Why You Need to Know About Wikipedia

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Wikipedia is showing up more and more in searches on Google, Yahoo and even Windows Live (the old MSN search). It seems that the search engines have given their stamp of approval on the content of Wikipedia, even though anyone can add to its pages.

What is Wikipeda? It is an online encyclopedia that is managed and added to by a group of volunteers. Their tag line is “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” Yes you can add to its page, but you need to know the ropes before you jump in.

I strongly suggest you add to its content, or a link to your site to get traffic, but you need to be smart on how you do it. If you add anything remotely promotional about your company, your addition will quickly be deleted by a Wiki volunteer who has taken on that section of the encyclopedia. So think informational only.

A smart way to get Wiki traffic is to create a page on your site that is informational and relate to a topic you want to be linked to. You then add your link in the “external links” section of the Wiki page. This is a great way to start getting a Wiki traffic flow to your site.

Let me give you an example: Townsend Asset Group, a reseller of Foundry Networks (who is a networking equipment vendor), wrote an article on the market share the Foundry has achieved in their market. They then added a link on Foundry Networks’ Wiki page to their article on their web site. This is legitimate content that a reader on Foundry Networks would be interested in. That link passed the Wiki police because it adds to the conversation.

So the options are only limited to your creativity. Wikipedia is a growing force on the Internet. Use it to your advantage.

Find out more on what NewInk Marketing can do to help you achieve higher rankings in the search engines.