Bad SEO Advice Warning: Don’t create a Wikipedia page before it’s time.
Have you heard the SEO advice, “You should create a Wikipedia article to boost your SEO.” Do so at the expense of your sanity, unless you prepare properly before making the attempt. “There are special guidelines for editors who are paid or sponsored.” You need to know the rules and follow them. If you don’t, creating a Wikipedia page is bad SEO advice.
Here are some rules I learned in 2016, after trying to help a friend of a business acquaintance. Tangling with Wikipedia’s administrators once they’ve targeted you is an experience you don’t want!
Build a portfolio of verifiable, peer-reviewed sources.
Unfortunately, you will have to deal with some subjective evaluations of the proof you present. Out of print books are considered suspect. So are trade magazines, because you might have paid to place the article in the magazine. When it’s information regarding you or a business you own the standard is substantially noteworthy. Aim for the highest quality sources you can find. Wikipedia accepts the following sources as valid proof you are important enough to have a page on the wiki:
- National newspapers, e.g. The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, U.S.A. Today (No National Enquirer type papers please!)
- National news networks, e.g. ABC, MS-NBC, Fox News, CBS and their affiliate stations; CNN; Al Jazeera; BBC News and CBC (Don’t expect the Blaze to qualify.)
- News published through the Reuters or Associated Press
- Books published by publishers recognized by Publisher’s Weekly
- Journals recognized in academic circles
- National magazines that do not fall into the gossip or sensationalist genres
- Nationally syndicated talk shows, e.g. Good Morning, America, The Today Show, Charlie Rose, Travis Smiley, Larry King Live or Saturday Night Live
Popular a good Wikipedia source does not make.
Most other sources just don’t cut the grade. The following will be rejected outright:
- YouTube videos (If you link to a video, it must be hosted on the news channel’s website.)
- Passing mentions in magazine articles (You should reference a recommendation of your book in a national magazine in your Wikipedia article. However, don’t depend upon it as one of the three verifiable references Wikipedia must have before your article will be considered.)
- A biased tone (Wikipedia is not a sales venue. Nor is it the place to praise or condemn. Facts only, with no interpretation of what the facts mean is essential.)
- Limited interest (Notability demands more than regional significance. Wikipedia is an international reference, unreliable as it may be in academic circles. Notability must pertain to at least one English-speaking nation.)
Recognize it takes time to build a platform significant enough for Wikipedia’s administrators to recognize. It takes focused effort to secure the proof Wikipedia demands.
Avoid hiring someone to write your Wikipedia Article.
When you do have your proof lined up, be sure you read Wikipedia’s user agreement. Wikipedia’s user rules only allow you to write your own article if you disclose your affiliation on the article’s ‘Talk’ page. This is also true if you hire someone who creates a user profile. They must clearly state they were hired to help you. Even then, Wikipedia doesn’t want you or anyone you know to write your page.
Wikipedia has concluded the conflict of interest (COI) is so great its administrators have a mandate to take down any article/page that appears to be the work of someone who has been paid to write it or who is closely connected with the article’s topic. At least, five pages I had worked on came under scrutiny for my unwitting violation of this rule.
When you go to Wikipedia, it can be difficult to find the ‘rules,’ so here’s a link. (It’s not actually on Wikipedia.) Google search is little help. You need to go here before you attempt anything. Terms of Use. Be sure you read #4 carefully. Ignoring this is the first step to speedy deletion if you don’t get things right from the start.
Next, create you user account and user page. Be careful as you write your user description to not sound like you are promoting yourself in any way. Your author bio isn’t a good fit here.
Now is the time to read the entire page on Writing Your First Article. Don’t skip this step! Pay special attention to the section “Are you closely connected to the article topic?” I encourage you to follow the suggestions in the “Great ways to contribute” section.
What if no one is willing to sponsor an article about you?
Use the Article Wizard, but do not publish the article until you’ve asked for advice through Wikipedia’s support channel. There are administrators there who do a great job of helping you meet Wikipedia’s criteria. They also provide help with things like adding the proper attribution so your affiliation is a matter of record. I wish I had known of this resource sooner.
Summary:
Is it a complete waste of your time trying to get a Wikipedia page? Is this always bad SEO advice? No. In fact, a Wikipedia article may yield some SEO benefits. It is one of the resources Google uses to populate its Knowledge Graph.
However, the SEO benefits are not significant enough to pursue until you have the type of information administrators on Wikipedia find noteworthy. You will do much better if you focus on creating other content forms of interest to Google.
