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Whatever you want to look for on the internet, we are sure that you will find the first top result a link from the world’s biggest ever-expanding encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Whether it is a famous personality, a well-known company, a history of a geographical location, or even a television series, we can guarantee you will find at least one article on Wikipedia about it.
Being the biggest source of information in the world, Wikipedia is a hub for approximately fifty-eight million articles available in more than 300 languages to this date. Millions of people from across the globe create a Wikipedia page of their own and post a relevant article to share relevant information.
While anyone can make a Wikipedia page, they must follow the strict Wikipedia policies and guidelines set by the platform to be protected from failure or deletion.
If you have been looking for answers on how to make a Wikipedia page, we are here to tell you everything you need to know;
Understanding Wikipedia’s Notability Criteria
Firstly, make sure you understand that Wikipedia is not a marketing platform for your business. It is a digital encyclopedia to source and share information on a global digital platform. With billions of people using Wikipedia as their trusted source across the world, Wikipedia has set an eligibility criteria for each account holder and writer who can post or edit the content on the webpage.
So just having a thought that “I want to create a Wikipedia page” is not the only thing you need. The most important thing to assess while creating a Wikipedia page for yourself or your business is whether or not you and your brand are notable enough?
Wikipedia only allows pages to be published on the platform that is notable and credible enough to meet the standards set by Wikipedia. It requires yourself or your business to have a notable and verifiable online presence to assess your credibility.
If you or your business does not appear in enough search results, you will not be able to create a Wikipedia page and your request will be denied by Wikipedia. The following message is shown to the pages which get rejected based on not meeting Wikipedia’s notability criteria;
Understanding Wikipedia Conflict of Interest
When it comes to allowing countless people to make a Wikipedia page, Wikipedia does it with some boundaries. There is a strict Conflict of Interest policy set by Wikipedia, a breach of which could lead to the deletion of the page.
As per Wikipedia, if any writer or editor posts content on a page that reflects a biased view or a conflict of Interest, Wikipedia administrators might put a block on such pages. The COI guidelines set by Wikipedia reflect the content to be neutral, unbiased, and without the inclusion of personal judgments. This is especially mandatory for the people or businesses who aim to create their own Wikipedia pages because of a lack of resources and research and added elements of personal benefit.
References Are Important For Wikipedia
Whenever you are scrolling through a Wikipedia page, you must have seen several inbound and outbound in-text citations throughout the article. For example; consider the following Wikipedia page for Tesla Inc.
In the above example, the underlined sources are the in-bound links which mean when you click on the link, you will be directed to the Wikipedia pages for that keyword. The circled ones are the in-bound links or what you might refer to as third-party references.
When you will scroll down the Wikipedia page, you will see the citations for all the references used on the particular page. For example, the references for Tesla Inc. Wikipedia page are as follows;
One of the most important elements to create a Wikipedia page is to add these references (as many as you could) because Wikipedia does not support original content. Whatever you upload on a Wikipedia page must be outsourced from a verified and reliable resource.
– Reliable and Primary References
The resources used in Wikipedia page content are divided into two categories identified by Wikipedia, the primary and the reliable resources. The primary resources are defined as the original content produced by the writer or the business itself. However, please note that Wikipedia does not entertain any primary source if it is not published digitally.
Reliable resources on the other hand are highly appreciated and encouraged by Wikipedia because they add credibility to your content. These resources are sourced from verified and reliable digital platforms and are considered authentic. The best example of a reliable source is an academic research reference.
Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Wikipedia Page
Whether you are a beginner looking to start writing on Wikipedia or a businessman aiming to create a custom Wikipedia page for your business, the following step-by-step guide will help you understand what you need to do to create and run a successful page on Wikipedia;
Step 1: Creating Your Account on Wikipedia
Coming back to the initial question of how to make a Wikipedia page, the first step will be to create a Wikipedia account for yourself or your business. This is an important step because only registered accounts on Wikipedia are allowed to publish or edit any content on the platform. It is advised to use a human name and email for the account to become a credible account holder on Wikipedia.
Step 2: Creating Your Page Outline
Moving forward, the next step would be to create the outline for your page. The outline is basically a precise draft of the content that would be included on your page. Each page on Wikipedia follows an outline which is also posted as the table of contents after the introduction. This helps the reader identify what information to expect from a particular article and can directly go there instead of going through the complete article.
