Discussing Top Seven Myths About Wikipedia Editing and Wikipedia Marketing
Is Wikipedia a great platform for marketing? Is paid editing the only way to create a Wiki page? Is Wikipedia free for everyone to create their pages? There could be 100s of questions. Listed below are a few myths surrounding Wikipedia Editing and Management.
Well, what is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia, previously owned by Jimmy Wales, is now run by the community of Wikipedians. The Wikimedia Foundation, established in 2003, supports Wikipedia and its sister projects, such as Wikibooks, Wiktionary, and similar projects. The ownership of all these sister projects or domains was also transferred to the foundation.
Today, Wikipedia is available in more than 300 languages. There are millions of pages. As of January 2025, the total number of articles in English Wikipedia is 6,936,667 articles. These articles comprise more than 4.7 billion words. There are more than 46,710,603 registered users.
An article on this platform, whether it is about business or an individual’s work, can play a key role in improving the digital presence. There is no doubt that it has now turned into a marketing tool but still, it is not the place where you can promote your brand or yourself.
Wikipedia attracts attention. Anything on the wiki can be a matter of great honor. If you are a brand and you want to double up your digital presence then a WP can make way for you. Similarly, a celebrity with no Wiki presence might find it difficult to grow its digital presence. Having said that, it can't be denied that wiki has strict rules. Editors are responsible people. They need to follow the five pillars of wiki editing. A page created only for promotion will never survive. If you are using it as a means to advertise your firm or to strengthen your brand presence, then you, one of the editors (they just take the stage every time a new page goes live), will tag it for deletion.
Some articles are deleted as per the Speedy Deletion Policy. The page will not survive even for a few minutes. Once a page is tagged then it might not take much time for the editors to take further action. If the article is improved with more appropriate references then it is possible that the community of editors will allow more time for it to grow ethically or if the references are not appropriate or reliable then the page is brought down, mercilessly!
There are myths around Wikipedia Page Creation and this article describes a few of them that matter the most.
Hiring Wikipedia Writers For Page Creation Is Not Important
Wikipedia is indeed FREE for everyone. We mean, it is a free encyclopedia. Anyone can edit it or create the page but it might require technical understanding of how wiki works and of course, the rules that it has. There could be 1000s of rules depending upon what you are creating on Wiki - a page for the doctor or a page for an NGO? A page for the CEO of the company or a profile for a company page? Experience is truly a boon/ If you are not certain of how to build a page then it makes sense to take Wiki Support from experts.
Wikipedia is now a branding tool for businesses and celebs
Wikipedia pages can indeed increase brand position in Google or the celeb’s digital presence in Google. But, this is truly not a branding tool. As per the rules, you are expected to create a wiki page that aligns with the wiki rules. For instance, its content policies say you should create the content following a Neutral Point of View. It is one of the core policies. Editors or page builders who do not follow this content policy fall into trouble. As the page will be marked for deletion ultimately.
Information on Wikipedia is not always 100% correct
This claim that Wikipedia may have some pages that are not correct or the information could not be 100% correct on some subjects. Wikipedia content is backed up by references. If there is a piece of information that is not backed up with a reference then there will be a tag linked to it. We call it a citation tag. It will be placed where the information doesn’t seem to be verified by the editors. If you are a Wikipedia user (I am sure, you are!) then it will be your responsibility to use the information as required. If there is a reference to verify the information you can take it and if there is a tag saying that reference is needed then you can judge for yourself or google a little more to find out what you want to do.
Wikipedia is easy to edit
Wikipedia is certainly not easy to edit. If you are good at editing then it could be a piece of cake for you. Apart from the expertise in the language you are using to edit it, you need to have some technical understanding of how the references are added. Often references are placed using HTML structures. These would be basic structures. You can check a few pages and understand how the structure should be. It won’t be difficult for you to grasp how to create such structures such them while referencing any information.
Wikipedia Pages Can Be Created Only By Experienced Editors
No, anyone can edit Wikipedia. Anyone can create the page. If you are logged into Wikipedia, you can play with it a little, make some edits, or more practically, increase your edit count to 50 or at least 100 then you will have a good chance to create the page on any topic you want. Unregistered users or newly registered users will not have the opportunity to create the page. But, yes, they will have the option to submit an article for creation.
Let us make it clear, do you want to create a page or do you want to propose an article for creation? There is a process for that. To submit an article for creation (AFC) you can create the title of the page and add some content. Remember, submitting an article for creation doesn’t mean that the article will go live on its own after it is checked by editors. No. It is not like that. It will be your responsibility to add more relevant content and provide all reliable references. If you can’t establish the notability of the subject and why it deserves to be on Wiki then the page will be deleted.
Paid Editing Is The Only Way To Own A Wikipedia Page
It is true that paid editing exists but still, it is not right to say that it is the only way to get on Wikipedia. There are editors who create and edit pages for free. Honestly speaking, the free encyclopedia grew only because of the free editing, and contributions of the editors across the globe who contributed content, created pages, and edited the pages as per the rules. But, one could submit a draft and wait for the article to be edited, reviewed, or move the draft to the main space. Three could be a fixed time limit for this. It could be 2-3 months or max 6 months. As the page is ready any editor could move the page from draft space to main space but it is not guaranteed that the page will not be brought down since editors might tag it if it is found to be violating the rules. The process could be hectic too. All these tasks might take 3-6 months as well or in some cases, after waiting, it doesn't turn out to be working for you.
Hiring A Wikipedia Editor For Page Building Could Be Costly Proportion
Paid Wikipedia Editing is common these days. There are Wikipedia page craters who charge 500 USD to 1500 USD. The prices vary from subject to subject. But, as mentioned earlier, hiring a Wikipedia writer is not important to get a Wiki page. Anyone can edit it for you or create a page for you. But, of course, when it comes to experience and expertise, then it is always good to hire a Wikipedia page writer. As an experienced Wikipedia Consultant, A Page Creator or an Editor will do the right things for you. He/She will guide you through the nuances of page building and management. This way, you can be certain of getting a wiki page that will not be deleted.
Hiring Wikipedia Writers is Important - why?
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