5 Effective SEO Uses of Wikipedia
There's a lot of different opinions surrounding Wikipedia's super power success in nearly every search engine. They dominate rankings and will continue to do so until there are better filters to "weed out" pages that are limited in "Wiki" standards. But I don't see Google and other search engines finding a successful formula that will ever really filter deep content pages from a domain like Wikipedia. This would have to be a manual process and I don't feel anyone wants that job. ;-\
But until there are negative changes with Wikipedia's rankings in the search engines, you can use these top 5 methods for gaming using Wikipedia to build your site's credibility and rankings.
- 3-way Linking from Wikipedia - Us unsuspecting vertical categories in wikipedia to build up links to another informational site you have built, then point that site to your main site that makes you dough. Example: Let's say you have a local search engine that also includes a "people search" engine. You could build links from the ancestry categories of Wikipedia to your "informational site on ancestry." Then, build several good pages on your "main" site and allow your informational site to point to it. So, it would look like this [Wikipedia --> Information site --> Main site].
- "Filling in the Holes" of Wikipedia - There's lots of new opportunities in building new Wikipedia pages or sub-categories for on topic content. Example: If you have a web site about stocks or mutual funds, build a chart, reference sheet, or tutorial on a specific topic related to stocks or trading. It's really not hard to build something "resourceful" and point it from Wikipedia. A good first step though would be to review the current threads on Wikipedia spam methods and types of sites and (spammers) gaming Wikipedia pages to reduce your chances of being removed.
- Wiki Jacking - If you have a competitor ranking well in Google, why not knock them out while using Wikipedia to out-rank your competitors. We can assest to the effectiveness of this method.
- Build a Reputation First, Links Second - If you can have a little patience, adding links after you've spent a while as a Wikipedia editor can have great results.
- Maintain the Wiki Page(s) You've Created - If you have added useful pages that require changes over time, put the effort in maintaining and adding to or editing pages in Wikipedia. You can also edit or add to other related categories if you have experience in those areas. The more widely you contribute, the more prone you are to being able to do more in Wikipedia later on because of your credentials as an author.
These are a few of the methods of getting more value from Wikipedia. Let us know what we missed or your ideas on these methods above by commenting below.
Comments
Wikipedia
Brian,
I've been considering creating Wikipedia pages for my companies/websites for quite some time. This may just give me the motivation to actually do it.
I thought the post was great. I'm going to add it to my weekly "best business blog postings" for this week.
Thanks!
Not many companies/sites
Not many companies/sites will be allowed on wikipedia. I onced added a brief article about one of the largest companys in the uk in their industry and it was proptly removed.
Also Brian, are you suggesting these link are good for traffic value? As far as I know, all the wikipedia links are nofollow.
This also reminds me of somone who put links to books on amazon at Wikipedia with their affiliate ID. I have no idea if they are still there or if that person is now sitting on a beach in the Bahamas.
Wiki Linking Exploited
Wikipedia is definitely one of the best way to increase SERP and SEO for websites; however, it has been very much exploited and abused by some people. All outbound links carry the "no-follow" tag, and often, it is being constantly updated by moderators and public, such that the original link will go missing at certain point. So, you are right to say it requires frequent updates, to maintain the site on Wikipedia.
Why Wikipedia help in SERPS
Can you argue this:
"Wikipedia is definitely one of the best way to increase SERP and SEO for websites"
Like you said all the links are nofollow.
I have an quality online mag (sporting topic) which had an Wikipedia Link for over a Year and a half in an related article. This link was removed about 8 weeks ago because a few other people placed their links to their sites in this Wiki Article too and some editor interpret this as spam removing the links including mine. I have have not recognized any differents in the Serps.
I only get about 10 visitors per day from this article so I dont care a lot about this.
No-follow
I just tried to add a link to one of the Wiki pages, and got a message explaining that all Wiki links are no-follow so they do not alter search engine rankings. In this case adding direct links to Wiki pointing to my site doesn't make any difference. Am I correct?
Re: nofollow
It may not affect your rankings in Big G, but from my experience, MSN and Yahoo! seem to ignore the nofollow attribute and count the backlinks anyway.
I think the real value in a
I think the real value in a Wikipedia link is the authority adds, not the link juice. It sets you apart from other sites that just have limited-authority links (whether they be targetted, high PR or not).
you are right to say it
you are right to say it requires frequent updates, to maintain the site on Wikipedia.
I think the real value in a
I think the real value in a Wikipedia link is the authority adds, not the link juice. It sets you apart from other sites that just have limited-authority links (whether they be targetted, high PR or not).
Why Wikipedia help in SERPS
Wikipedia is definitely one of the best way to increase SERP and SEO for websites; however, it has been very much exploited and abused by some people. All outbound links carry the "no-follow" tag, and often, it is being constantly updated by moderators and public, such that the original link will go missing at certain point. So, you are right to say it requires frequent updates, to maintain the site on Wikipedia.
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