Wikipedia is one of the fastest growing open-source information platforms on the internet. Millions of published contributions exist site-wide on the Wiki platforms, and most of it is user generated by people like you. Wikipedia relies on the contribution efforts of the community to update and improve the information listed on their platforms. There are many important factors you will need to consider before submitting your Wiki article for approval. Your article will need to clear approval and be of value to retain its position within Wiki.
There are many wiki writers on the web like https://beutlerink.com that specialize in writing content specifically for Wiki pages. Utilizing these types of services will save you time and money when trying to publish content on a Wiki page. If you are attempting to add a small rich snippet of content to an existing Wiki page, you will find that even making those edits can be a daunting task that requires patience, and a level of expertise only obtained through repetition.
Why write content for Wikipedia? There are many valuable reasons to leverage this platform, if you are a content writer on the internet and you service businesses that have unique products, services, ownership, or staff members, there me be opportunities to get them featured on various Wiki pages if their credentials meet some of the qualifications needed to be added.
Source: Mgt Edu
Wikipedia is probably the biggest encyclopedia on the internet, being a Wiki writer means that you are contributing to the resource that millions of people are referencing for information. Wiki writers need to be thorough with research and have an understanding of how Wiki articles are written. These pages are not formatted like standard web pages, understanding how to write, format, and submit your wiki article for approval will be key to you finding success as a Wiki writer.
You can learn just about anything from a Wiki page. From your favorite movie stars, musicians, culinary artists, marketing gurus, history, and motor vehicles. Wikipedia literally has a page about anything you may have interest in. Understanding how to use the tool is one thing, writing content for a Wiki page is something entirely different.
The types of content typically reserved for a Wiki page are things like product development, inventions, inventors, innovators, industry leaders, original products or services. Information like a companies founder may be relevant enough for Wiki to approve an article or a profile page. If the founder as achieved notable goals or industry success, those may also be worthy enough of publication. When you write a Wiki article, you need to think about the most legitimate reasons why the person or company is worthy enough to be featured on Wikipedia. This is what separates good Wiki writers from amateur writers.
Img source: medium.com
If you are unsure about your article topic, you can reference Wikipedia for site guidelines to see if your writing fit’s within the community guidelines. Writing an article about an individual will require them to have some industry notoriety before that will be approved for publication.
Now that you get the basic idea, here are some steps that can be taken to get your first Wiki publication approved. In addition to using this as a Wiki writers resource, you can refer to the Wiki help section itself for more detailed information regarding expectations and the approval process.
1. Set up an account. You will need to have an account created and verified before you can submit content for approval. If you want to become a legitimate content author for Wikipedia, it all starts with creating an account. If you are taking this seriously, use your first and last name and a valid email address to sign up.
Img source: mapletreemedia.com
2. Baby steps. You may be in a rush to publish a Wiki page for a client or write a piece about your own product or service, but if you want to learn the ropes, start with editing an existing page that may be missing valuable information. You can make an edit to any page on Wikipedia and submit the edit for approval. This will give your profile some credit, and you some experience before trying to publish a larger piece of content. This will also allow you to get more familiar with the CMS, and submission approval process.
3. Content is the focal point of Wikipedia. This means Wiki writers need to understand that the content they publish must be accurate, informative, and of value to the community. With that being the case, Wiki writers will need to do extensive research on their article so they can cite references and create added value to their article. Simply publishing an article without resource references will not be approved. Look through Wiki if you haven’t before, read through the content, and that will give you a better understanding about the content Wiki writers are expected to submit for publication.
4. After your content is created, it’s important that you make note of all your sources. These sources will need to be referenced on the page at some point. As you will see on every other Wiki page, resource referenced is a major part of Wikipedia. This includes linking to internal resources right within Wikipedia. The importance of referencing your sources is obvious as you look through the website. Make sure you identify your sources accurately, and you reference them where appropriate.
Source: Vice
5. After you have the account created, content is written, and sources cited, you can prepare the content for publication. Formatting the article, creating the page, embedding images, linking internally, and publishing for review are all part of the process. Adding images to the page is a great way to include engaging content that may be useful to an end user. However, you need to be cautious about using images that are protected by copyright. If possible, use and share your own images with the content you submit.
Formatting for Wiki is a little different from other CMS layouts you may be used to writing and publishing content on. Having knowledge of HTML will be beneficial if you plan on creating Wiki pages for multiple clients or products. Again, if you can afford the luxury of hiring a professional Wiki writer, then, by all means, make it happen.
6. Now that you have made it this far there are only a few things left to do. Now that the article has been uploaded and formatted, it will need to be submitted for publication. This is not an overnight approval process, so expect that it could take a couple of days, weeks, or even a month to get an approval notification.
Source: Lifewire
Once you have been approved, the Wiki page should be published live. While the publication goes live, there may be other editors that make edits or contributions to the content as needed to keep the information on the page accurate and relevant. You should continue to monitor your page with occasional visits to ensure the information being added or revised is accurate. This process is extremely involved and requires commitment from you as a Wiki writer to contribute the best and most accurate content for the Wiki community. Staying true to form and the community guidelines will keep you a successful Wiki writer for years to come.
