Nine out of ten companies doing online promotion have asked the same question: the money has been spent, so where are the inquiries?
Over the past 20 years at Yunxuan Network Technology, we have served engineering companies, manufacturing factories, trading stores, local service providers, and B2B companies doing business nationwide. After seeing so much, we've found that poor promotion results are often not due to an insufficient budget, but because a few basic actions were not done correctly. Today we won't talk in vague terms—we'll focus on three things: website SEO, PPC management, and online promotion, and explain clearly how to do them and what to watch out for.
1. Website SEO: It's Not About Publishing Articles—It's About Making Both Search Engines and AI Willing to Recommend You
Many companies understand website SEO as hiring a few people to publish articles in the website backend, putting keywords in the titles, and then waiting for indexing. This isn't completely useless, but it's extremely inefficient, and the search environment has changed—Baidu is changing, and AI search is changing too.
1. First Solve the Problem of Whether Your Website Can Be Indexed
We have taken over quite a few clients whose official websites had been running for two or three years but had only single-digit Baidu indexing. When you open the website, you see: the entire site is built with stacked images, with all text embedded in the images; the column structure is chaotic, with product pages and news pages mixed together; the mobile version takes more than ten seconds to open; and there isn't even a submitted sitemap. In this situation, no matter how well the content is written, it's useless.
The first step of website SEO is to let search engines smoothly crawl, understand, and index your pages. Specific tasks include:
- Keep the website structure clear, with no more than three levels of columns, and keep important pages closer to the homepage;
- Each page should have its own title, description, and H tags—don't use one title for the whole site;
- Add alt text to images, and don't let core content exist only in images;
- Mobile adaptation must be done well; Baidu prioritizes indexing mobile-friendly pages;
- Submit a sitemap and configure robots properly—don't block pages that should be indexed.
These are the foundation. If the foundation isn't solid, later efforts in content and backlinks will all be less effective.
2. Keywords: More Isn't Better—They Must Match Customers' Search Intent
We often see company homepages stuffed with dozens of keywords, from "website development" to "online promotion" to "brand promotion," trying to occupy everything. As a result, none of the terms are fully developed.
A more reasonable approach is: first sort out the terms customers will actually search for, and classify them by intent. For example, for an engineering company, customers might search "Zhanjiang steel structure engineering company," "factory renovation construction team," or "engineering quotation." The people behind these terms are at different stages—some are learning, some are comparing prices, and some are ready to sign a contract. The corresponding pages should also be different: the learning stage looks at cases and solutions; the price-comparison stage looks at quotation explanations and service processes; the ready-to-sign stage looks at qualifications and contact information.
The essence of website SEO is using the right content to catch the right search demand. It is not a keyword density game.
3. Content Should Be Produced Continuously, But Don't Update Just for the Sake of Updating
The saying "publish one original article every day" is widely circulated, but what you publish matters more than how much you publish. When planning content for clients, we focus on three types of content:
- Product/service pages: clearly explain what you can do, how you do it, and where your advantages are compared with peers;
- Case/solution pages: use real projects to show what problems you have solved;
- Industry Q&A/practical pages: answer questions customers will encounter during decision-making.
Only by combining these three types of content can you cover the complete search path from awareness to transaction. Search engines aren't foolish, and users aren't either—articles written purely to pad word count won't work.
4. Website SEO and GEO Optimization Should Be Done Together
Now when customers look for suppliers, besides Baidu, they also ask AI tools such as Doubao, Qwen, and DeepSeek. The logic by which AI search captures content is not exactly the same as traditional search engines; it values clarity, structure, and credibility of content more. While doing website SEO for clients, we simultaneously do GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): organizing company information, service scope, and case data into formats that AI can easily understand and cite, so the company can also be mentioned in AI answers.
This is not a future trend—it is happening now. Many companies across the country have already found that customers referred by AI often have higher intent, because they have already gone through a round of screening via AI.
