Building street cred for your brand is important — and when we say “street cred” we mean Internet cred. One of the best ways to get that cred is with a Wikipedia page. Wikipedia is one of the 20 most popular websites on the entire Internet that is made up of over 1.18 billion websites. In short: your brand has the opportunity to get a lot of eyes on it by creating a Wikipedia page.
However, creating an effective Wikipedia page is an art form. It’s not the type of thing you can just plunk down in front of your computer, type out some words, and call it a day. It takes a bit more work than that, not to mention knowledge of what to do and not do.
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Here’s what you need to know.
DO: Realize That Anyone Can Edit the Pages
By making a Wikipedia account, you unlock the power to edit any and all pages on the entire website. That means people have the ability to edit your brand’s page and say whatever they want to say, including a competitor who is looking to bash your brand.
However, it is important to also know that Wikipedia has a whole army of volunteer editors. We know what you’re thinking – the not-paid editor thing is a bit worrisome, but they are known for dedicating massive amounts of time and energy to keep the site as accurate as possible (bless their hearts!).
DON’T: Think That Sources Aren’t Checked
The only reason that Wikipedia has any bit of credibility is because any changes to a page or new page creation goes through a grueling process of fact-checking via the sources you’re required to provide.
And those sources have to be legit, too legit to quit, in fact. They cannot be personal websites or other sketchy sites – they must be credited sources.
When changes or a new page is submitted to the editors, they certainly do their due diligence to check all the nitty gritty details. So, if you’re concerned about competitors trying to tarnish your reputation by writing false things on your Wikipedia page, they would have to have the credible sources to back it up.
DO: Write Other Articles First
As much as you may want to just jump right in and get a Wikipedia page going for your brand, that’s probably not going to get you the results you want. Wikipedia isn’t a fan of people writing articles about themselves, and that goes for brands too.
Instead, you’ve got to play the long game. When you create your Wikipedia account, you first need to write articles about other subjects you may consider yourself knowledgeable about (bonus points if those Wikipedia pages are related to your brand and its product or service).
You also want to try and get as much press exposure as possible so that you can build up your list of credible sources.
DON’T: Write a Lot (At First)
If you come in with guns blazing and shoot out a 1,000-word article on your brand for Wikipedia, you’re going to get some serious side-eye. Remember, Wikipedia is meant to be a resource for the public, not a place to sell your brand. As much as you’d like to include every possible detail about your brand’s founding, its challenges over the years, and values, that kind of content is likely to get your post sidelined. Sing your business’ praises on your own website, but keep your Wikipedia entry straightforward to start with. Once you’ve got the skeleton created, you can add to it over time to build up your brand more and more.
DO: Read Other Wikipedia Pages
You never want to come off as a rookie to Wikipedia editors, so it’s important to take the time to read through a variety of other Wikipedia articles before writing your own.
This will give you crucial insight into the style and structure that is used by other successful pages. If you go in blindly, chances are very high you will immediately get rejected. Take the time to learn from the Wikipedia pros and follow suit.
DON’T: Edit Your Own Page
Once you’ve got the initial, short article written and approved for your brand’s Wikipedia page, you may be tempted to start editing and adding more to it. You can do a bit of that, but don’t get overly zealous. Wikipedia has eyes everywhere, and they will see if you are in edit mode too frequently. And something like that will get your page shut down.
Instead, wait for other users to add content to your Wikipedia page instead of trying to do it all on your own.
DO: Monitor Your Page
Wikipedia never sleeps. So you shouldn’t either. We are kidding – you should sleep. But it is important that you know that users have 24/7 access to editing Wikipedia pages, including your brand’s page.
Thus, it’s on you to regularly check your page and make sure that no questionable changes have been made. If you sense some sketchy edits on the page, you need to jump on appealing it ASAP to have that false information removed by the editors.
DON’T: Self Promote
If you create a Wikipedia page for your brand that has even a hint of a promotional tone to it, expect a big fat reject from the Wikipedia editors. When creating a page, you need to focus on providing purely facts and those facts must come from a neutral point of view. Anything that paints your brand in a particularly bright light, any kind of light that’s “better” or “preferable” to other similar brands will set off all the red flags.
Keep in mind that the true purpose of a Wikipedia page (not your brand’s purpose) is to provide facts and details about people, places, and things. And those facts and details must be well-researched and credibly sourced.
In short: don’t praise your company because the Wikipedia editors will see right through it.