12 Tips for Publishing a Wikipedia Article to Boost Your Online Reputation

12 Tips for Publishing a
Wikipedia Article to
Boost Your Online
Reputation
_____________
Recover Reputation

TIPS FOR PUBLISHING WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE
Having an Wikipedia article is an important online
commodity:
● It’s highly visible
● Builds trust
● Shows authority

Google certainly thinks so.

A Wiki piece almost always shows up at the very top of
it’s searches.
Since this is an extremely valuable piece of online real estate,
it is crucial to have it as part of your toolbox when repairing a
damaged online reputation or trying to build a positive one.

But not every article is Wiki-ready or even truly
noteworthy enough.
Standards are notoriously high.
So ask this question:
● Does this truly need to be published, or is it really a
promotional piece designed to get traffic?

Take this real-world example, which is a common mistake I
see:
A CEO or executive discovers a competitor’s Wiki page because it appears very prominently in
Google searches, so they want one too, naturally.
The first thought is to have their marketing or Corp Comm Department write one. However, in an
attempt to please the boss, it is filled with excessive superlatives, lacks true citations, and reads like
a recrafted press release (which it is).
Not surprisingly, the article is targeted for immediate deletion--Wiki parlance for rejection.
In fact, I saw this happen three times for the same piece. Each time, a slightly altered version was
attempted, and rejected.

This is because while Wiki is extremely desierable for online
reputation management, articles must be:
● Well sourced
● Presented in a neutral way
● Be truly noteworthy

In other words, don’t promote.
● Instead, be honestly factual.
● If this is not followed, the project is doomed.

1. A WIKI PRIMER
● Wikipedia follows the notion that encyclopedic
knowledge is a democratically collective endeavour.
● Anyone can add anything--at least in theory.

1. A WIKI PRIMER
True, (nearly) anyone can make edits and publish
something, but there are “rules”.
The main ones are to:
● Avoid shameless self-promotion
● Be neutral when writing
● Importantly, editors or others can reverse
unqualified information.

1. A WIKI PRIMER
While it is possible for anyone with an account to make
changes, there are thousands of volunteer expert editors that
follow, review and approve/disapprove new articles and edits.

1. A WIKI PRIMER
● Be mindful too that it’s best to be transparent and
truthful (as always).
● If there are legitimate negative issues that you are
trying to hide, don’t.
● They could be added by someone else, such as a
citizen editor or a competitor.
● Or an editor, being aware of the attempted
obscubcation, could decide not publish the article
altogether.

2. THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE
When starting, ask these basic questions:
● Does this person, business or organization really
deserve an article to be written about them?
● Is the subject truly noteworthy?
● Has it been covered elsewhere?
● Is it neutrally written?

If the answer is no to most of these,
stop now.

● Spam
● Advertorials
● Anything approaching self promotion...
...Are not allowed and will be immediately rejected by
scrupulous editors.

● If there are legitimate reasons for the piece, start
with a draft.
● After finishing it, ask the same questions once
more.
● If most of Wiki’s rules have been followed, it might
be ready to be published.

3. CREATE A WIKIPEDIA ACCOUNT
All that is necessary for publishing an article is a
Wikipedia account.
Creating one is extremely easy, requiring only a user
name and a password.

Don’t just create an account and immediately
start posting.

Here’s why:
● Bots or editors review the age of the account and
number of edits associated with it.
● The older it is and the more edits it has, the more
trustworthy or authoritative.
● If the account is brand new, it could be seen as
an attempt to write a spammy article.

● Instead, go slowly.
● Make many minor edits to other related articles.

● If an article is rejected due to poor quality, the account
itself might be blocked or deleted.
● Be transparent and use an account name that truly
reflects you or your business.

4. BECOME AN EXPERT, MAKING MANY EDITS

Become an expert on a subject and make
many edits to related articles.

The more edits the better.
● This builds trust and shows expertise.
● More updates associated with the account, the easier it
could be to ultimately publish the intended article.

Select a topic to become an expert-editor on.
● Make a list of these
● Find them in Wiki
● Start making changes

Let’s take a fictitious example of writing Wikipedia
piece about a CEO of a large Middle Eastern holding
company.
Here, identify dozens of Wiki articles related to this
person, business and location.

