Last Updated on April 24, 2025
Beyond its search engine platform, Baidu is widely known for its content marketing ecosystem. With Chinese internet users increasingly becoming savvy with their online purchases and brand patronage, creating a related Baike entry for your business can help your target audience get to know and trust your offerings better.
In this post, we’ll discuss how the platform works and share insights on how to create an effective Baidu Baike marketing strategy.
What is Baidu Baike (百度百科)?
Baidu Baike (百度百科) is often referred to as the Chinese Wikipedia, mainly because its primary content type appears similar to an online encyclopedia entry. It was launched way back in 2006. In 2025, the platform served over 7.9 million registered editors.
As the most popular online encyclopedia in the Chinese market, the Baidu Baike community actively contributes user-generated content on varying topics. Today, it’s hosting over 28 million articles.
Baidu Baike’s Chinese Web Homepage
Unlike Wikipedia, anonymous editing is not permitted on Baidu Baike. Only registered users can contribute to the platform. Although users are free to create and edit articles, these submissions undergo a stringent review process.
Among many internet programs with the same function, Baike is still the largest online encyclopedia in Mainland China.
As its content is deeply integrated with Baidu search results, Chinese audience segments view the platform as an authoritative and reliable sources of information. This makes your brand presence on Baike more critical than you’d think.
Example of a Baidu Baike Entry for Starbucks
How to create a Baidu Baike entry in 2025
Unlike other traditional encyclopedia platforms, Baidu Baike users can only create articles through registered accounts. The entry creation is quite straightforward. Here’s a quick guide you can follow:
- Step #1: First, you must register a Baidu account (which may require a Chinese phone number and other documentation for verification).
- Step #2: Once logged in to Baike, search for your brand name to ensure no entry exists. If it’s not there, you can click the option to create a new entry (创建词条).
- Step #3: You will then need to complete the Baidu Baike entry with well-structured content about your brand in the simplified or traditional Chinese language. Include key information like company history, products or services, and achievements.
- Step #4: Interlink credible references (Chinese-language news articles, government or industry websites, and other authoritative sources) for every important claim in your Baidu Baike page.
- Step 5: After writing, businesses can submit the entry for Baidu’s review. All new Baike entries undergo a moderation process, during which Baidu’s editors or community reviewers audit the content for compliance and accuracy.
How much does it cost to create a Baidu Baike entry?
One of the advantages of Baidu Baike marketing is the relatively low cost. In terms of direct expenses, everyone can access the platform itself. There’s no fee to register or to create an official page.
The actual costs are indirect, coming from the effort and expertise needed to craft a successful Baidu Baike entry. If you handle it in-house, expect to invest in quality Chinese copywriting and research to gather reliable sources.
Many foreign businesses hire Chinese agencies or consultants to create and manage their Baike page, which incurs service fees.
These can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on the agency and the complexity of the content. Even so, compared to traditional advertising, a Baike page is highly cost-effective for its exposure.
Some brands invest in PR or content marketing collaborations (press releases, news articles, etc.) to generate the third-party references needed to support a Baike entry.
Are there content restrictions and regulations on Baidu Baike?
Content on Baidu Baike must adhere to Chinese regulations and Baidu’s own content rules. This means no politically sensitive material, no pornography or vulgarity, and no content that could “disrupt social order” as per Chinese law.
Baidu Baike is known to actively reject content on specific Chinese topics, such as Tiananmen Square, Taiwanese independence, Falun Gong, etc., which would be openly discussed on Wikipedia and Google.
Baidu Baike’s Help Center
Another restriction is on advertorial content. The entries must be written in an encyclopedic, neutral tone. Direct marketing language (e.g., “the world’s best brand” or sales pitches) is prohibited.
The platform’s moderators will remove blatant advertising or superlatives not backed by objective facts. Notability is also a factor. If your brand is highly niche or new with no coverage, Baidu might deem it insufficiently notable for an entry.
Content Categories on Baidu Baike
Baidu Baike covers an extensive range of Chinese topics, essentially anything local internet users might search for. Major categories include:
- History
- Geography
- Science & Technology
- Culture & Art
- Entertainment (films, music, celebrities)
- Brands
- Companies.
Baidu Baike often integrates content from other internal services by category. For instance, a movie entry might show a short video or trailer (via Baidu Video), or a celebrity entry might link to Baidu’s Q&A about them.
Most Effective Baidu Baike Marketing Strategies
• Create a structured Baidu Baike entry
The foundation of your brand’s Baidu Baike marketing strategy is the quality of your entry. Treat it as you would a Wiki entry. It should be informative, well-organized, and neutral.
Start with a concise introduction defining your brand and its significance. Follow this with structured sections and key points (e.g., History, Products, Milestones, Awards, External Links). Using a logical structure helps both readers and Baidu’s moderators.
When creating a Baidu Baike page, avoid using promotional language or absolute online advertising terms. Not only are these words potentially against the digital ad laws implemented by the Chinese government, but they also stray away from the preferences of Baike users.
Invest the time to make it polished. The payoff for this Baidu Baike marketing strategy is a page that might rank high in local search engines in the long run.
