For businesses and individuals, presence on Wikipedia is the ultimate seal of approval and seemingly the ultimate achievement in their respective industries. The fact remains that getting there involves a number of misconceptions along the way. Wikipedia is believed to be a wild ride where people can write anything they want, while others think of it simply as another marketing platform to take advantage of before everyone else beats them to it.
Before you even try to write the first article, it is important to draw the line between the truth and the misconceptions to save everyone the hassle and save face in the process.
The Reality of Who Can Edit
The first and most widely believed notion is that Wikipedia is the Wild West of the internet. True enough: Wikipedia’s software is arguably open-source, but this in no way means that modifications are unmonitored, and that new entries will necessarily be allowed into the fold.
The “anyone can edit” theory rests side by side with an apparently absolute content moderation hierarchy to ensure the quality of the encyclopedia is maintained despite its openness to the masses. Pages you establish and fail to properly source, pages that don’t conform to proper formatting, for instance, will be automatically nominated for deletion in a matter of minutes. New users will be reviewed by the “Articles for Creation” assessment, wherein a veteran Wikipedia editor will approve their work before making it an official Wikipedia entry.
Unpacking the Credibility Question
Despite the fact that academics tend to ridicule Wikipedia, the website has come a long way from its beginnings. Current Wikipedia fact-checks relentlessly to make sure the correct information appears on the pages. You cannot write a statement claiming to be a fact about your company and historical events and expect it to be taken as fact unless it has been verified through a second source that a credible publication considers to be a fact.
For well-researched pages to be possible, Wikipedia has to sum up the information that has already been verified in order to avoid any issues with plagiarism regarding the source materials of any information presented in the pages.
The Truth About Time and Effort
Too often, marketing teams budget hours to throw together their Wikipedia entry and think that it is no more difficult than writing a blog post. The truth is, it is a marathon, and not a sprint. Creating the content is only the tip of the iceberg. You will need to locate reliable sources to demonstrate “notability,” master the arcane markup language needed to edit Wikipedia, and wait through the review process that can take weeks to months depending upon the sanity of the volunteer staff.
If Wikipedia rejects your entry, and trust us, they reject a large number of new users who misunderstand the ever-vague rules, you will need to make changes and try again. The best Wikipedia page creation service will assess the viability of any potential page before investing further resources.
Managing Conflict of Interest Guidelines
This is the trap that snares the majority of enterprises. Wikipedia has “Conflict of Interest (COI) Policies.” It is strongly urged against writing an entry for oneself, one’s company, and one’s client because, in any case, it is difficult to maintain objectivity. The Wikipedia policy requires a neutral point of view and excludes any marketing-speak and promotional filler.
Continually working on Wikipedia if editors feel that the entries are published to enhance one’s public relations campaign will result in a warning banner posted across the entry or a complete deletion of the entry if a Wikipedia editor suspects the entries are published to promote public relations. Editing an entry should be accomplished through the “Talk” section of the entry instead.
Success Requires Following the Rules
The first step to successfully participating in the Wikipedia environment is to understand these realities. Wikipedia is not a marketing tool and a vanity project but a learning tool. By following the rules and concentrating on the topics of notability and verifiability, you will be able to add quality to the site and find success!