2. PPC Management: It's Not Just Adjusting Bids—It's Managing Where Every Bit of Budget Goes
For Baidu Promotion and feed ads, many companies open their own accounts and run ads themselves. After a period of time, they find costs getting higher and results getting worse, and then either increase the budget to hold on or simply stop. In fact, the problem often lies in campaign strategy and daily optimization.
1. Account Structure Determines Whether You Can See Where the Money Goes
When we take over a managed account, the first thing we look at is the account structure. Many accounts have only one campaign and one ad group, with hundreds of keywords crowded together and only one creative. With this kind of account, you simply cannot tell which keyword brought inquiries and which keyword is burning money.
A reasonable account structure should be layered by business line, region, device, and intent. For example, a company doing nationwide business can divide campaigns into "brand terms," "product terms," "competitor terms," and "long-tail terms," and then split them by region. This way, when optimizing, you can clearly see which campaign converts well, which keyword should be bid up, and which keyword should be negated.
2. Keyword Matching and Negative Keywords Are Key to Cost Control
Many accounts lose cost control as they run because the matching method is too broad and negative keywords are not added in time. For example, when bidding on "website development," broad matching may match "free website development" or "website development template download." This traffic is not precise; one click can cost dozens of yuan, and visitors leave immediately.
Our approach is: use phrase match or exact match for core terms; after running for a period, pull the search term report and add obviously irrelevant terms as negatives. At the same time, write different creatives and landing pages for terms with different intent. People searching "how much does website development cost" and people searching "which website development company is good" want to see different things.
3. If the Landing Page Is Poor, PPC Is Just Giving Money to Competitors
This is the most easily overlooked point. No matter how low the bid or how attractive the creative, if the landing page cannot retain people, the money is wasted. We have seen too many company landing pages: they open with a company introduction, you scroll for ages and can't find the product, contact information is hidden at the very bottom, and buttons can't be clicked on mobile.
A good landing page should: load quickly, explain clearly in the first screen what you do, provide trust endorsements (cases, qualifications, customer reviews), and have clear calls to action (online consultation, phone, form). When we manage PPC for clients, we optimize landing pages at the same time and align ad traffic with page content. If this step is done well, the same budget can produce several times the number of inquiries.
4. PPC Management Is Not About Washing Your Hands of It—It's About Someone Watching the Data and Making Decisions
Some companies hand their accounts to an agency and don't look at them for a month, then ask at the end of the month, "How are the results?" The agency says, "We're optimizing," but what exactly was optimized is unknown. With this kind of management, results are hard to guarantee.
In our PPC management, we regularly provide clients with data reports: how much was spent, how many clicks came in, how many inquiries, which keywords performed well, which keywords need adjustment, and what we plan to do next. Clients don't need to understand the backend, but they need to know where the money went and how the results are. That is the meaning of management.
3. Online Promotion: It's Not About Having as Many Channels as Possible—It's About the Right Combination
The term "online promotion" is broad and includes SEO, PPC, feed ads, short videos, local platforms, AI search optimization, and more. Companies easily fall into a misconception: they hear Douyin is hot, so they do Douyin; they hear Baidu Promotion is effective, so they invest in Baidu. They open a bunch of channels, don't go deep in any of them, and in the end none of them work.
1. First Figure Out Where Your Customers Are, Then Decide What to Promote
Customers in different industries and of different sizes differ greatly in the channels they use to get information. For nationwide B2B business, Baidu search and industry platforms may be more effective; for local life services, Douyin local promotion, Meituan, and Dianping may be more direct; for foreign trade, Google and overseas social media are the focus.
When we create full-channel promotion plans for clients, the first step is not to recommend channels, but to ask clearly: Who are your customers, where are they, and what do they look at when making decisions? Once these are clear, channel selection becomes clear.
