Started in 2001, Wikipedia has grown into a massive knowledge base, with more than 75,000 contributors and nine million articles.
No doubt Wikipedia is a great resource to learn about the bigger companies – such as Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX), Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), and Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT). But there are also many smaller businesses on the site.
So, should you jump in too?
"Wikipedia is one of the most frequented databases on the Web," said Dan Nichols, director of marketing communications at RightNow Technologies (Nasdaq: RNOW). "We posted an entry on RightNow to make sure we were accurately represented on the site and to increase awareness."
Keep in mind that a Wikipedia page can help improve your website's search engine rank – and perhaps drive some traffic. What's more, a Wikipedia page can lend some credibility to your business.
However, you need to consider some things:
Don't Get Sales-y: When you put together a page, you need to provide useful factual information about your company (it's an encyclopedia, right?). Actually, if it gets promotional, a roving Wikipedia editor may change things.
So, a first step is to check out other company sites. How do they present the information?
Street Cred: If there are articles about your company, make sure you link them on your Wikipedia page.
Risks: Keep in mind that Wikipedia can be a free-for-all. For example, a competitor can come to your page and change it. Or, what if a disgruntled customer makes an edit?
In other words, you need to monitor things.
Edit Other Pages: What are other topics that relate to your company? No doubt, these can be good areas to add and edit content.
Example: If your company operates a social network, there's a page on Wikipedia for "List of social networking websites" that has many companies listed. Why not edit your website into the category?
Tom Taulli operates SmallBizMix.com.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-15-2007 @ 5:33PM
Joe said...
Wikipedia has specific guidelines on what companies should have articles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability_(organizations_and_companies)
12-17-2007 @ 8:54AM
Artist durkART said...
I set up my company (I'm a successful abstract artist) name on Wikipedia "durkART": it got deleted. Someone deleted, said it was biographic in nature and Wikipedia isn't a self promotional site.
12-17-2007 @ 8:58AM
Andrew said...
Wiki is still a flawed system. It renders too many risks as a new business owner. Users beware! The article is certainly correct in saying you need to police your page as much as possible.
12-17-2007 @ 10:30AM
Tim Orris said...
Warning idiot groups such as P.E.T.A. can use these sites to attack legitimate business, by digging up old story and unproven gosip. (First one lies then three others swear to it.
They do the same thing to your google listings and google won't stop thm either, even when presented with court documents proving the animal wacko's case was thrown out of court
12-17-2007 @ 7:35PM
Jim Dicken said...
Google is pro PETA and Pro Democrat.. are you not aware of that. Oh my goodnes, I could get banned by Google now.
12-17-2007 @ 12:11PM
Tom Tom said...
From what students are telling me is that teachers are telling them not to use Wikipedia for its inaccuracies, they will not get any credit for reports or as sources of information. So why would any one want to use this web site. I guess its because people today believe in anything they have no standards, stick with the Encyclopedia Britannica, its a well establish source of information that only intelligent people would use as an source of information.
12-17-2007 @ 4:05PM
william said...
my name is william, my company Dal Research Enterprises, Inc. (DRE) owns two web sites which now on the NET. They are: "Bulliesbeware.com" which tries to have solve bulling and shooting problems in the United States. A urgent solution is needed. We solicit like minded people to joint and support us to fight these deases. Our other web site is: "e-worldpeace.com" which pursuits for world peace among world humanity. We welcome all of you who like our SITES to joint and support us for these noble causes. These are our Sites but also your Sites as well; if you are for justice and for world peace. Please visit our SITES, thanks.
12-17-2007 @ 4:35PM
HawkinsZacman said...
Tom,
Nice concise article. Wikipedia can be a great source for
information. Particularly if you check where the info. came from.
(ex. medical information contributed by the Mayo Clinic)
I personally have contributed to numerous articles and plan on doing
so in the future. My site, http://www.skin-and-scalp-treatment.com/ relates to
numerous topics there. By putting a link to my site as a contributor,
the readers can check to see if my site backs up what I have
contributed.
Now, as for Icheb's statement that outbound links don't improve your
search engine rankings, I'd have to say, "what are you talking
about?"
Incoming links from a major site particularly on a page which
directly pertains to your topics and niche is one of the best
possible SEO methods.
The more sites that link to yours, particularly ones related to
yours, show the SE that you are an authority in your field.
It's one of the reasons this article caught my eye to begin with.
Thanks Tom,
Zac
12-17-2007 @ 5:18PM
Icheb said...
HawkinsZacman:
Too bad there is this thing called rel="nofollow" which Wikipedia adds to all links. This make sure that a link doesn't pass any value. And if you were nearly as versed with everything SEO as you claim you are, you would have known that.
12-17-2007 @ 6:58PM
Eddie said...
