International Website Optimization: Chinese Site Launch
While the details are sometimes sensitive, the picture painted in the following client success stories is one of quantifiable results.
KoMarketing helps marketing service provider through a Chinese-specific site launch and SEO rollout.
The Challenge
KoMarketing was challenged with the task of integrating the SEO and PPC strategies of a technology services provider into the Asian market, specifically China. The SEO and PPC infancy of the Asian market presented significant opportunity through its growing user base, increasing buying power, and adoption of online mediums.
The countless differences in the two markets posed many challenges that required ample research of the Asian market. To begin the project, KoMarketing conducted a thorough SWOT analysis.
Based on the research, we identified the following challenges that would need to be addressed before our client could successfully penetrate the Asian market:
- The Chinese legal and regulatory system is vastly different from that of the American system. Government intervention is also high in China. We needed to understand the process and confirm that our client did not fall into a restricted or prohibited market segment.
- China has numerous languages, all of which have different dialects depending on the location, which created a significant language barrier. What dialect and language would most appropriately penetrate the target audience of our client (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Etc)?
- National holidays and business hours in China are different from those of the U.S. and needed to be taken into consideration, along with the 12-hour time difference. What holidays correspond with the holidays of out client in the U.S and what are the business ramifications for holidays in China?
- Social platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, are often blocked in China, but are replaced with Chinese versions for both public and business use. How would we incorporate a review of Chinese social networks including Weibo, Ren Ren, Tencent, etc.?
- Tracking analytics through Baidu is very different than tracking analytics through Google; both tools offer unique advantages and disadvantages for data insights. How did Baidu Analytics differ from Google Analytics?
This internationally focused program centered around SEO, PPC, and demand generation best practices.
Program Implementation
Once the client decided to enter into the Asian digital marketing space, the project objective then became to launch a Chinese version of the client’s website and to improve the client’s Internet presence on Chinese online market, specifically with regard to Chinese search engine(s) Baidu and Google China (Hong Kong).
To fully launch the new website, KoMarketing worked with the client to execute the following steps:
Website pages and content
Preparing the website and online content for the launch included everything from translating assets to testing the CMS characters or fonts. As part of this phase, KoMarketing created a responsibility matrix and project management process. We prioritized the review of site assets, editorial, and images for several hundred pages.
Cultural and political review
To conform to Chinese government regulations, we removed content or regional specific sensitive information and reviewed social media sharing. These modifications ensured our client spoke to its audience in the most appropriate manor.
Hosting & domain acquisition
KoMarketing worked with the client with regard to Chinese hosting and domain acquisition. This work included choosing domain extensions, working with local service providers and obtaining an ICP license. KoMarketing and the client reviewed over 13 companies before selecting a provider.
Results
- The successful launch of an SEO friendly site in China for our client.
- Best practices and process outline of timeline, product requirement, and vendor identification for entering the Chinese market.
- Best practices of SEO, PPC, link building, and syndication of content specifically for the Chinese market.
At the completion of site launch, KoMarketing completed the first phase of the project, which resulted in a China specific-web property with all China specific best practices and processes in place.
The full case study that includes the detailed SWOT analysis can be downloaded here.
“With little digging, you can see that KoMarketing’s team is frequently educating the SEO industry on best practices through articles, blogs and presentations. If you’re considering hiring an agency you want talented people collaborating to bring you the best search results possible – that’s what you’ll get with KoMarketing.”
