With millions of pages, articles, and users on a single web platform, it is no longer surprising to see the popularity Wikipedia has gained over the past two decades. This open source and free encyclopedia emerged as a website with diverse and authentic information about every notable person, historical event of business you can think of. But, now it has evolved into something that is much more exquisite and crucial in helping businesses and individuals get the attention and visibility they have been longing for.
Some alternatives also exist for Wikipedia but surely, these alternatives cannot be as promising, popular and useful as Wikipedia is. When this platform emerged, people use to doubt its credibility but that is not the case now. If people still consider Wikipedia not credible then it is a misconception from their end as Wikipedia has now gained the respect and confidence as a reliable place to acquire information, not on a local but global scale.
Here are some tips that assist you in writing Wikipedia pages that stick out.
Come up with something new
Since it is already essential to follow the content guidelines given by Wikipedia, you should follow them thoroughly as it defines content quality. Before you ponder on content quality, what matters the most is the phase of research for finding a unique topic. In simpler words, Wikipedia does not encourage writers and editors to publish topics and articles that have already been covered here. Do not exert your efforts in reinventing the wheel instead after complete research, come up with a topic that is unique for Wikipedia itself.
Know your chosen topic well
Only those pages and articles are accepted on Wikipedia that complies with evidence of a notable presence on the internet. This notability should not be evident through blog posts instead your name should be mentioned or covered in a journal or an authentic source. Therefore, it is so essential to first think if you meet up to the criteria of Wikipedia or not. Even if you do, the topic you are going to choose needs to be unique, interesting and able to generate a significant number of readers.
Have all the required resources
Just as you need to do research for your academic thesis, the same way of research is essential when finding all the required resources to shape your Wikipedia page. If you have noticed it already, Wikipedia has a section of citations and references and from there you can get an outlook on the authenticity of the content. Do not select resources that have been covered on most pages as then there will not be much difference between your page and the others. Look for resources and citations that are relevant, authentic but still new.
Use a formal tone for content
Another important tip is regarding the selection of content tone. Make sure that the tone you have chosen remains the same until the end of the article. If it does not then chances are high for your page to be rejected. The tone should be formal and not promotional in any way. One part of Wikipedia guidelines is about how the articles and Wiki page should not be promotional in nature since Wikipedia is an informational platform and it is not meant to be used a marketing means.
Add images for readability
You do not have to draw and create illustrations yourself as you can take original pictures from the net and just add tags to the sources. This way the reader would have full confidence on the genuineness of the content. Pictures also need to be added to enhance the readability of the page. Web pages stuffed and bloated with written or textual content only are difficult to read so if someone wants to go through the content quickly then pictures and tags are going to help a lot.
Be sure to proofread and spellcheck
This step is almost self-explainable, as content with grammatical and spelling mistakes is never going to be uploaded on Wikipedia. However, most new writers tend to neglect the need to spellcheck and then face further issues when Wikipedia moderators reject their content. Once you are done writing and adding pictures to the final draft of your page, be sure you have gone through it multiple times. You can either opt for a Wikipedia editing service or let a professional writer do the editing for you.
Do not bloat unnecessary content
The words should be concise and useful. Do not add long sentences and phrases that hold no meaning to the content you are writing. It should comply with the topic you have chosen and should show complete relevancy to it. If that is not what you will do, the reader is going to lose interest in it halfway through.