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Perhaps the most important strategy and the first step to targeting Chinese customers is to create a Chinese website.

In 2020, China’s online market is exceeding a value of 2 trillion USD. This makes it a gold mine for local and international companies.

And if these foreign brands are hoping to successfully tap into the market, they must first create a website to suit the needs of Chinese customers.

Launch Your Chinese Website

However, launching a Chinese version of your website can be stressful if you aren’t sure where to start. Keep in mind to create an accessible website in accordance with China’s internet policies.

In this article by China Gravy, we reveal 7 proven ways to easily and readily build the foundations when you create a Chinese website for Chinese customers. This will help you market your brand to match their styles.

Solutions to Building a Website for Chinese Customers

First of all, building a website for Chinese customers is not about simply cloning an English website and using a .cn domain. Sure, it seems like the easy fix to consider translating your website not only in Chinese but also in many languages.

Now, the challenge is that your potential Chinese customers are quite different from the customers in other parts of the world. As such, when you create a Chinese website, you should reflect these unique differences if you want your brand to be compelling.

Below are the 7 most important methods to build a powerful website for Chinese customers.

1. Use a Local Domain Name Extension

First, the internet in China follows strict regulations and guidelines. As such, many foreign websites and servers are blocked in mainland China for failing to meet these requirements.

Hong Kong operates as an autonomous region in terms of internet authority. To ensure that your website ranks higher on Baidu, a “.cn” domain name is helpful.

ICP License

Now, your company might also need to obtain a business license to operate in Chinese cyberspace if you use a local server. There are two types of ICP (Internet Content Provider) licenses issued by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) at the provincial level.

ICP license 京 ICP 证 – for commercial (operational) websites. This applies to any website that allows a customer to purchase goods or services online.

ICP recordal 京 ICP 备 – for non-commercial (informational) websites, including those that don’t do direct sales.

So, keep in mind that your ICP license must be displayed in the footer of your website. However, as you will learn more about later, hosting on a Chinese server and acquiring an ICP license is not necessary for success.

2. Host your Website on a Chinese Server

Accessing websites in China can generally be slow when the connection is from outside China as the country’s internet policies ban many websites.

That’s why hosting your website in mainland China helps to improve the speed and stability of your website to reach Chinese customers. However, using a local server in mainland China requires that you apply to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for an ICP (Internet Content Provider) license.

A Physical Presence in China

An ICP license is typically only for companies with a physical presence in the country. So, unless you plan on building physical structures in China, this is not a viable option. However, agencies in China are offering this ICP license to foreign companies and China Gravy is excited to help your business with this service.

Hosting in Hong Kong

Now, a great alternative is to host your website for example in Hong Kong. This way, your brand can enjoy the benefits of geographical proximity to mainland China, which increases the accessibility of your website to Chinese customers.

If you do not intend to use a Chinese server to create a Chinese website, ensure that your chosen server is not blocked in China by following up on the latest regulations and policies. Otherwise, your website may be inaccessible to your intended target Chinese audience.

3. Optimize for Chinese Search Engines

Baidu is to China what Google is to the rest of the world. Like Google, Baidu has its own unique search algorithm that influences the ranking of a website.

However, SEO for Google is different from that of Baidu. Thus, for your website to have a high ranking in China, it must be specifically optimized for Chinese search engines such as Baidu.

To illustrate, Baidu, unlike Google, cannot crawl (read) JavaScript. This means that many websites, which are created with Angular or React, need to be set up new.

There are several other differences between Google and Baidu’s ranking systems. Make sure that your SEO strategies address those differences to improve the visibility of your website for Chinese customers.

4. Match the Language to Your Target Market

China is a huge country – the largest in population and the third-largest in landmass. So, it is not surprising that certain parts of the country have different languages.

For instance, people in mainland China use simplified Chinese. But people in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao read traditional Chinese. Depending on your target region in the Chinese market, you may need a website in simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, or both.

Start with Market Research

First, you should carry out initial market research to help you determine your target area and audience. This can help you decide if your website should have simplified or traditional characters.

Regardless of your final decision, our team of experts at China Gravy can help you with market research as well as craft your desired website for Chinese customers. Get in touch with our team and let us help you explore your options.

5. Localize Your Content and Style

It is important to tailor your content on the website specifically for Chinese customers. Simply translating your content from English to Chinese will not cut it.

Use cultural and social references in your content to keep engagement consistent and current. Clean designs that are not so chaotic and color choices are important factors to successfully create a Chinese website. One example of this is the poor choice to mix green and red colors on a website design.

Make it Real

Making it as real as possible for the Chinese reader lends more credibility to the content and consequently, your business. Adapting your content to suit your customers is one of the most effective ways of winning new customers and being connected with current consumers.

Another way to ensure that your website attracts Chinese customers is to use different content mediums. One of the most significant mediums for Chinese internet users is video content.

6. Digitalize Your Website to be Responsive & Mobile-Friendly

With 840 million users in 2019, China is home to the biggest Internet community in the world. And 98% use mobile devices to access the world wide web. Therefore, building a website that is responsive to mobile devices will give your brand more visibility and customers.

Now, the average Chinese internet user spends almost 6 hours every day online, mostly mobile. They chat, research, shop, use services, and more. As everything is on-the-go, unsurprisingly, around 75% of e-commerce sales are generated by mobile users.

Smartphones contribute a great deal to the e-commerce landscape in the Chinese market, which may be even more important to Chinese consumers than those in the West. So, building a mobile-friendly e-commerce website design for China and its customers puts your company in the hands of millions every day.

7. Offer Payment Options Available in China

If you are building a webshop for products or services, incorporate payment channels that are available in China. The most common online payment platforms are AliPay, Union Pay, and WeChat Pay. These options are all connected to major banks within China and have millions of daily active users.

9 Steps to Create a Chinese Website

In a time in which Facebook and Instagram lead the social media hype and are a playground for business – do I really need a state-of-the-art website? And if yes, how do I make a website without spending too much money?

This guide will take you through the process smoothly.

1. Secure Your Domain Name

Once you have decided on your business name, it’s time to choose a domain and register it. To do so, visit an online domain name registrar like Odweb.cn or yun.odewb.cn

Next, type in the domain name, which you want to buy to check if it is available. If yes, go ahead and buy it. On average, a new domain costs between 10 to 15 USD per year.

While it is possible to create a .cn ccTLD domain on GoDaddy, but it will only be possible to use the domain once it has been approved with a real name verification.

Tip: Make sure not to infringe any brand copyrights. The best way to avoid any conflict is to check the trademark database of your location. There are free options, for example, OD Cloud: www.odweb.cn , wechat:OD-Tech

2. Choose Your Web Hosting Provider

To make your website accessible via the world-wide-web, you need a web hosting service. Cloud hosting is the preferred option by industry experts. In general, cloud hosting is seen as more reliable, secure, and faster than shared hosting.

This is especially true if a website is not hosted in China as speed is crucial to getting through the Great Firewall of China. Cloud hosting is much faster than traditional hosting providers.

We can help you open up the market in China, establish a website, and do full network promotion to complete China's corporate affairs. OD Cloud: www.odweb.cn , wechat:OD-Tech

About ODweb :

Our services include:

Website construction, domain registration,Hosting in china or Hongkong&taiwan, cloud server, enterprise email, website ICP filing, company registration, trademark registration, online promotion, SEO, Baidu SEM, brand marketing, e-commerce operation, etc., one-stop service