Have you been given a task to create a Wikipedia page for your company or a personal brand, Do you have any idea what you are in for. Making updates to existing pages are simple but is it really difficult to create a new Wikipedia page?

You may find it Incredibly hard like lots of other marketing guys. You may find it lengthy but i am sure it will be a thing to add to your onowledge kitty.

Let me take you through some solid advice by experts who have been doing it regularly for their clients and companies they work for.

Why to Create a Wikipedia page?

Anyone who are internet-savvy knows about Wikipedia, it's a living encyclopedia where anyone can suggest and contribute to pages, articles, and knowledge about anything: A Person, A Company, Video Games, Travel Destination, Cities, in fact any living or non-living thing under the sun.

Most of experts recommend trying for a Wikipedia page if: Your company or brand has invented or developed an industry-changing technology. The tech can be in any category..You can’t find any information about your technology or topic on Wikipedia. 

• Your founder or brand or company is “notable.”Wikipedia editors usually apply a “notability” test to evaluate if your subject really needs a Wikipedia page. You must pass that test to get published. Always remember, Wikipedia’s understanding of notability may be different from yours. If your company has invented or created something or your founder/promoter is a note-worthy person e.g. Celebrity, Book Author, Scientist, etc., then your company or founder/promoter may be a good candidate, But do you have a unique story to tell – not every brand or company is considered notable for Wikipedia.

To be notable, you must be able to cite articles from  credible sources.  As suggested by many  Industry experts, you must develop a story, using some credible sources recognized by Wikipedia to put up your case for inclusion in a global encyclopedia. Please note a blue tick on Twitter or Instagram does not give you a guaranteed notability in the eyes of Wikipedia. Click the link here Wikipedia’s page on notability to understand this better.

How to create a Wikipedia page?

You must visit Wikipedia’s help pages for more detailed information,

Below-given outline is here to provide you a brief and helpful steps to create a Wikipedia page.

1. Research about Wikipedia

Research and Learn the ins and outs of becoming a good Wikipedia citizen.This will help you create pages which will not be deleted or challenged in the wikipedia review process re

Do explore Wikipedia’s conflict of interest before you begin to write content.

2. Create Your Account

You must be registered user to create or edit Wikipedia pages. your real name and email address.

3. Practice first by editing some existing pages

Before you create a fresh page you must test your skills by working on minor edits on some existing pages. Always start with topics you are familiar with. By making those small changes, you will be able to get more familiar with Wikipedia's content management system and build your Wikipedia user profile.

Wikipedia always tracks the changes made through any user account. If you are doing good number of editing and creating activities, you may become an “auto-confirmed user.” This level will let you perform restricted functions, such as image upload and page movement to the public space.

4. Look for credible sources and gather them

You must look for Verifiable, third-party sources as Wikipedia considers them very important. After all, the purpose of a Wikipedia page is to provide information so do not treat this as your regular marketing channel/platform.The content should be fact-based. For example, If you are creating a page about a brand like apple, you must also write about its competitors like Microsoft.

Image uploads are only allowed if you own them and they’re not subject to any copyright infringement.

5. Write your Text Content

If you have done all your pre-writing research then now you are ready to draft your content. Wikipedia allows you to type it directly into their interface or cut-paste it from your text application or software. On the top right of your user page you will find headers – Sandbox and My Talk. You can use either of them to create and My Talk will ensure the page won’t be deleted.

You may find formatting the page using Wiki code little time taking but it is worth spending time on this.

Though Wikipedia has a process to request an article (submitting a brief description and reliable, independent sources), it’s just a list of ideas that may get feedback from editor. Wikipedia wants you to submit the Draft yourself. You can Read through Wikipedia’s Articles for Creation for additional explanations and guidance. Also You can learn more about Wiki code by reading Wikipedia’s Help Pages.

6. Page submission for review

Once you have completed your page, submit it to Wikipedia for review. Wikipedia may take a few days or may be a few weeks to approve your page. After seeing approvals, challenges, deletions it can be moved to the public space.

Remember

Once it goes live keep monitoring and updating it as and when needed.

Creating a wikipedia page may look a lengthy and difficult process but once you are able to get through this it will add a lot of value to you as a marketing professional.

Try and publish an article on Wikipedia and do share with us your learnings on info@brandgyani.com.