Hosting Your Site in China, Key to SEO Success

In China, the display speed of a page hosted out of Chinese mainland territory is much higher than 30 seconds! Yes I know this sounds insane but trust me this is the truth.

The variable quality of the internal network and the weakness of the network between European and Chinese operators partly explains this issue. On the other hand, the Chinese government has set up a firewall that filters foreign content. The rules of censorship are complex, and it is difficult to make a comeback after blocking a website.

You must not miss your first submission to the engines. For a good search engine optimization campaign on Baidu, your site must be imperatively hosted in China, with a Chinese IP address, and a domain name in “.cn” or a.com in Chinese alphabet. Baidu awards, according to Chinese government guidelines, a bonus to local sites and gives a negative point to sites hosted outside its territory.

The ICP license: The holy grail to host a site in China

opportunites digitales comparateur hebergement en ligneThe ICP license is a permit issued by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which allows a publisher to publish a site in China. The ICP license distinguishes between merchant and non-dealer sites.

For a non-commercial site, a form in Chinese is to be filled on this site www.miibeian.gov.cn. The response time can vary from a few days to several weeks. It is possible to resubmit a file in case of refusal, which is not final. The submission of the PKI file must be written in Chinese.

A site that offers online sales must obtain a commercial PKI license. The company wishing to obtain the ICP license must be located in China.

Do I need a host in Shanghai or Hong Kong?

To avoid obtaining the ICP license, some hosting companies are operating from Hong Kong. This solution does not address Chinese firewall filtering and the lower quality of Baidu SEO. A hosting service located in Shanghai helps to avoid censorship in this vast country.

The Chinese market specificities?

In the Chinese market, it is essential to protect your trademarks and domain names and to monitor their use on the Internet. An online risk monitoring platform: cybersquatting of domain names, brand abuse, risks are numerous.

It is essential to be accompanied by a law firm specialised in international law, as well as by lawyers in China for any local intervention.

For Foreign investors such as Opportunités Digitales, we highly advise you book a consultation with a business consulting and law firm operating locally!