Differences Baidu & Google
Online marketing without Google is unthinkable in Europe, the USA and many other regions. In China, Baidu plays the decisive role as market leader and differs significantly from Google in terms of handling and technology. As a search engine optimization agency, MONDIS compares the two search engine giants!
Baidu vs. Google
Why Google is hardly relevant in China
As a search engine, Google claims to operate worldwide. However, markets remain closed to the company, particularly in the Middle East and Russia. The reasons for this are primarily of a political nature, as certain search queries and services are blocked in advance in both Russia and China. If you still don’t want to do without Google in China, you can use a virtual private network (VPN) to gain access. However, there is a risk of trouble if this is discovered. In Russia, Yandex and in China, Baidu in particular have taken the leading role in the search engine segment.
Baidu with extensive functionalities and offers
Baidu can certainly hold its own in comparison with Google in terms of the services and functionalities it offers. Around 70 percent of all internet users in China use the domestic search engine, which offers cloud computing, mobile payment, travel portals, maps, music and video searches in addition to traditional searches. The social media platform “Baidu PostBar”, the question portal “Baidu Knows” and the online encyclopaedia “Baidu Baike” have been launched to comprehensively meet the needs of users. The offering is supplemented by advertisements from companies that are also geared towards user interest. In contrast to Google, where the CTR also has a decisive influence on the display in the search results, the highest bid is preferred here.
check list
SEO facts for Baidu
- Content is also particularly important for Baidu. The more quality content there is, the more likely high rankings are.
- The Chinese Top Level Domain (TLD) .cn or .com.cn are not ranking factors. Corresponding websites have no advantages by using them.
- Contrary to expectations, links to Western social media channels such as Facebook do not have a negative impact on the ranking of websites.
- In contrast to Google or other search engines, https has no major influence on Baidu’s ranking.
- Markups as a very popular SEO measure are not very relevant in China.
Optimization in Chinese
The use of Chinese at Baidu
While Google wants to cover different languages, Baidu can basically only be comprehensively served and used with Chinese. It is important to at least apply the basics of the Chinese language in order to be able to carry out search engine optimization. One key difference, for example, is that no spaces are used in Chinese and the characters for the respective words in a sentence line up directly. In addition, Baidu does not optimize for individual words, but for characters.
Challenges with Baidu
In order to use the search engine, all websites must first be registered and activation can take up to three weeks. The search is subject to censorship, which can have a decisive influence on the ranking. Even removal from the index without comment is possible at any time. Paid links are possible, but can only be placed by specialists and must be clearly recognizable. In addition, the biggest challenge is the Chinese language itself, which marketers and translators alike should master.
Comparison of two search engines
Differences between Google & Baidu
| Features | Baidu | |
| Focus market | Google operates worldwide. | Baidu focuses exclusively on the Chinese market |
| Location of the server | Depends on the location of the searcher. | The servers are primarily located in China and Hong Kong. |
| Order of search results | Paid and organic products are positioned differently. | Paid and organic results are mixed! If you pay more, you will get a better result on the SERP page. |
| Meta Data | Description is not displayed with more than 320 characters. | The description should not exceed 78 characters and the metadata should be written in simplified Chinese. |
| Social links | All links from social media are displayed and included in the search, but not for determining the rankings. | Links to Chinese social media or forums are required and are actively included in the ranking. |
| Mobile focus / search | Mobile search clearly has priority. | Most Chinese people use smartphones (Huawei). Mobile responsiveness and charging speed are important. |
| Offpage SEO/em> | Links and recommendations continue to play an important role in the ranking. | Baidu checks the relevance as well as the quantity and variety.
Use of anchor text as a ranking factor is important – Focus on local media, industry and Chinese portals. |
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