Not only is mobile SEO for Baidu vital given China’s 700 million mobile web users and alternative optimisation methods, it is given added gravitas due to the prevalence of China’s one-stop wonder app, WeChat and the potential for content and site integration through the platform.

1. BAIDU MOBILE SEO IN THE AGE OF WECHAT

2. MOBILE SITUATION IN CHINA

3. THE OPPORTUNITY
3
Users(millions)
400
500
600
700
800
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Total Internet Users Mobile
• Mobile users in China now make up 97% of total internet population
• This is largely due to the increase in mobile payments and the rise of WeChat
• Coupled with an undeveloped mobile SEO competitive landscape, the scale of the opportunity is huge

4. WHERE DOES BAIDU COME INTO THIS?
4
• 657 million monthly active
mobile search users
• 80% share of total China mobile
search engine market
• Over 50% of total traffic comes
from mobile
• Baidu, Tencent (WeChat) and
Alibaba (Taobao) and affiliated
apps account for for around 60%
of time spent on mobile by
Chinese users

5. INTRO TO WECHAT

6. 6
Apps (e.g.Taxi
booking)
Email Marketing
Payment
Messaging
• 800 million monthly active users
• Go to place for messaging, article reading, payment, and, well LIFE.
• https://www.techinasia.com/use-only-wechat
Utilities
WECHAT OVERVIEW

7. WECHAT OVERVIEW
OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS H5 BUILDS
Brand hub, CRM option and links to sites Campaign mechanisms to drive traffic to sites
ADVERTISING
On subscription accounts or in “Moments”
feeds to drive external traffic

8. MOBILE SEO FOR BAIDU

9. 9
BAIDU SITEAPP

10. 10
BAIDU SITEAPP? BITEAPP.
• Transcodes non-mobile friendly
sites into mobile-friendly versions
for you
• Quick and easily done via Baidu WMT
• Baidu decides what to and what not
to include for you
• Easy/Free
• Great if you have client who doesn’t
care about SEO
Pros
• Transcoded pages register on
Baidu’s domain, not yours
• Transcoding may mess up your
formatting and body text
• Baidu decides what to and what
not to include for you
• NO ACTUAL TRAFFIC
• You probably should care about
SEO if you’ve got this far
Cons

11. 11
RESPONSIVE DESIGN OR SEPARATE MOBILE SITE?

12. 12
Baidu has recommend opting for
responsive design and have
written articles on its benefits on
their WMT blog, and official BBS
suggesting a preference in terms of
mobile SEO
RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN VS SEPARATE MOBILE SITES

13. 13
Case study from tuicool.com
Indexation: Separate m. site
Indexation: Responsive site
RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN VS SEPARATE MOBILE SITES

14. 14
Case study from tuicool.com
RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN VS SEPARATE MOBILE SITES

15. 15
M. SITE OPTIMISATION FOR BAIDU
SITE SPEED
• Run your site through Qihoo Speed Test
to see performance in China
• Aim for internal CN hosting
• If not, apply for an ICP licence
• Pay particular attention to image size
• Minimize JavaScript elements
• Stick to clean structured H5 coding
GENERAL ON-PAGE
• Meta titles must be less than 17
Chinese characters
• 60 character meta descriptions still
factor highly in Baidu mobile
ranking
• Make sure you’re not blocking
Baiduspider. Baidu’s mobile agent
is Baiduspider, not Baiduspider-
mobile
• Use 14 px font size and 0.42-0.6 line
spacing for body text
• Ensure consistent image width
https://zhanzhang.baidu.com/college/courseinfo?id=156

16. 16
BAIDU WMT SETUP
Desktop Site
Mobile site same as desktop site with different URLs
Separate mobile site
Responsive site
Dynamic serving site
http://zhanzhang.baidu.com/dashboard/index

17. 17
WHAT ABOUT AMP?

18. 18
INTRODUCING MIP
• Rolled out by Baidu in August, still in early stages
• Recommended in favour of AMP project due to
general censorship of anything Google-related in
China
• Baidu has claimed major Chinese news sites have
added these however no hard evidence or
indication of this
• No current effect on organic rankings though
Baidu have said this will change and is likely to
follow Google’s suit
• Pages submitted and verified on Baidu WMT
https://www.mipengine.org/

19. 19
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Given the prominence of WeChat in everyday mobile life and its integration
with sites, getting mobile SEO right for Baidu has never been more important
• Avoid Baidu Site App like the plague, regardless of what Baidu tells you
• Baidu has banged the drum for responsive design though it’s one for the
future. Best to stick with separate m. sites for now
• DON’T BLOCK BAIDUSPIDER
• As most of us will be hosting outside of China, site speed has mattered like
never before
• (Look into getting an ICP licence)
• Baidu’s AMP project is in its infancy and is one to keep an eye on

20. 20
RECOMMENDED READING
Seozac.com
Baidu WMT Guide to Mobile Configuration (Baidu College)
Further Learning on Mobile SEO for Baidu (Baidu College)
Mobile SEO Baidu Tieba Forum
Chinaz.com
SEOwhy.com
Sitemap Submission Guide for Mobile (Baidu College)

21. KEEP IN TOUCH!
21
@Owain_LW
WeChat ID:owainlloydwilliams
owain.lw@hotpotdigital.cn
olloydwilliams@gmail.com

22. 谢谢