This includes in this example:
● Luxury brands, such as: Louis Vuiton, Kate Spade, Gucci,
Versace, etc.
● High-end food: Godiva. Fortnum & Mason, Robinsons Department
Store
● Shopping: Bonwit Teller; Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus
● Automotive: Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maserati
● CEO’s background: His/her college, awards, other employers
● Locations of offices or branches: Cities, countries, natural features

Use the same strategy for your topic.
Come up with an extensive list for the related topic
and make updates.

What kind of updates or edits?

Minor edits:
● Look for typos
● Bad spacing
● Incorrect punctuation
● Replace poor words with better ones
● Add additional links to other Wikipedia pieces
● Make citations that link to external websites and
articles.

Substantive edits:
● Rewrite confusing sentences to clarify meaning
● Update sections with better phrasing
● Fix grammar
● Make language neutral

Editing thresholds that Wikipedia seems to favor:
● One or two (or a few?)
● At least ten
● Fifty edits and beyond tends to identify the
account as expert-level.

Aim for fifty edits on articles related key topic
spread out over about a month or longer.

This requires a huge effort.
But it could mean the difference between getting a piece
posted on Wikipedia or not.
Again, the goal is to build trust as an account holder and
author, and to show expert authority on Wikipedia.

5. FIND EXCELLENT REFERENCES
Next, gather excellent, trustworthy citations.

● Conduct a Google search for phrases, related topics
and key search terms in the indented article.
● Make a list; be exhaustive.
● Importantly, these become the referenced citations.
● Start by gathering as much verifiable information as
possible. This could be from known publications,
important websites, or popular blogs.

For a person:
● Personal information such as their birthday, parents
● High School
● College, University, Graduate School
● Spouse
● Children--their school or jobs as well
● Interests
● Clubs, Associations
● Awards (very important)
● Presentations
● Hobbies/community involvement
● Previous employers
● Other accomplishments

For a business or organization:
● Key financials
● Company history
● Offices, locations, branches
● Mergers, divestitures
● Major achievements
● Key executives, Board of Directors
● CEO and bio
● Community connections
● Sponsors, associations
● Awards
● Noteworthy events

6. PRIORITIZE CITATIONS
● Prioritize all the citations that have been collected
and rank roughly by importance.
● The best references are the ones that Google
highly values.

Generally, these are from recognizable publications:
● New York Times
● Washington Post
● The Guardian
● CNN
● The Wall Street Journal.

Also powerful:
● Huffington Post
● TechCrunch
● Mashible
● DigitalTrends
● Slate
● Other blogs

But, it’s not just well known, high-traffic
sites that are valuable.

● Prioritize around ones that are industry-related
● Top-level domain names such as “.gov” or “.edu”
are extremely valuable

7. WRITE NOW
Now is the time to write.

7. WRITE NOW
Wikipedia only accepts pieces that are:
● Well sourced
● Written in a neutral way
● Are noteworthy

7. WRITE NOW
With that in mind see some Wikipedia general
guidelines:
“Material about living persons added to any
Wikipedia page must be written with the greatest
care and attention to verifiability, neutrality, and
avoidance of original research.”

7. WRITE NOW
I cannot emphasize the above enough.
Start by focusing on the key citations already gathered.

7. WRITE NOW
● Let this be the backbone of the article and drive the
piece--not the other way around.
● Don’t start with a preconceived notion and never write
what you or anyone else thinks it should be about.
● Base it almost exclusively on existing verifiable
citations.

7. WRITE NOW
Write a first draft.
Review and edit, making sure to:
● Strip out overly descriptive language.
● Remove nearly anything that cannot be referenced.
● Include citations to verifiable, real third-party websites.

7. WRITE NOW
● After a few drafts, finalize it by proofing it for typos and
check for readability, taking one last look to make sure it
follows Wiki rules.
● If this seems overwhelming or initially too time
consuming, start small. Begin with a basic Wiki first and
expand it later.

8. FOLLOW A WIKI TEMPLATE
Wiki articles often follow a standard layout or template:
● There are different ones for people (Biographies of
Living Persons), businesses, etc., so be sure to follow
the right one.
● Not doing so could lead to quick deletion or publishing
delays.

8. FOLLOW A WIKI TEMPLATE
Generally, the format for a Biographies of Living
Persons is:
● Boxed summary of the person at the top right (photo, full name, birthdate, nationality,
occupation).
● Brief general summary of key points a few sentences (with citations, as with nearly
everything).
● Personal heading. Briefly, perhaps mention of spouse, children, home.
● Education heading. High School; college; degrees; clubs.
● Awards, Memberships heading. Also, board or other memberships.
● [Business]. If applicable, mention the business the person is associated with, owns,
built, runs, etc.
Look at competitors or ones that seem to fit your article, and use it as a reference to start
from.