I would love to have my website on Wikipedia! How would I go about
getting it on there? http://www.BonesClothes.com
Any help would be great.
Eddie
12-17-2007 @ 7:20PM
HawkinsZacman said...
Of course I know about "no-follow" tags. There are numerous ways to get "value" rating from the SEs. It would take me way too long to explain it to you here. Suffice it to say, Wiki shows up as one of the many links to my sites on G, Y, L, and A, just to mention the main ones. Not to mention, free traffic from Wiki, if done right, is very targeted traffic. If readers click on your link, they are obviously interested in what you have told them already. It's just a matter of overdelivering on what you told them to begin with. Do you see where I'm coming from?
Best wishes,
Zac
P.S. If your really interested in more information, contact my at: http://www.skin-and-scalp-treatment.com/
12-17-2007 @ 9:35PM
Icheb said...
So what crap are you talking then? ALL outbound links have that attribute, which means THEY DON'T PASS VALUE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, SO THEY DON'T IMPROVE YOUR SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS.
Getting traffic through those links has nothing to do with that.
12-18-2007 @ 9:44AM
HawkinsZacman said...
Icheb,
You like that word, don't you? Like Norman from "On Golden Pond" said, that's a good word:)
Anyway, really, if all outbound links have that attribute, then why do all of the big SE have reports for hundreds of links to my sites?
Wikepedia and numerous other avenues are great places to have links that promote our sites. But the key is to have valuable information on your site, otherwise your links will be irrelevant.
Now, since you seem to be very passionate about this subject, I can let you in on a couple of secrets.
But you'll have to contact me on one of my sites for that.
Here's one I just started building:
http://www.pickerstickers.com/
Best wishes,
Zac
12-18-2007 @ 9:56AM
Icheb said...
They RECOGNIZE those links, BUT THEY DON'T PASS ANY VALUE! How dumb can you be that you don't get that? Open an article page on Wikipedia and check for that attribute on an outgoing link, THEN SEE FOR YOURSELF. Fucking moron.
12-18-2007 @ 10:32AM
Wheatgrass said...
IF you were as educated as you try to seem, you would have the vocabulary to express yourself instead of resorting to vulgar "fill" words that advertise that you are frustrated. You were on "the same page" but did not accurately express your thoughts in coherant communication, and you could have asked pertinent questions to find out what "Hawkins" was calmly trying to say to you, BUT YOU WERE NOT INTERESTED IN "LISTENING".
12-18-2007 @ 10:44AM
Icheb said...
Maybe HE should just stop being a wiseass and listen. I tried to explain this several times but all he can do is promote his idiotic sites and patronize me by saying what I'm talking about is bullshit. So don't give me your fucking attitude.
12-19-2007 @ 11:32PM
haveittodayray said...
Great article, will sign up with them and promote my business. SEO and Web 2.0 are definitely important criteria for promoting your business. I promoted 6figuresandmore.com and haveittodayray.com and have had great success. No free lunch, not MLM, must enjoy the Internet and you can earn 6 figuresandmore. Wikipedia, will increase my stay at home business for baby boomers only more.
12-29-2007 @ 5:43AM
Icheb said...
"Keep in mind that a Wikipedia page can help improve your website's search engine rank"
Where did you read that crap? Outbound links don't pass any link value. RESEARCH, PEOPLE, RESEARCH.
12-17-2007 @ 7:34PM
Jim Dicken said...
ONLY outbound links pass on value.
ALL links are outbound except for the internal links to your own pages.
1-24-2008 @ 9:03PM
R-man said...
Hi guys.
I'm an administrator at Wikipedia. One of the things we do is police the site for people who are promoting themselves. Pleased do not promote yourself there. We have strict anti-spam policies, and delete advertisements on sight; a little bit of reflection will indicate to you why this is so (we are an encyclopedia, not a free web host or promotion service.) In addition, and most important for writing a new article, we have a conflict of interest policy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest) -- please do not violate it. Writing about yourself or your company is perhaps the most obvious example of a conflict of interest violation. However we welcome you to write about someone *else's* company. If your own is truly notable and encyclopedic, someone *else* will write about it.
In order to write an article about a company at Wikipedia, you need to adhere strictly to neutral point of view (no "we have the best business model and are rapidly becoming the most admired company ever to ...."); you need to provide reliable sources for what you write (no blogs; no hearsay; established news sources only please); and the key policy is *verifiability* for what you write. Therefore your company must be *notable* -- since if it is an obscure startup with no coverage in reliable sources, it will not pass our verifiability policy. Please wait until you have got some coverage in mainstream, well-known sources.
I have a pro-corporate bias, since I work for a good company and am a happy capitalist, and I welcome well-written articles about companies. But if I spot an advertisement that blatantly violates our policies I will delete it on sight.
Best regards,
R.