How To Get A Wikipedia Page For Any Purpose: Important Guidelines & Procedure

The buzzing trend to get Wikipedia pages and advance in online marketing is used by many. But, is the hassle and the tact required to get there worth it?

Over the course of the last decade, the usage of various marketing tactics in the online world has increased the need for unorthodox and unique methods. On top of those methods is the usage of Wikipedia for marketing. While Wikipedia itself does not approve the usage of the encyclopedia for marketing purposes, it does not mean that it cannot affect an online marketing strategy. But, we are here to talk about the proper way to understand how to get a Wikipedia profile.

Besides the obvious amount of time and research, you are going to need a variety of important elements to make a wiki page. Since Wikipedia is not a blog or social media website, it is not easy to just go there and sign up for a profile. So, let us dive in and see the ingredients you will need to get a wiki profile.

Lots of Research

You will need lots and lots of research to get over the line. While you might be thinking about researching for the topic that you wish to write on Wikipedia, the research has a lot more to do with Wikipedia itself. Let’s say that the page you wish to make is for an event, a person or a point in time, how do you know what you should address in your topic? That is why, you need research regarding both, the nature of Wikipedia and the topic that you wish to write about.

Study The Guidelines

Speaking of research, one of the top things you are going to research is the guidelines that Wikipedia has in place. Besides the criteria and eligibility to make a page, you will need to understand the various elements that allow you to make a page on Wikipedia. For instance, you cannot just sign in and make a page right away, even if your topic is eligible. You will need to become an editor and provide enough credible sources to back up your claim to noticeability. So, how do you go about it?

While there are varying rules for a myriad of page types, Wikipedia has certain principles that remain the same throughout each one of them. For instance, Wikipedia states the purpose of the platform to provide means of exploration, navigation, research, and encyclopedia to the internet community. So, the profile you wish to create needs to be within those community guidelines, to make it past the approval phase. So, you need to study guidelines regarding eligibility, content creation and the purpose of creating articles on the platform.

Content Policies

As mentioned above, the need to understand policies and guidelines is imminent, whenever someone wishes to create a Wikipedia page for your business. But, Wikipedia has content guidelines for various range of page types. Which one should you pick? The best way to go about it is by learning the core content policies, which apply to each category and all article types that exist on the encyclopedia. So, here is the breakdown of the two most important policy types.

·         Content Tone

The primary and perhaps the most important guideline to comprehend in any sort of Wikipedia page creation is the NPOV policy. Shortened from a neutral point of view, NPOV forbids the page creator to employ any sort of biased or prejudiced content tone. But, aside from ethical bounds, Wiki also provides structural guidelines for articles.

·  Content Types

Various type of Wikipedia pages has different templates. For a person, it might involve boxes where their achievements, years, relations etc. are portrayed. Whereas for commodities and organizations, it might include a simple chart of progress throughout the years. Then again, it depends on you to employ the right content type for your pertaining profile.

Understanding The Creation Process

So, guidelines are out of the way, what is the creation process? The simple process of sign-up is only the beginning of the difficulty because you need to become an editor first. However, editing articles that require amendments on Wiki might help you become a credible one quickly. Then, follow along and attempt the following process:

·   Create A Draft

Draft options “Show preview” and “Show changes” indicating the lenient nature of Wiki drafts.

After you ask to create an article for your topic, make sure you create a draft first. One of the reasons to do this is that it will enable you to perfect it before posting it.

·   Cite Sources

Citation box in the draft, where you can  add links.

Cite your sources as you go along. For example, if a record or claim to fame requires backing up, make sure it is hyperlinked properly.

·   Submit The Draft

Once you think the content tone, citations and everything else is in proper shape, submit your draft. It might take a week or two before the draft is approved by Wiki’s editors.

· Edit & Change

If the submission is denied then do not worry. Because a few amendments can help you resubmit and eventually get it approved.

·  Monitoring & Adjusting

With time, you will have to change or edit things, so make sure you monitor the article and adjust accordingly.

Conclusion

While it is important to understand the creation process, it is more important to tend to Wiki guidelines. This will help you understand the process. Yet, there is one more important thing and it is that you will have to monitor your article for not only edits but also to ensure that there are no occurrences of misinformation. Mainly because Wikipedia articles are subject to change and be tempered by any verified editor. Therefore, sometimes it is misused and can convey misinformation. So, the idea is to not only make a page and let it be online. The idea is to make a page and continue to monitor it, so that the accuracy of your information remains persistent.