Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. Wikipedia makes its information available to everybody. It has been built collaboratively and publicly by a community of experts. These experts are collectively referred to as Wikipedians. Initially, it was intended to be a for-profit website to fund Wales’ and Sanger’s project Nupedia. However, Wales and Sanger changed their minds and decided to make it a non-profit website.
Wikipedia is one of the best options when it comes to SEO. When you search for a certain term you will find Wikipedia almost always among the few top SERP results. It is a well-known website with some credibility and authority too. This authority makes Wikipedia trustworthy and reliable to search engines like google. To summarize, a Wikipedia Page has immense capabilities to boost the digital footprint.
The following are some steps you may follow before starting your Wiki Journey.
Sign up for a Wikipedia account
Creating a Wikipedia user account has many advantages. Firstly it protects your personal information. Secondly it keeps you safe and secure. Editing under a pseudonym gives you more privacy than editing anonymously. This which may seem contradictory but it is not.
Being well-known on Wiki is similar to being well-known in academic circles. After signing in, you may be able to establish a history of edits under your username. Having a visible identification makes it simpler to connect and work with others. This is something you wanna avoid if you value privacy.
Also creating an account gives you access to additional editing tools. These tools aren’t otherwise available while editing from IP. An example of such tool is “watchlist”. Watchlist keeping tabs on articles you’ve already changed. It will notify you every time someone changes that article so that you get to know.
Wikipedia’s five pillars
Editors on Wiki are required to follow certain guidelines. These are known as the “five pillars” of Wikipedia. But be careful, Wikipedia is not a good place to spread untested theories or unpublished research. It’s also not a stage for conveying your own ideologies. Don’t even think to engage in a heated discussion over contentious topics. Always remain polite. Wiki is much different from other mainstream media which has a centralized editorial policy.
When working with other editors treat them with respect and civility even when you disagree. If a certain interaction starts to stress you out, just log off and come back at a later time. Wikipedia in contrast to the majority of scientific organizations does not have a deadline to complete.
Familiar with the Wikipedia people
Because Wikipedia is not mainly targeted at professionals, the amount of technical information in its articles must be balanced against non-experts’ comprehension. Imagine producing a thorough scientific review for a high school audience when submitting scientific material. It’s not always easy to convey complicated concepts in simple language. But it’s worth it. Writing your next book or teaching an undergraduate class will be easier.
Do not violate the Copyright
Almost all Wikipedia material is free to reuse, modify, and distribute under certain restrictions. So it doesn’t accept non-free content with copyright restrictions. Some publications, including the Public Library of Science’s, provide open-access content that may be used in Wikipedia if properly acknowledged. Few do. So, resist the urge to paste language or numbers from your recent review piece (or anybody else’s) into Wikipedia. It will be immediately recognized as a copyright infringement and deleted. A non-reversible and time-consuming procedure may provide Wiki permission to utilize content owned by you. It is frequently preferable to modify the text or rework figures to make them more accessible. This will also make it more accessible to non-experts on Wiki.
Conclusion
While editing Wikipedia is always open for anyone, but the rules that you need to follow when editing a Wiki page may appear to be daunting enough. Therefore, its always advisable to opt for a professional wikipedia editing service. These service providers not only provide you quality services but at the same time leaves you worry free about complying complex Wiki rules, guidelines and policies.