HomeBlogBlogIs the Great Firewall blocking your users from a better user experience?

Is the Great Firewall blocking your users from a better user experience?

While China maintains one of the world’s most comprehensive internet censorship systems, it also represents an opportunity. Achieving success in China’s digital marketplace is possible without the need for time-consuming experimentation. Go-Click China provides the strategic solution needed to establish your online presence efficiently, eliminating technical barriers and regulatory hurdles while maximizing market impact.

At the heart of these challenges lies the Great Firewall of China (GFW), a digital barrier that impacts how foreign companies connect with Chinese users. This article offers insights into how the Great Firewall shapes user experience.

How the Great Firewall blocking affects international businesses in China

The Great Firewall of China serves as the country’s primary tool for monitoring and controlling internet traffic flowing in and out of the country. Numerous foreign websites and services, including major platforms like Google, Facebook, and YouTube, are significantly affected.

The Great Firewall not only blocks access to these platforms but also slows down internet speeds for users within the country who seek to browse foreign websites, complicating the delivery of digital content.

To maintain a competitive edge, overcoming these barriers is essential for ensuring a seamless user experience for Chinese consumers. It positions businesses to gain a competitive advantage and achieve long-term growth in the dynamic market.

Insights into how the Great Firewall controls web traffic flow

The Great Firewall operates through a combination of technical methods designed to control web traffic and filter content deemed sensitive by the Chinese government. Beyond the well-known techniques of IP address blocking, VPN blocking, and content scanning and filtering, the Great Firewall also employs:

  • DNS poisoning: Redirects requests for blocked domains to incorrect IP addresses, making them inaccessible.
  • Deep packet inspection: Analyzes data packets in real time to identify and block certain protocols or applications
  • URL filtering: Allows the Great Firewall to deny access to specific pages containing sensitive information.

These mechanisms work in concert to create a highly controlled digital environment that can impact foreign businesses’ ability to serve Chinese customers. The system’s complexity and constant evolution make it challenging for companies to stay informed about the latest Great Firewall tactics.

Blocked, throttled, and frustrated: How your app or website suffers

The censorship mechanism of the Great Firewall is not only about blocking access but also about controlling the flow of information and promoting domestic alternatives.

Many popular social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram are extremely slow or completely blocked by the Great Firewall. Streaming sites such as YouTube and Netflix are also forbidden. While various factors contribute to the inaccessibility of foreign websites, the Great Firewall plays a significant role.

When Chinese customers attempt to browse foreign websites, they may encounter various issues, including:

Slow load times

The Great Firewall introduces latency as all international data must pass through a limited number of gateways. This results in slow loading times for websites hosted outside of China, with reports indicating that page load times can be significantly longer—up to eight times slower compared to access from other regions.

Blocked features

Other than the problem of loading time, many foreign businesses rely on social media platforms for marketing and customer engagement. These platforms are blocked by the Great Firewall, limiting the reach of marketing efforts.

Overall functionality challenges

The combination of slow load times and blocked features results in an unstable user experience for visitors from China. Studies have shown that performance metrics such as the First Contentful Paint (FCP) can be worse for users in China, affecting overall site engagement.

While using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) can help improve load times, many global CDNs do not operate effectively in China without local infrastructure due to Great Firewall’s. This makes it challenging for businesses to deliver good user experiences to Chinese users.

To access forbidden websites and applications, users must “get over the wall”. Not everyone possesses the technical skills, resources, or desire to bypass the Great Firewall, meaning that this threshold will hinder potential Chinese customers.

The financial toll: How much does Great Firewall blocking cost your business?

Foreign businesses entering the Chinese market experience financial impacts from poor digital performance caused by the Great Firewall. The resulting slow load times, blocked features, and functionality can severely hinder user engagement and revenue.

User engagement

Statistics indicate that 53% of mobile site visitors will leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. In a market where user patience is minimal, slow websites lead to high bounce rates, meaning potential customers abandon sites before completing any transactions.

In terms of conversion rate loss, a 100-millisecond delay in website load speed can decrease conversion rates by 7%. This is critical for e-commerce platforms where every second counts in securing a sale.

Revenue loss

China’s digital ecosystem operates differently from that of Western countries, with the Great Firewall restricting access to popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram. As a result, brands relying on these channels may face challenges. To succeed, companies need to adapt and invest in local platforms to engage effectively and maintain revenue.