9. PUBLISH THE ARTICLE
Now is time for publishing.

● The process is complex and archaic.
● This is probably done purposely to weed out spam or
unprofessional pieces.

● Go to Wikipedia.org, select the Language.
● Sign In to the Account, already created.
● In the Search Box in the top right, enter the exact
name of the article you want to publish, and click enter.

● You will see You may create the page "Write my new
article", but consider checking the search results below to
see whether the topic is already covered.
● Click on the link.

● You will see The article that you're looking for doesn't
exist. Click on the Article Wizard on the bottom of the
page.

● Follow several prompts.
● NOTE: Be sure to click on I'm not connected to the
subject (if true, naturally; if you don’t click on this, you
won’t be able to publish the article).
● On the Wikipedia Article Wizard/Draft Creation page,
enter the name of the article

● Be sure the Visual editing option, the small
pencil icon in the top right, is selected.
● Copy and paste the article text.
● Format according to the appropriate Wikipedia
article design.
● TIP: Or copy and paste an already reviewed and
accepted format, replacing the text with your own.
● Add appropriate Citations, by selecting the Cite
icon on the top. This should automatically format
the citation link for you.

10. CHECK FOR EDITS AND MODIFICATIONS

You’re not out of the woods yet.
● Usually, if an article does not meet the criteria for
publishing, it gets marked for deletion nearly
immediately.
● This could happen within hours or a few days.

However, it still might get deleted or altered later.
● Check for changes frequently to make sure the
piece remains intact or is not inundated with edits.
● The best way to do this is to sign up for Wikipedia
alerts.

● If it gets deleted or if there are substantial
changes, evaluate the reason.
● If it seems legitimate, accept it and move on.

● If not, it might be reversible by offering a cogent
reason or refuting the reason through a comment
left to the editor.
● If the change appears like “trolling,” relatitory,
vindictive, or from a competitor, it could be
reversed too.
● Note that this, in turn, might be reversed again if it
lacks a valid reason.

11. LINK BACK TO OTHER ARTICLES

Once published, add links to it from other sources.
● From Wiki, go back to some of the other topics already
identified earlier and might have been edited.
● Add the newly published article as a citation or link to as
many of these as possible.

Outside Wikipedia:
● Go to properties you control or have access to, such as Facebook,
LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Google Plus and other social media
platforms, and add a link to the Wiki piece there. Importantly, be
sure to post about the new Wikipedia article.
● Go to other sites such as Slideshare, Medium, Youtube, alumni
sites, Google My Business, and industry-specific sites and do the
same.

● Add this link to the business or personal websites as well
(or nearly anywhere else you can think of).
● This all builds additional trust in the new piece, drives
more traffic, and helps substantiate other Wiki articles.

12. CONTINUE TO UPDATE KEY CHANGES

Update major changes as they happen.

These could be new:
● Awards
● Key employment changes
● Important articles
● Additional citations, etc.

● Be on the lookout for any updates made by editors, and
if necessary, address them.
● Continue to add to social media, posting about the
article with the link back to it
● Make sure the link gets added to any new accounts or
platforms.

THE BOTTOM LINE
● Publishing a Wikipedia article is an arduous
process.
● Having one builds online trust, is highly visible,
and appears at the top of Google searches.
● This is extremely valuable in repairing a damaged
online reputation or trying to build a positive
one.

THE BOTTOM LINE
I’ve shared some of my tips and real world
experiences. If you find this helpful, I’d be grateful if
you’d share it.
Feel free to reach out to me directly at Recover
Reputation, or leave a comment.

ABOUT RECOVER REPUTATION
I’ve shared some of my tips and real world
experiences. If you find this helpful, I’d be grateful if
you’d share it.
Feel free to reach out to me directly at Recover
Reputation, or leave a comment.

Steven W. Giovinco has managed online reputations for over 20
years. Having graduated with a Master's degrees from Yale University
and New York University in Interactive Communications, Steven has
had extensive technical training, combined with 20 years experience
connecting people through technology in finance, law, television, and
the arts.

347-421-7598
steve@recoverreputation.com
www.recoverreputation.com
@recovreputation

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