Contents

• Introduction
• TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read)…
• Diagnose Problem Areas
• General Approach
• 1. Alternatives to Google Fonts
• 2. Alternatives to Google Analytics
• 3. Alternatives to reCaptcha
• 4. Alternatives to Youtube Videos
• 5. Alternatives to Google Maps
• Conclusion
• Too Complicated?

Introduction

Did you know that some of the functionality that is most commonly used on websites all over the world can also make your website run super slow (or perhaps not load at all) in mainland China?

For example, most people know that websites like Google are not accessible in China, but not everyone has heard that websites commonly include little pieces of functionality provided by Google, which can cause your whole website to have problems loading when viewed in China.

TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read)…

Use these alternatives, and you’re good to go!

If you’re not sure what all this means, but keen to learn, read on for more details and tips.

You could also get us to do it for you.

Diagnose Problem Areas

Even if you’re not in China yourself, you can see how well your site loads in China using a free tool like this one.

General Approach

Here are some general approaches you might use to get your site working well both in China and everywhere else:

1. Choose a tool that works both in China and everywhere else.
2. If the website visitor is in China, disable the features that don’t work in China.
3. Show different content depending on whether the website visitor is in China or somewhere else.

With these approaches in mind, let’s look at five specific areas to concentrate on:

1. Alternatives to Google Fonts

Many websites get their fonts (lettering styles) by loading them directly from Google’s collection of fonts (“Google Fonts”). The problem with this (for your visitors from within China) is that Google not being accessible in China also applies to these fonts. So that little piece of your website can cause your whole website to load slowly, if at all.

You can solve this by embedding your own font files. If you have a .ttf file for the font, this can be embedded into your website.

For WordPress websites, you can use plugins like this one which disable Google fonts on your site.

You can also verify whether your attempts worked using a Google Fonts checker like this one.

2. Alternatives to Google Analytics

For the same reason, Google Analytics can also be a problem. Google Analytics is currently used on over half of the websites on the internet. If you want your site to work well and load fast in China, you’re going to need to use something else.

For WordPress wesbites, the Independent Analytics plugin is one great alternative that I’ve used. The WordPress Statistics plugin is another option.

3. Alternatives to reCaptcha

You know when some websites ask you to click on different pictures to prove you’re a human? Most of the time, that’s reCaptcha. It helps prevent your website getting lots of pointless spam messages from your “contact us” form, for example. The thing is, reCaptcha doesn’t work in China.

hCaptcha is an alternative. On their website, they specifically mention the ability to work in all countries (including China).

You could also try using a simpler alternative – like some contact forms which allow the user to solve a simple math problem to continue.

4. Alternatives to Youtube Videos

Sometimes you may have video that you want to embed on your website. Often this will be done by hosting the video on Youtube, and embedding the Youtube video into your site (no doubt you’ve seen embedded Youtube videos on websites many times before).

The great thing about hosting a video on a service like Youtube is that they handle all the streaming for you – taking the burden of serving up the video to your website visitors off your own website. But for sites that need to work in China – that’s a problem, since Youtube isn’t accessible there. The users won’t be able to see the video.  But the page that the Youtube video is embedded on may also struggle to load, which can be confusing for your website visitors.

Other popular video services like Vimeo are also not accessible in China. Whether videos posted on smaller video platforms are accessible or not could be a moving target.

One alternative is to host the video on your own website. Since videos can be larger in file size, you’ll want to check how much bandwidth your website host allows.

5. Alternatives to Google Maps

You may want to include a map on your website. But Google maps, like other Google services, also doesn’t work in China.

You could use Baidu maps. That works both inside and outside of China. But for users outside China, Google Maps will give them a more familiar experience. So you could use tools aimed at providing different content to different users, depending on their location – to provide Baidu maps for website visitors in China, and Google maps for visitors everywhere else. This kind of solution will require some testing to see if it works as you hoped with your particular website setup.

Conclusion

If you set up your website using the most common and popular tools out there, the likelihood that your website will run extremely slowly for users in China is high.

The good news is, if you know what you’re doing, you can use alternatives which give you a good result for users both in China and everywhere else, without sacrificing the functionality that these kinds of tools offer.

Related Services

…for a website optimised for use in China