2. Search + Feed + Short Video: A Combined Approach Is More Stable Than a Single Breakthrough
We served a manufacturing factory that initially only invested in Baidu PPC. Inquiry costs were high and volume was unstable. Later we suggested a combination: Baidu PPC to maintain rankings for core terms, feed ads for brand exposure and retargeting, and short video platforms for factory footage and product explanations. Three months later, inquiry volume increased, while the cost per inquiry actually decreased. Because customers saw you on multiple channels, trust was higher and conversion was easier.
This is the combination logic of online promotion: search captures active demand, feed ads and short videos stimulate passive demand, and AI search and GEO optimization seize new entry points. Channels work together, and the effect is better than fighting alone.
3. AI Agents Are the Receiver of Promotion, Not a Replacement
Promotion brings traffic, and when traffic arrives, someone needs to receive it. For many companies, once inquiries increase, customer service can't keep up, inquiries at night and on weekends go unanswered, and customers turn to another company.
The AI agents we build for clients solve this problem. They can receive visitors 24/7, answer common questions, collect customer information, and transfer complex issues to a human. In this way, no lead brought by promotion is lost because no one received it. Only when AI agents work together with online promotion is the customer acquisition loop complete.
4. Data Must Be Connected, Otherwise You Don't Know Which Channel Is Truly Effective
Some companies invest in Baidu, Douyin, and feed ads. The backend data of each platform looks good, but which channel actually brought transactions is unclear. This is because the data is not connected.
Our approach is: set up independent tracking for each channel, aggregate inquiry data into the same backend, and conduct attribution analysis regularly. Which channel has more inquiries, which channel has more transactions, and which channel has higher costs are all clear at a glance. With this, budgets can be spent more and more accurately.
4. The Four Most Common Pitfalls When Companies Do Online Promotion Themselves
1. Only Doing Promotion, Not the Website
Promotion brings people to your website or landing page. If the website itself is poor, promotion is a waste of money. We have seen clients spend a lot on ads while the landing page was made three years ago, displayed incorrectly on mobile, and had an unclickable consultation button. With this kind of promotion, the more you do, the more you lose.
2. Pursuing Low Prices and Ignoring Service
Online promotion services vary greatly in price. Some quotes are absurdly low, and only during execution do you find out: SEO is just posting backlinks, PPC is just adjusting bids, and all content is scraped. In the end, the money is spent, there are no results, and time is delayed. When choosing a service provider, see whether it can clearly explain how it will do the work, whether it has cases, and whether its data is transparent.
3. Wanting Results Today for Work Started Today
SEO and GEO optimization take time. PPC and feed ads scale quickly but need an optimization cycle. Some companies stop after a week with no inquiries, switch to another channel, run it for another week with no results, and switch again. Switching back and forth like this means no channel can be built up. Online promotion is a process of continuous optimization; give the service provider reasonable time and give yourself reasonable expectations.
4. Not Paying Attention to Changes in AI Search
AI search is changing the way customers find suppliers. Previously customers searched Baidu; now more and more customers ask AI directly. If your company information cannot be seen in AI answers, you are handing this traffic to competitors. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) helps companies seize this new entry point.
5. What Yunxuan Network Technology Can Do for You
After discussing so many methods, let's finally talk about ourselves. Yunxuan Network Technology has been engaged in digital marketing and technology development for 20 years, serving small and medium-sized enterprises in various industries nationwide. From website development, website SEO, and GEO optimization to Baidu Promotion, feed ads, and PPC management, and then to AI agent building and full-channel brand promotion, we provide one-stop service from website building to customer acquisition.
Our advantage is that technology development and marketing promotion are connected. The website is developed by us, and its underlying architecture already takes SEO and AI indexing into account; the promotion is run by us, and data flows back to the website and AI agents, forming a closed loop. Clients do not need to coordinate with several companies, which saves effort and cost.
If you are currently doing online promotion, or are preparing to start, welcome to talk with us. You don't have to cooperate immediately, but at least we can help you see whether your current promotion plan has room for optimization. Avoiding detours is itself a way to save money.