Baidu PPC Vs Google Adwords

First, remember that Baidu PPC accounts are different from “regular” Baidu accounts.

Opening a Baidu Advertising account is somewhat complicated and lengthy. Especially if you’re used to setting up a Google Ads account quickly. Also, the process is only available in Chinese. But here’s the good news: it’s possible, even for non-Chinese companies.

Get in touch with your local Baidu department. If your company does not have an office in China, Baidu will designate a registered marketing agency. The agency will help you open a Baidu PPC account. Domatters will be happy to assist you with this process.

 Getting started on Baidu

To get started, it’s important that you meet the legal requirements for starting a Baidu account in China. Unlike advertising platforms in the rest of the world, your data and application will have to be reviewed by the Chinese government before you can be approved to start advertising.

For companies that want to do Baidu advertising in mainland China, you first need to have a business registration license: either a Chinese business license 营业执照 or an overseas one (any kind of business registration documents should do). Depending on which one you have, the process required documentation and the initial deposit for each one is slightly different. We’ll go through all the requirements below.

Provide your company name, industry and website to Baidu/Agency for verification. Keep in mind that online regulation in China is quite strict. For example, gambling advertisements are prohibited. Additionally, some industries are excluded from online advertising (PPC). Such as the financial industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the health care product industry. Although, sometimes exceptions may arise for additional certificates/licenses.

A Chinese website may also have an advantage over an English website at this point, although this is not a KO standard – but we strongly recommend using a Chinese website.

After the first step of verification, you will need to provide further documents for evaluation: Business Registration Certificate of your country, including Chinese translation and a screenshot of your website. Baidu may ask you to adapt your website content to comply with China’s strict online rules.

After Baidu receives all the documents, it usually takes 2-4 weeks to approve the Baidu PPC account. Stay in close contact with your Baidu representative to make sure things go smoothly. And be patient. Domatters is happy to take that burden off your shoulders.

Open a Baidu PPC Account

For those western companies that are yet to have an office in China yet, they will need to contact an overseas reseller that provides Baidu services in the company’s origin country. They also can seek out agencies that have the ability to help in registering a Baidu PPC account.

1. Provide the company’s name and website 

After step 2, the company will be asked to provide a relevant website address for verification purposes. Baidu will verify if the website’s legitimacy, authenticity and if is permitted to conduct search advertising.

Gambling and pornograhic websites are strictly prohibited to apply for search ads. For some particular fields which include medical, drug, financial and health products may require additional licenses and certificate submission to Baidu.

1. Submission of supporting documents

After passing the first verification from Baidu, the company will be asked to submit a complete list of legal documents for further evaluation. A total of 5 documents are required for foreign companies:

• Copy of business registration certification and the handwritten statement “文件与原文件一致” (it is the same as the original)

The certificate needs to include company’s name, registered office, company number and company name change paper, if applicable.

• Simplified chinese translation of business registration certificate
• A screenshot of the website homepage with URL shown and written statement “与网站一致” meaning it is same as the website.

The reason behind this is that Baidu needs to evaluate your website further to verify if the site can be loaded, if it is developed completely with no dead links and whether the website information is consistent with the business registration certificate.

Users might need to adjust the website content to adhere to Baidu’s stringent requirements, especially the ‘ about us’ or ‘contact us’ part of the site. Those parts should include the full registered company’s name, address and phone number.

• Local government official website search

Go to the user’s local government official website to browse for your company information. Then, submit a screenshot of the final query page showing the relevant URL. Users have to provide the page with your handwritten statement “与网站一致” meaning it is same as the website. Users can put the chinese words on the side of every english character on the same page If chinese translation is needed.

• Business bank account statement

Users can choose to submit either one of the documents such as bank account information, local tax payment certification, bank statement or bank payment order form.

For instance, if the user provides the bank account information, it should also include bank name ,business account name, account number, bank branch name and address.

Additional sidenotes:

• Foreign language documents must be provided with a translation.
• All submitted documents are required to be stamped with the advertiser’s official company chop or seal. The name of the advertising company needs to be shown.
• Scan these required documents in full colour and be sent with a handwritten statement as mentioned above. The company’s stamp can be replaced by the signature of an authorised staff member of the advertiser.
• The letter of commitment or authorization has to be signed and stamped by the client. Different Baidu resellers may require a different letter of commitment.

1. Follow up with the process 

It will usually take 2-4 weeks to get the Baidu PPC account approved after documents submission. Users have to keep in touch with the representatives oftenly to ensure things are progressing. Users need to be patient here since the evaluation process is strict and time consuming.

Resellers might come back and forth especially when they notice missing items or review you. Users may need to resubmit the particular documents until all of them are approved.

It is recommended to work on your account structure in this period of time. Once users get the final approval, they will be ready to progress further. Users can plan the structure through conducting keyword search, generating keyword lists and creating advertisements. Users will be able to set up the account straight when all the above mentioned things are ready.

1. Sign the contract 

After getting all the legal documents approved, the baidu reseller will send the Baidu platform contract which contains privacy terms and advertising policy.

The contract might vary. If users set up through an agency, the contract will be signed between the agency and Baidu reseller. If users set up the account directly, it will be signed between the company’s representative and Baidu reseller instead. Some Baidu reseller may not able to provide an english contract, so plan on extra time for review and translation.

1. Make down payment 

Baidu requires paying the down payment for PPC ad spends first. Some of the resellers in China may require an annual service fee and account set up fee, especially for those companies without an office in China.

Baidu does not accept any forms of international payment methods. Hence, users need to transfer the ad budget to the Baidu reseller through an international wire transfer.

Please make sure the bank information is correct to ensure a successful transfer. If the reseller is based in China, the payment will be made in chinese Yuan. For other non China areas, the most secure way is to pay with US dollars.

1. Activate Baidu PPC account 

Once the payment is received by Baidu, the PPC account will be released within 3-5 working days. Users will get the account name and temporary password. Users will be required to change the password after logging in the first time.

Now, you’re done! If the account structure has planned out well, you should be able to run campaigns straight. Remember to always understand your target audience and leverage Baidu PPC tools to make the campaigns successful.

Although the whole process is time consuming, it helps to screen out many illegal competitors. Baidu PPC remains one of the most effective digital marketing tools in China and all the efforts will be paid off in the long run!

Why You’d Need a Baidu Marketing/SEO Agency

As mentioned above, there’s a strict process that you need to go through if you want to register on Baidu outside of China. As such, businesses contact agencies that can help them set-up a Baidu PPC account and connect them with the right resellers.

Meanwhile, all you have to do is to provide the righ documentation and let the agency to the heavylifting for you. That being said, Baidu is extremely different compared to google.

Search Engine Journal says Baidu accounts for 78.4% of the search traffic in China versus Google’s 1.9%. But, when it comes to the  Chinese market, you need to focus on both the SEO aspect and the cultural aspect.

Hence, you would need the help of a good marketing agency that not only knows about Baidu SEO but how users engage with the internet.

Continue learning with these related articles :