Baidu SEO Agency: Baidu SEO Services and China SEO for Companies Selling Into Mainland China

Updated October 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

Baidu SEO is search optimization for Baidu, the most used search engine in mainland China, and for the other places Chinese buyers search. We are a Baidu SEO agency for US and other non-Chinese companies selling into mainland China: manufacturers, software firms, universities, travel and consumer brands. Our Baidu SEO services cover technical setup for mainland visitors, Simplified Chinese content written and reviewed by native speakers, submission through Baidu’s Search Resource Platform, Baidu-owned properties such as Baike, and measurement in Baidu Tongji. ICP filing and market-entry decisions stay with your own mainland entity, the provider you choose and your counsel.

What is Baidu SEO?

It is the work of making a website findable on Baidu: pages that load for people inside mainland China, content in Simplified Chinese, and a site Baidu has been told about through its own webmaster platform. The method resembles other SEO, but the language, the location of the visitors and the tools are different.

Baidu and its share of search in China

Statcounter’s China page for September 2026 shows Baidu at 46.65%, Bing at 21.76%, Yandex at 14.98%, Haosou (360 Search) at 12.26%, Sogou at 2.61% and Google at 1.46%. Statcounter measures the share of search engine referrals that reach the sites carrying its tracking code, as its methodology page explains, so the numbers describe that sample and not every search made in the country. Baidu leads it by a wide margin.

How does Baidu differ from Google for SEO?

Five differences shape the work, and the table lists them. We keep the comparison to what is observable and never invent a list of ranking weights, because we have found no list of weights published by Baidu.

Who needs a Baidu SEO agency?

Companies that sell to buyers inside mainland China: exporters, software firms, universities recruiting students, travel brands and consumer brands. It does not suit a business that serves Chinese speakers living in the United States, who use the search engines everyone else in the US uses. That case belongs to international SEO, covered below.

Baidu SEO agency services: what the work covers

Our Baidu SEO services run from a speed and access test of the site through to Simplified Chinese content and measurement. A Baidu SEO agency like ours works from New York with native speakers on the writing, while your mainland entity and providers handle the legal and hosting steps.

Technical setup for visitors in mainland China

We check how the site loads from locations inside China, which scripts and embeds slow it, and how pages and sitemaps reach Baidu. The next section on technical setup covers filing, hosting and domains in more detail.

Simplified Chinese content written by native speakers

Native speakers write and review the Chinese so that it reads as written for the market. A later section explains why a translation of the English site is a starting point and not a finished page.

Baidu-owned properties and Chinese media

Baidu runs its own encyclopedia, question service and publisher platform, and Chinese trade media report on industries. We look at what each says about a brand and plan content and coverage for them.

Measurement in Baidu Tongji and the Search Resource Platform

Visits are counted in Tongji and indexing is read in the platform, with both reported against the goals agreed in the written scope. We agree what a good month means before the work starts.

What is the most used search engine in China?

By Statcounter’s September 2026 figures it is Baidu, with 46.65% of search engine referrals recorded on the sites Statcounter tracks in China. Bing, Yandex, Haosou and Sogou follow, and the chart shows all six.

Baidu, Bing, 360 Search and Sogou

Baidu is first at 46.65%. Bing holds 21.76%, Yandex 14.98%, Haosou (the engine also called 360 Search) 12.26% and Sogou 2.61%. Treat the order as more reliable than the exact decimals, since each month is a fresh sample and Statcounter revises recent months during quality checks, as its FAQ states.

Does Google work in China?

We answer the question with the one thing we can read: Statcounter puts Google at 1.46% of search engine referrals in China for September 2026. Chinese buyers use Chinese search engines and apps, so a plan that treats Google as the main engine for mainland buyers starts from the wrong place. We give no access or workaround advice.

WeChat, Douyin and Xiaohongshu as search engines

Buyers also look for products inside apps. The US Commerce Department’s China eCommerce guide lists WeChat, Douyin and Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) among the leading social platforms and describes Little Red Book as a place where shoppers share recommendations. We treat in-app discovery as a channel to test next to Baidu, not a replacement for it.

SEO for Baidu: technical setup for mainland China

Technical setup decides whether visitors in mainland China can load your pages quickly and whether Baidu can find them. Baidu SEO optimization of this kind starts before any Chinese copy is written, because filing status, hosting and domain choices set the schedule for the rest.

Do I need an ICP license to rank on Baidu?

