand your content.

Implement structured data and local signals

Why it matters:

While Baidu’s structured data support is more limited than Google’s, properly implemented schema helps Baidu interpret your page hierarchy and content types more accurately. Clear technical signals—such as language attributes, local contact markup, or a .cn domain—can reinforce location relevance and trustworthiness.

Structured data and local signals checklist:

Structured data markup: Use schema.org or Baidu-supported microdata for essential elements like breadcrumbs and product listings. Ensure the markup is cleanly implemented in your HTML and can be easily parsed by Baiduspider.

Local metadata signals: Include local business details in structured format (e.g., address, phone number) so Baidu can better identify your geographical relevance.

Top-level domain & hosting: While optional and not critical to Baidu ranking, using a .cn domain or hosting in China can provide clearer technical signals of local relevancy. Proper DNS configuration, stable hosting, and fast server response times in or near China reinforce these signals.

Consistent local markup: Keep all localized signals—language attributes, structured data, and local NAP (Name, Address, Phone) info—consistent across your site to help Baidu’s algorithms and crawlers interpret your site’s local focus reliably.

Monitor performance with Baidu Webmaster Tools and Analytics

Why it matters:

Ongoing monitoring with Baidu’s analytics tools ensures your site maintains optimal performance and adapts to user behavior and search trends.

Baidu SEO monitoring checklist:

Check crawl errors: Use Baidu Webmaster tools to regularly review and fix broken links, server errors, and blocked resources.

Monitor page loading speed: Use Baidu Tongji to track page load times.

Track mobile-specific metrics: Monitor mobile-specific performance indicators in Baidu Tongji.

Continuous technical optimization: Use insights from Baidu tools to refine your site’s architecture, optimize code, and manage resources effectively.

By following this technical SEO checklist—improving load speeds, leveraging Simplified Chinese, optimizing for mobile, streamlining code and sitemaps, and continuously monitoring performance—you’ll be better positioned to improve your Baidu rankings, user satisfaction, and overall ROI in China.

Ready to optimize your site for China?

Chinafy can enhance your site’s speed and functionality for the Chinese market by detecting and resolving slow or blocked resources, implementing China-friendly solutions, and ensuring your infrastructure is optimized for Chinese visitors.