Wikipedia is generally seen as a website that students and researchers use for understanding basic facts about any subject. However, the fact is that Wikipedia can be used as a great marketing tool for businesses and branding. Wikipedia is a way to have an evidence of your existence on the virtual brain of the world, the internet. There are a number of factors that make Wikipedia a good marketing platform specifically for those who seek a good reputation in the international market. This article is aiming to shed some light on why you should own a Wikipedia page along with the guidelines for how you can have a page.
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Public Perception about Wikipedia
Wikipedia is known as a reliable source of a free encyclopedia for the general public. People normally trust what they get to read on the site. A product or a person who has a Wikipedia page is perceived as credible and the information attached provided by the site is regarded as authentic. That is because the tone of the articles and the presence of citations and references creates a sense of authenticity which can hardly be attained through branding on other digital platforms.
Branding for International Market
If you are willing to work on an international level and feel the need to be known in the cities and countries that are far away, Wikipedia can be a great help. It is not only because the site is accessible from everywhere, but also because it is a multilingual site. People who do not understand your language can also get to know about you or your product. An audience that is present worldwide can access that information about you or your product through Wikipedia. This is something that can help you a lot with your brand building and overall reputation.
Easily Updatable
It is easier to update the information about yourself or about your product that you are providing on the Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a platform open to volunteers and contributors. There are a lot of writers and Professional Wikipedia editors who can help you update the information on your Wikipedia article in a very short time duration. You can do it by yourself as well but it is more convenient and time-saving if you choose to get it done by a professional.
Permanent Source of Marketing
If maintained properly, a Wikipedia can be a permanent way of marketing your product. You do not need to change the content or to hire a marketing strategist to come up with ideas. All you need to do is to invest in the start to create a page by hiring professional Wikipedia experts and you can simply keep upgrading the existing information. The page will continue to benefit you.
However, to create a Wikipedia page for your product or your own self, you need to follow through the rules and policies that Wikipedia has enforced for maintaining the credibility and the quality of the information. Making a Wikipedia page takes some serious effort and keeping it stuck on the site also requires frequent monitoring and updates. Though you can hire a professional Wikipedia expert to take care of everything about your page, it is good to know some basic rules imposed by Wikipedia before hiring someone. Here is a small guideline about the Wikipedia’s criteria for approval of the content from its contributors.
Neutral Point of View
The first thing that you need to understand about Wikipedia is that it highly discourage direct promotions. Articles and information on Wikipedia should be written from a neutral point of view with authentic and verifiable citations and references. This policy is for ensuring the credibility and avoiding impartial content.
Notability
Wikipedia has a certain criterion about who or what can have a page on Wikipedia. The product or the person that is on the site should be notable in some way. The procedure of making a page requires you to provide evidence for your authenticity. To prove your notability to Wikipedia moderators who check the added information, you need to ensure your presence on verifiable websites as well as your regional media.
Accuracy
Wikipedia is a site that permits the general users to edit and contribute information on the site. However, it also allows the readers to challenge any piece of information that they come across on the website. This policy is made to keep the information impartial by letting the content repeatedly modified by different sources. So make sure that the information that you add to the site is politically and factually correct.
Style of Writing
Another major factor that you must consider before having a page on Wikipedia is that the style of writing should be simple and readable. The site is meant to serve the general public as well as serious academic researchers, so the content should provide a detailed understanding of the specified topic with easy-to-read sentence structures and suitable vocabulary. Moreover, whoever creates a page on Wikipedia should do a comprehensive research on the topic or the industry that they are going to write about.