Possibly, and your counsel decides. China’s Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services (State Council Order No. 292) divide internet information services into commercial and non-commercial ones. Article 4 says the state grants licenses for commercial services and takes filings (beian) for non-commercial ones, and that neither can operate without having the license or completing the filing. People call this ICP. The ministry’s filing system sits at beian.miit.gov.cn. We are not a mainland entity, we file nothing for you and we give no legal advice. We plan the schedule around the answer your counsel and your provider give you.

Do I need to host my website in China to rank on Baidu?

We cannot say that Baidu requires it, because nothing we read from Baidu states that. What we can do is measure. Load speed for people inside China matters to every visitor, and any hosting provider sets its own terms, so ask yours what it requires before you sign. The table lists the options we compare.

Domain choice: .cn, .com.cn or a folder on .com

A separate .cn or .com.cn name gives the China site its own address, while a folder on your .com keeps one domain and shares what it has built. Each has costs in management and in registration rules that your counsel and registrar can explain. Our international SEO agency page covers the general decision between country domains, subdomains and folders.

Scripts, fonts, maps and embeds that stall in the mainland

A page that waits for one slow script feels slow however well it is written. We run speed tests from mainland locations and replace any resource that stalls or fails to load there. We name no service in advance, because the test on the day shows which ones are the problem. Our technical SEO page describes the wider checks we run on any site.

How do you get a site indexed on Baidu?

You add the site to Baidu’s Search Resource Platform, verify that you own it, and submit pages and sitemaps through the platform’s tools. The order below is how we run it for a client.

Verify the site in Baidu’s Search Resource Platform

The platform at ziyuan.baidu.com is in Chinese and needs a Baidu account for most functions. Its welcome text recommends adding the main www site, because verifying it establishes ownership of the domain and makes it quick to add sub-sites and read their data. Native speakers on our side read the platform in Chinese, so nothing here depends on a translation tool.

Baiduspider and robots.txt

Baiduspider is Baidu’s crawler, and its webmaster help pages carry questions and answers about it. The platform also lists a robots tool among its crawl reports. We confirm that robots.txt lets Baiduspider reach the pages the client wants indexed and blocks only what should stay out.

Sitemaps and new page submission

The platform lists four resource submission tools, and we use the ones that fit the site, keep a sitemap current and read the crawl diagnosis and exception reports after each release.

• Regular indexing, for pages that are new or have changed
• Quick crawl, for pages the client wants fetched sooner
• Mobile adaptation, for pages that exist in a phone version
• Dead link submission, for addresses that no longer exist

Tools for SEO on Baidu: Ziyuan, Tongji and Index

Baidu provides its own webmaster, analytics and trend tools, and the work uses all three. The Baidu SEO tools we rely on are Baidu’s own, and some functions need a Baidu account.

Baidu Search Resource Platform (Ziyuan)

The platform arranges its public tools in four sections: resource submission, data statistics, search presentation, and site optimization and maintenance. The table lists what each section holds, as the platform’s menu showed in October 2026.

Baidu Tongji for analytics

Baidu Tongji is Baidu’s own analytics service. Its home page describes data collection across websites, apps and mini programs, with funnel and event analysis, A/B testing and a link to Baidu’s promotion products. We install it beside any analytics you already use and report from both.

Baidu Index for search trends

Baidu Index is Baidu’s search trend service. We use it as one input when planning topics and keep its data in working files, not on this page.

What does Baidu publish about ranking?

Baidu publishes webmaster guidance, and we have found no official list of ranking factors, so we work from that guidance and from what the platform reports about a site. Any ranking factor list you find elsewhere is someone else’s opinion, and we do not present one as fact.

Content quality guidance on Baidu’s own platform

The Search Resource Platform runs a Search Academy section that carries tool explanations and search rules, and Baidu’s webmaster help center has sections on indexing and on page ranking questions. We read these in Chinese and apply what they state.

Mobile pages and speed

The platform has a mobile adaptation tool, and the help center carries a mobile search optimization FAQ. Pages should work on a phone and load quickly from inside China, and we test both before launch.

Titles and descriptions in Simplified Chinese

Titles and descriptions are written for Chinese readers, each describing its own page accurately. Stuffing them with repeated words reads badly, and we leave that to others.

Simplified Chinese content that ranks

Content that ranks on Baidu is written in Simplified Chinese for mainland readers and covers what those buyers ask. It is not the English site passed through a translation tool. SEO for a Chinese website succeeds or fails on whether the pages answer real questions in natural language.

Written for the market, not translated from English

A native writer starts from a map of the questions mainland buyers ask and builds each page around one. Product names, units, standards and proof points are checked against what the buyer there recognizes. Our international SEO page explains why localization differs from translation for any language.