• Optimize for Baidu Search Engine
Even though Baidu naturally favors Baike pages, you should still optimize your content for search relevance.
Baidu’s search engine optimization techniques include adding important keywords related to your business throughout the entry (in a natural way).
For example, include your brand’s Chinese name (and English name if applicable), your industry category, and key product names or terms that Chinese users might search for. Take a look at Dior’s Baike entry below:
While Dior is widely known globally as a luxury brand, its Baidu Baike entry still uses its Chinese brand name. This is primarily because local users are searching for this term when looking for their brand. Not integrating this keyword into the article may lead these audiences to an irrelevant landing page.
Baidu’s algorithm will use the Baike content to match search queries, so ensure the language aligns with how people talk about your brand.
You can also add internal links to other existing articles published on Baike within the page. This enriches the user experience and can subtly improve how Baidu’s system perceives your page’s relevance.
• Integrate Baike with the Broader Baidu Marketing Ecosystem
Baike is part of Baidu’s expansive ecosystem of services (which includes Baidu Zhidao Q&A, Baijiahao content platform, Tieba forums, etc.). A savvy marketing strategy is to cross-leverage these platforms for greater impact.
For example, you can use Baidu Zhidao (百度知道) to answer user questions related to your industry or product. In the answers, you can reference your Baidu Baike page for more information.
It reinforces trust if people see your brand giving helpful answers and a Baike link for credibility.
• Maintain and Update Your Baike Content
Getting a Baidu Baike page published is not a one-and-done task. To truly leverage it for marketing, you should treat it as a living document that evolves with your brand.
Make it a habit to update your Baike entry whenever your company hits a new milestone or launches a product. Regular updates keep readers accurately informed and signal to Baidu (and users) that the brand is active and engaged.
From a user’s perspective, a recently updated page (Baidu shows a timestamp of last edit) gives confidence that the information is up to date. It’s also important to monitor your Baike page for any changes others make.
While outright vandalism is less common on Baidu Baike due to the review system, other editors might add content, possibly even negative information if it’s in the news. Stay on top of edits and be prepared to correct inaccuracies or balance the narrative if needed (with factual, reference-backed additions).
• Engage with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs)
Another angle is to engage with Key Opinion Leaders or industry experts in China. While a KOL might not directly edit your Baike page, their endorsements or mentions of your brand in reputable channels can be used as references.
For example, if a well-known tech blogger writes an article about your product on a platform like Zhihu or WeChat, you can cite this content on Baidu Baike to enhance credibility.
Who uses Baidu Baike in China?
Given Baidu’s dominance in China’s search market, Baike enjoys a massive user base. Chinese internet users of all ages turn to the platform for a quick, authoritative topic overview or credible sources of information.
As of 2024, the site’s homepage alone was drawing nearly 300 million monthly views, and that’s not counting traffic directly from search results that land on Baike pages.
Typically, Baike’s core users don’t navigate the platform directly. Instead, they browse through Baidu search results and click on the most relevant corresponding entry that appears on the first page of the search engine. This means its readership is essentially the entire Chinese search audience by proxy.
A large portion of Baike’s users are students and young people seeking background information for studies or personal interest.
General users consult it as a starting point for a thorough research. However, they remain aware that it might not be perfectly neutral or complete (similar to how Western users treat Wikipedia).
Nonetheless, Baidu Baike is highly trusted by Chinese netizens when it comes to basic facts. For foreign brands, this is crucial. A Chinese consumer who has never heard of your company will likely search Baidu and read your Baike entry to get a first impression.
Quick Q&A
Is Baidu Baike still relevant in Mainland China?
Yes, Baidu Baike remains highly relevant in China. While its standalone mobile app officially shut down on June 30, 2024, this wasn’t a sign of the platform’s decline. Instead, Baidu’s broader strategy was to consolidate its digital ecosystem and focus on AI-driven services, such as Ernie Bot, its flagship generative AI platform.
Rather than operate as a separate app, Baike continues to thrive within the Baidu ecosystem and is accessible through the platform’s main application and its official website.
Why do you need a Baidu Baike Page in Mainland China?
A Baidu Baike page boosts your brand’s visibility and credibility in China. It often appears at the top of Baidu search results, giving you a major SEO advantage. It’s also valuable if your Chinese website is new or doesn’t yet rank well.
Having a neutral, well-cited page on Baidu Baike serves as a digital certificate of legitimacy, helping you stand out in a market known for skepticism.
Your Trusted Digital Marketing Partner in the Chinese Market!
For foreign brands entering China, a Baidu Baike page offers marketing opportunities through SEO boost, brand credibility, and information dissemination. You need to invest the effort to create a compliant, informative Baike entry and integrate it with your broader content marketing strategy for maximum impact.
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At Sekkei Digital Group, we understand Baidu’s important role in China’s digital ecosystem. With our experienced team and expertise, we can help your brand build trust and drive organic visibility.
Whether it’s optimizing your digital content or launching ad campaigns, we have all the digital solutions you need. Contact us today, and let’s start working on your next strategy.