The dual strategies of Douyin and TikTok in China

Douyin and TikTok offer an effective model for managing these challenges while adhering to Chinese censorship standards. Both apps are owned by ByteDance, which separates them into distinct versions tailored to each market’s regulatory environment. This allows ByteDance to meet specific compliance requirements while delivering a cohesive user experience.

With the Great Firewall blocking access to international services, such as cloud storage, payment gateways, and social media, Douyin must use alternative services and domestic infrastructure to operate in China. Strict content moderation is also required to screen for sensitive topics, political dissent, and content considered harmful by the Chinese government. This necessitates a dedicated team for Douyin to ensure compliance.

Goclick China’s local solutions for enhancing your digital presence

The Great Firewall creates a digital divide, limiting access to global information and tools, and imposing challenges for foreign companies. Here are some essential ways for you to overcome the challenges the Great Firewall creates:

Check if your website is blocked in China

This is a crucial first step for business expansion in China. By proactively testing your website’s accessibility, you can identify specific issues caused by the Great Firewall, such as blocked content, slow loading times, or complete inaccessibility.

Understand your website through local eyes

While automated testing tools are excellent for identifying and fixing technical issues, they lack the human insight to understand cultural nuances, regional variations, and user behaviors.

Manual testing can complement this by adopting local testers to help, capture cultural nuances, address technical variations across different geographics, and identify usability issues. They can also provide feedback on how to improve the overall user experience.

China-Specific solutions: adapt, optimize, and connect

At GoClick China, we provide a suite of services designed to help businesses overcome the unique challenges posed by the Great Firewall and enhance their digital presence in China. Here are some ways we can assist:

  1. Local hosting and CDN setup: By hosting your website locally and implementing a Content Delivery Network (CDN), we help you minimize Great Firewall restrictions, ensuring consistent access to your digital content. This setup significantly improves loading speeds and the overall user experience.
  2. App optimization: We tailor your app for the Chinese market, incorporating essential factors like language preferences, cultural nuances, and local payment methods. Optimizing app metadata and keywords for Chinese app stores further boosts visibility and helps attract more users.

GoClick China specializes in guiding businesses through the Chinese market entry process. Our team of dedicated experts manages every detail, ensuring a seamless digital experience in China and reducing costly trial and error.

The Great Firewall’s impact and mechanism can be intimidating for many foreign businesses. That’s why a comprehensive understanding of the Great Firewall is crucial before entering the market. By following these key steps and leveraging GoClick China’s expertise, you can gain a first-mover advantage and build long-term success among Chinese customers.

Ready to break through the Great Firewall?

By better navigating the Great Firewall, businesses can elevate their digital performance and user experience in China. This includes reducing load times, enhancing network stability, and refining marketing content.

Go-Click China offers strategic solutions to help businesses maximize returns and minimize complexity when entering the Chinese market. Our platform streamlines market entry by eliminating technical barriers, regulatory hurdles, and resource-intensive adaptations.

Contact Go-Click China today to discuss how we can help strengthen your digital presence in the Chinese market. Our team of experts is ready to provide tailored solutions for your specific needs.

GoClick China

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe and get a great takeaway for building your organization’s Chinese web presence!

Ready to improve your website in China?

Contact us today to schedule your free assessment.

Your eyes behind the wall.

Goclick China specializes in testing websites and web applications in China and monitoring their performance so that operators can optimize their content delivery efficiency to target users in China. We have deployed servers all across China and have boots-on-the-ground dedicated QA testers to carry out specific test tasks in strategic locations in China. We also develop customized website testing and monitoring solutions for your specific needs and on your budget. You can contact us to request sample China website testing reports. Want to check if a website is blocked in China? Our website monitoring services can keep you updated if a website is accessible in China. Or do you need web hosting in China to keep your site performance at its best? We can offer you the best Chinese hosting options based on our benchmark data resulted from our years of testing websites in China in the thousands. Depending on your requirements and needs, we can assist you in your ICP license application, marketing campaigns and website SEO for your websites and online properties. When it comes to website building, testing and marketing, regardless it is e-commerce China websites or informational portals, we have a series of solutions to help you succeed in the unique Chinese digital economy.