Native-speaker review before publishing

A native speaker reviews each page for tone, accuracy and terms before it goes live. The client approves the final text, since only the client can confirm technical claims.

Mainland content rules and your counsel

Mainland rules govern what can be published there, and we propose nothing that would break them. Your counsel reviews market-entry content before it goes live. For the writing itself, see our SEO content writing service.

Baidu Baike, Zhidao and Baijiahao in Baidu results

These three are Baidu’s own encyclopedia, question service and publisher platform. Baidu runs them itself, so what they say about a brand is worth checking. No one can promise that an entry or answer will appear in results.

Baidu Baike

Baidu Baike describes itself as an open online encyclopedia where users can take part in editing entries. A company cannot treat its entry as a page it controls, so we read the editing guidance first, correct only what is factual and promise no entry.

Baidu Zhidao

Baidu Zhidao is Baidu’s interactive question and answer service, and its navigation lists verified users in categories that include enterprises. Answers from a company are posted openly under the company’s own name, never as invented customers.

Baijiahao

Baijiahao is Baidu’s content platform for creators, and its description also presents it as a base for enterprise accounts. We help a client decide whether a publisher account suits it and what it would publish there. Trade.gov also names Baidu Tieba among the leading social platforms in China.

Links and mentions from Chinese sites

Earned mentions from Chinese media, partners and associations are worth more than any number of bought links. We plan outreach around real relationships and real news.

Coverage in Chinese trade and industry media

Trade publications report on products, standards and events. A genuine announcement, a published study or an expert quote can earn coverage, and our digital PR work follows the same logic.

Distributor, partner and association sites

If you sell through distributors or belong to an industry association in China, their sites can link to yours and describe you. These are the client’s real relationships, so we start there and ask for accurate descriptions.

What not to buy

These are not part of the work, because they put the site’s standing at risk for no durable gain. Our link building page explains how we earn links on any market.

• Link farms and directories that exist only to sell links
• Paid link packages sold by the piece
• Private networks of sites built to pass authority to a client

China SEO beyond Baidu

It covers every place a mainland buyer searches, and Baidu leads it. SEO services in China for a US company also reach Bing, Haosou and Sogou, and the app searches where buyers look for products. SEO in China is a mix of these, and the weighting shifts by industry.

Bing, 360 Search and Sogou

We submit the site through whichever webmaster programs each engine offers and check that the Chinese pages are indexed by each. Any SEO China plan covers the four together, because fast pages and clear Chinese copy serve every engine.

Mobile search and in-app search

WeChat, Douyin and Xiaohongshu are where many buyers browse, per the trade.gov guide cited above. We test what content and accounts a client would need there and recommend a pilot before a commitment.

How AI answers handle Chinese pages

AI assistants answer questions about Chinese markets from the pages they can read, in English and in Chinese. Our international AEO page covers Chinese, Japanese and Korean pages for AI answers.

Baidu search engine marketing: paid search in China

Baidu search engine marketing means buying placement on Baidu through its advertising platform. It brings visibility at once, while organic work builds over quarters, and we manage both after a written scope.

Baidu’s advertising platform

Baidu Marketing at e.baidu.com lists search promotion, feed promotion, brand promotion, splash-screen ads and e-commerce promotion, plus account opening and a lookup for its agents. Account requirements are Baidu’s to state, so we read them in its own flow with the client before planning a budget. We are an independent agency, with no partnership with Baidu.

Paid and organic together on Baidu

Paid placement gives early visibility while the organic work builds, and the two should share landing pages, tracking and a budget view. We quote Baidu ads management after a written scope.

Paid search outside China

For Google, Microsoft and other markets, see our PPC management page. It covers paid search outside China, and the two programs can share reporting.

Hong Kong, Taiwan and Chinese speakers outside the mainland

Which search engine is used in Hong Kong? In Statcounter’s September 2026 figures, Google, with 90.44%. Chinese-language searchers outside the mainland use different engines from mainland buyers, so they need a different plan.

Hong Kong and Taiwan

The table gives Statcounter’s September 2026 shares for Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the United States for comparison. Baidu holds 0.38% in Hong Kong. Content for both is usually written in Traditional Chinese, which is a separate task from the Simplified Chinese used on the mainland.

These are the shares Statcounter Global Stats shows for Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States for September 2026, the latest month on each page when read on October 28, 2026.

Simplified and Traditional Chinese versions and hreflang

Google’s guidance on localized versions lists zh-Hans for Simplified Chinese and zh-Hant for Traditional Chinese, and says each version should list itself and the others. Our hreflang guide and multilingual website design pages cover the build.

