If your business is medium-to-large, or if you have ever done anything of note, the vast community encyclopaedia Wikipedia may want to know about it. Wikipedia is one of the first places an internet user will go for knowledge. It is also one of the first things listed for many topics in the search engine results pages. Gaining an entry into Wikipedia is a smart move for any business, yet it is not always easy to accomplish. Unlike other areas of social media marketing, Wikipedia is not an open forum for ideas. It has strict rules as to the relevance of its entries that prevent many businesses from considering the encyclopaedia as part of their search engine optimisation plan.

Social media advantages for SEO

As many SEO experts will inform you, social media networks can be used to great benefit for your site’s SEO. Today, even businesses with a small online presence participate on Twitter and Facebook as a part of their general marketing plan. Keeping a blog and participating in forums can increase your visibility and can generate valuable backlinks to your site. One of the lesser-known advantages of participating in social media networks is the opportunity to control your brand. Reputation management is something every business needs to consider as part of an internet strategy and control of the top ten for your brand keywords is a part of this. Obtaining a Wikipedia page is one near-guaranteed way to control one more spot in the search engine results pages.

How you should approach your Wikipedia page

When creating a Wikipedia page for your business, it is important to find a balance between your business needs and the requirements of the site. Often it is best to err on the side of the latter, as overt marketing can be removed. A straightforward history of the company is essential. Too many positive adjectives will set off editor alarms and could result in having the entry removed. It is also important to confront any controversy your business has encountered in your Wikipedia entry. A good writer will find ways to honestly acknowledge problems that will keep the page on a positive note.

Are you eligible?

Not every company will be a candidate for a Wikipedia page. On a business level, having a Wikipedia entry is great for publicity. On a human level, not every business is of genuine interest when it comes to collective world knowledge. Wikipedia is a project which purports to have the interests of humanity in mind and the editors of the site ensure that sufficient respect is paid to the spirit of Wikipedia. The key isn’t posting and re-posting a self-serving entry to the site. It is, rather, finding something about your business that is of genuine and objective interest to the world. If you’re a tiny business, your development may still be of interest if you were the first in your field.

It can help to have professional assistance when approaching a Wikipedia entry; contact us at SEO Consult about adding this kind of off-page strategy to your SEO plan.

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