Resources for Chinese SEO and Web building

[flowermark]

I am interested in English information on SEO for Chinese websites and website building.

I'm thinking of building a Chinese website and I was looking for a primer that will answer questions like:

1. What is the difference between .cn, .cn.com, .com, etc. If .cn is good, why are the top Alexa Chinese sites all .com?

2. How and where to find reliable hosting with english interface.

3. How to find good Chinese SEO engineers in Los Angeles?

4. Restrictions on adult and gambling sites in China.

[edited by: bill at 4:31 am (utc) on Dec. 23, 2005]
[edit reason] see sticky [/edit]

[redstorm]

1. What is the difference between .cn, .cn.com, .com, etc. If .cn is good, why are the top Alexa Chinese sites all .com?

in my eyes, there is little difference among .cn, com, com.cn.
the reason that why top Chinese sites all have .com name is that .com takes the largest share among others. Maybe you will see some great .cn website later.

2. How and where to find reliable hosting with english interface.

do you mean you want to find hosting in PR.China? if so, i will recommend some to you.

4. Restrictions on adult and gambling sites in China.

till now, adult and gambling site are not permitted by Chinese law.
that's what i want to feedback you this time. Maybe our respectable moderator Bill will give you more useful info later on :)

[stevegpan2]

SEO will be different for Baidu search engine - I read that, unlike google, too many links will cause a ban by Baiduon your site. Not sure how they rank a site.

What is the percentage of Baidu in China search market? Their revenue is only 10+ million dollars last year...

[redstorm]

stevegpan2:
according report from EMarketer, China's search engine market is divided something like

baidu 37%

google China 23%

Yahoo China 21%

[lela]

in my opion, there is little SEOist who has been high level in optimization of chinese SEs.
Most so called SEOists virtually target google.

[flowermark]

Thanks for the great information so far everyone.

Yes, I wouldn't mind some hosting suggestions. Please PM me, thank you.

[leunga]

I have prior good experience with Baidu. My experinece is that if you have a good domain name which is related to your site's topic, it definitely helps very much. It is also helpful if you submit your site to ODP under World/Chinese .... category. I have tried to get my site listed in Baidu'd directory, but never success! :( Lastly, Baidu crawls ODP too.

[guez]

Does this mean that your site need Chinese content in order to be listed in Baidu?

They also must be giving better ranks to websites in Chinese...

[bill]

Does this mean that your site need Chinese content in order to be listed in Baidu?

No, Baidu will index English sites, but they give heavy preference to sites hosted within China or those that use Chinese ccTLDs.

[jeffc40]

Hi, Im enjoying this thread, I am also interested in a mainland China hosting for a .net.cn I am developing and would appreciate any suggestions, I also need and english language interface.
Cheers Jeff

[bill]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld jeffc40.

I am also interested in a mainland China hosting for a .net.cn I am developing and would appreciate any suggestions, I also need and english language interface.

We don't allow specific suggestions for hosting companies but there's no problem discussing the hosting issue in general. We had a good thread about that a little while back: The importance of hosting Top Sites in China; Myth or Reality? [webmasterworld.com]

[DamonHD]

Hi,

I'm trying a hosting company in Singapore that has data centres in several other AsiaPac countries including China.

If their service works well (so far it does) AND I get enough Chinese traffic, then I'll certainly consider hosting with them in China.

Rgds

Damon

[jeffc40]

Thanks Bill, I got a lot of good info from the thread you pointed me at, Im starting to think a trip to China may in the long run be the most cost effective way to get things going, I have emailed a number of hosting companies in mainalnd China over the past few weeks, and am yet to get one reply. I think I'll start asking some questions at my embassy in China.
Cheers Jeff

[bill]

jeffc40 that's a very good idea and highly recommended. You really get a different perspective by getting over there and seeing the actual situation. Try to take a look at the Hong Kong options as well. You're a lot more likely to get a bit of English language support there.