Chinese-speaking buyers in the United States

Chinese speakers who live in the US search with the same engines as other US residents, where Google has 85.19% in the table above. Reaching them is international or multilingual SEO and not work for Baidu. Our international clients page explains how we work across borders.

The first 90 days on Baidu: a step by step plan

Think of it as a Baidu SEO guide in three phases: set up, publish, then measure and extend. The timeline shows the phases, and no outcome figures appear because they differ for every site.

Days 1 to 30: entity, filing status, hosting and verification

The client confirms its mainland entity and ICP status with counsel. We run hosting tests, settle the domain, verify the site in the Search Resource Platform and install Tongji.

Days 31 to 60: Simplified Chinese pages and Baidu properties

The first Chinese pages go live, written around the questions on the keyword map. We review the client’s presence on Baike, Zhidao and Baijiahao and decide what to correct or add.

Days 61 to 90: mentions, links and the first measurement review

Outreach for coverage and partner mentions starts. At the end of the phase we read indexing, rankings and visits from Baidu against the goals set in the scope.

How to choose a China SEO agency

Choose an agency that answers plainly who writes the Chinese, how filing status is handled and what it will not do. Put the answers in writing, and compare them across two or three firms before you sign.

Questions to ask a Chinese SEO agency

A good Chinese SEO agency answers these without hedging. The table pairs each question with an answer that gives you confidence and one that should give you pause.

Warning signs

Each of these puts the client’s business or reputation at risk, so we treat any one of them as a reason to walk away:

• A guarantee of rankings or traffic by a date
• Advice on workarounds for access limits
• An offer to hold your ICP filing in the agency’s name
• Bought links or link packages
• Content produced by a translation tool with no native review

Working with an agency outside China

From New York we handle strategy, technical work, content written with native speakers and measurement. Your mainland entity and providers keep the legal, hosting and filing steps. A China SEO company inside the mainland may be closer to those steps, and the choice turns on who you trust with them. Agencies that resell Baidu work can use our white label SEO service.

How long does it take to rank on Baidu?

It depends first on filing, hosting and indexing, and only then on content and links, so no honest agency can name a date in advance. We give a plan and review it each month.

Filing, hosting and indexing come first

Until the client’s filing position is clear and the site loads from the mainland, content waits. We plan around the client’s answers, and we state no duration.

Content and links compound over quarters

Like SEO anywhere, this is a long-term channel; our SEO services page says the same about organic search. Pages added now support pages added later.

What we report along the way

Our reports cover indexing, rankings and visits from Baidu as the engagement defines them, and our SEO services page describes a monthly report that fits on one page.

How AI assistants answer “how do I rank on Baidu?”

AI assistants answer from pages they can read, so clear guides and clear facts on your own site are what they have to work with. Nobody can promise a mention, and what a company controls is whether the facts are clear.

Assistants answer from the pages they can read

An assistant asked how to rank on Baidu draws on whatever pages it can read on the subject. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, per its guide to AI features, so ordinary good practice applies.

A plain China page on your own site

State in text which entity serves China, which markets you cover and the Chinese-language site address. Google documents Organization structured data for the home page, and our answer engine optimization page explains how we apply it.

What does SEO for Baidu cost each month?

Our SEO retainers start at $1,500 a month, and work across several markets usually sits in higher tiers set by the written scope. The tables below add published US price bands for comparison.

Our SEO retainers

The SEO services page lists our tiers. The large retainer runs $5,000 to $10,000 a month, and the enterprise retainer for multi-market work is $10,000 a month and up. Baidu ads management is quoted after a written scope.

Published US price bands for comparison

No published band exists for China search alone. The nearest comparisons are national and enterprise SEO retainers, shown as market figures.

These are published US price bands (market figures, not a Progression rate card), read in October 2026 from WebFX, Clutch and Ahrefs for national and competitive SEO retainers and from WebFX, seoClarity and Clutch for enterprise programs. The enterprise sources disagree, so treat that band with caution.

Costs set by other providers

ICP filing, mainland hosting and any translation by outside vendors are priced by those providers, and we quote none of them. Ask each for a written price before you plan the budget.

More pages on the services around China search:

• International SEO agency
• International AEO agency
• Global marketing agency
• Multilingual website design
• Technical SEO agency
• Enterprise SEO agency
• Hreflang guide
• Website migration services
• SEO audit service
• Content marketing agency
• Manufacturing marketing agency
• Industrial SEO
• B2B SaaS marketing agency
• Higher education SEO
• Travel SEO
• Ecommerce SEO services
• B2B marketing agency

Frequently asked questions