Consider the following example of the profile of Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia. The outlines have divided the content from his early life to his personal life making it easier for readers to identify where to get the right information from.
The outline is an essential part of the process to create a custom Wikipedia page because it works as the building block of your content.
Step 3: Come Up With a Draft
Once you have an outline prepared for your page and you know what information you want to include on your page, you will start gathering resources and writing your content. The safe way is to create a rough draft for your page content to make sure that it is well-written, error-free, and informative.
Including all information, you can add to this draft and create a skeleton for your Wikipedia page. You need to see it as “I need a Wikipedia page,” instead of “I want to create a Wikipedia page.” Because that’s how you will be able to give in your 100% potential to the draft.
Step 4: Content Optimization
The next step after having a draft of your content ready is to optimize this content. You need to understand the more optimized your content is the higher it will rank on search results. The best way to achieve maximum ranking and higher digital visibility is by hiring a few SEO experts to perform the task for you or you can also use the SEO tools available on the internet such as Ahrefs or SEMRush. SEO is important for your content because it will help you increase maximum reads and increase your online notability.
The three main aspects of SEO are as follows;
– Keywords
One of the most important features of SEO-optimized content is the use of relevant keywords in the content. Most users search on the internet using a keyword and google or any other search engine shows results for the pages that have the most relevance to the given keyword.
The more keywords in your content the more visibility for your content. However, please note that you don’t overuse it. If you are producing a 1500-2000 word piece on Wikipedia, using 10-15 keywords would be good enough for making it SEO Optimized.
– Internal and External Linking
Internal and external linking is not just a necessity for SEO optimization but also for Wikipedia notability (as mentioned earlier). The more references you will have the more reliable and credible your Wikipedia page would be.
– Readability
Lastly, it is highly essential for content optimization that your content has easy readability. If you will use jargon or words written without any sentence structure or division or any other enticing element, the reader will not even scroll till the end and you will not reach enough audience for your Wikipedia page.
To enhance the readability of your Wikipedia page, try dividing your content into subheadings, include images, and use a casual and neutral tone.
Step 5: Formatting Your Wikipedia Page
Now, we are entering the few final steps to create a Wikipedia page. This step includes the formatting of your Wikipedia page content. Wikipedia has a special manual of style for English articles that is the basic formatting structure that needs to be followed for all articles that are to be published on a Wikipedia page.
Other than that, there is a standard Article Layout template set by Wikipedia that is followed in all articles on Wikipedia (despite the language). Make sure your article is formatted as per this layout or there might be a risk of rejection and deletion.
Step 6: Upload Your Page to Article Wizard
The final step that you need to make in order to make a Wikipedia page is to upload your page to Article Wizard. Wikipedia article wizard is the Wikipedia template that provides you with two options, either you can directly start with the final draft or you can practice in the Wikipedia sandbox.
If you have followed all the steps as we have mentioned, you can directly start on the wizard, and if not then it is advised that you start by practicing.
Finale: Wait For the Approval
Now that everything is done and dusted, all left to do is to submit your page to Wikipedia for review. You need to prepare yourself that it could take over months before you will be able to get your page approved and published on Wikipedia.
This is why it is recommended to use a professional Wikipedia page creation service so that the approval and uploading could get easier and less risky.
After the submission, your work is done, and now Wikipedia will review your article the most important thing it will review is whether or not you have followed all the guidelines mentioned in Wikipedia’s terms and conditions for page creation. Moreover, it will run a verification on the sources you have referenced to consider whether they are reliable or not.
Please note that even a little mistake in the formatting could result in page rejection or deletion, so make sure you follow each and every step precisely!
The Bottom Line
While uploading a page on Wikipedia might seem like an easy task, it is not. There are so many tiny rooms for errors that deletion and rejection are always at risk. This is why we recommend considering getting your page created and uploaded by Wiki Specialist Inc. because we are a professional page creation service who have learned the Wikipedia page guidelines and policies at our fingertips. Not only that, but we will also help you keep a consistent check on your page and perform the relevant updates when necessary. Contact us now and let us bring you and your business to the world of Wikipedia!
