How To Create A Wikipedia Page

Behind the scenes of every single Wikipedia article is a lot of work, but it can be worth the effort.  

Having an article about yourself or your business has its benefits. Wikipedia pages tend to rank well in Google search results. This gives you an SEO boost, better online visibility, all which can benefit your reputation.

This article will guide you through the steps of how to create a Wikipedia page for yourself.

Can You Create A Wikipedia Page For Yourself?

Yes, you can create a page on Wikipedia for yourself. However, you have to follow certain guidelines, especially for Wikipedia pages about people. These are referred to as Biographies of Living Persons (BLPs). To publish one, you need to:

• Meet Wikipedia’s notability guidelines. If you don’t meet these criteria, someone will likely remove your article.
• Comply with Wikipedia’s conflict of interest guidelines. Wikipedia does not explicitly prohibit people from writing articles about themselves. However, in doing so, you likely will overestimate your notability or write in a biased way. 
• Comply with privacy guidelines to protect the subject’s privacy (even if the subject is yourself).
• Use high quality sources. Wikipedia has a higher standard for citations on BLPs. You must use previously published third party sources, not original research.
• Avoid defamatory or sensationalist content. You must write in a neutral, unbiased way.

The question is less can you and more should you?

Wikipedia editors regularly delete articles that do not meet the notability requirements.

Editors delete 200 articles from the English Wikipedia every single day. This usually happens because the article either doesn’t meet notability guidelines or there is a conflict of interest.

If your article gets taken down, you will have a difficult time creating a new one in the future.

Can You Create A Wikipedia Page For Your Company?

A Wikipedia article about your company gives you tons of SEO benefits. Wikipedia pages tend to rank highly in Google search results. This gives your business more online visibility and can foster brand awareness and loyalty.

So, can you create an article on Wikipedia as a business owner or employee? Use these tips:

• Like any Wikipedia page, your business must still meet notability requirements. This means you must have significant coverage from third-party sources.
• Because of the inherent SEO benefits, Wiki editors tend to be more skeptical towards new business pages. Naturally, if you own or work for a business, there is a conflict of interest issue. An experienced Wikipedia editor will see this and take your article down if you aren’t careful.
• You must ensure to write in a neutral manner. You can not advertise on your Wikipedia page or be promotional in any way.

Dunkin Donuts qualifies for a Wikipedia page because it is a popular brand with a lot of media coverage and references.

Can Anyone Get A Wikipedia Page?

Any registered Wikipedia user can create a Wikipedia page about any noteworthy topic. On the surface, this sounds like you could create a Wikipedia page about anything or anyone.

However, it is not as simple as that; the keyword here is noteworthy. The subject of a Wikipedia article must meet the notability criteria, otherwise editors will reject the article.

The most important step to creating a Wikipedia page is establishing notability. Without notability, your Wikipedia page will be rejected.

So, is your subject notable enough for a Wikipedia article? Use these guidelines:

• Your subject must have significant coverage in the media. The coverage can’t just include mentions of the subject, it has to include a substantial amount of information.
• The coverage must be significant enough that you don’t need original research. Primary sources or first-hand accounts of an event do not generally count as quality sources.
• You must use third party (aka secondary) published sources. Secondary sources analyze and evaluate primary sources.
• Sources must be reliable and verifiable by the public. These sources can be in any medium, but they must be published.
• Sources can not come from the subject of the Wikipedia article. This means you can not use press releases, autobiographies, advertising material, or the subject’s own website.
• Wikipedia does not give a minimum required number of sources to qualify for an article. However, the more secondary sources are available, the better your chances are of getting the article published.

9 Steps To Create A Wikipedia Page

1. Read Wikipedia’s guidelines

Before you start creating a Wikipedia page, remember that Wikipedia is a community effort. All editors work on a volunteer basis, and they do so because they value accessible information.

Wikipedia doesn’t have any hard and fast rules; instead, they have policies and guidelines. These guidelines are open to interpretation by the community of editors which you will become a part of. You must be open to working with the community to get your article published.

Wikipedia does outline 5 pillars to make sure everyone collaborates effectively:

• Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia
• Wikipedia has a neutral point of view
• Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use edit, and distribute
• Wikipedians should treat each other in a respectful and civil way
• Wikipedia has no firm rules

Wikipedia bases every policy and guideline on these five pillars. Other editors could ban you from editing Wikipedia articles unless you follow these guidelines in good faith.

Wikipedia has 5 pillars that summarize the fundamental principles of the platform.

2. Create your Wikipedia account

Before you start editing, you need to make an account. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Wikipedia homepage and select your preferred language version of Wikipedia.

2. On the top right corner of the page, you will see a link named “Create account.” Click on it to go to the account creation page.

Go to the Wikipedia homepage to start creating your account.

3. Fill out your account information, including username and password. Choose an appropriate username that doesn’t reveal too much personal information. Choose a strong and secure password.

4. Providing an email address is optional, but highly recommended. This allows you to recover your account if you forget your password. You can also receive notifications about changes to pages you are interested in and communicate with other Wikipedia editors.

5. Review and agree to the terms of service.

6. If you provided an email address, Wikipedia will send you an email to confirm it. Follow the instructions in the email to verify your email address.

3. Practicing editing other articles

Before you create a new page, you need to become an autoconfirmed user. This means your account needs to be 4 days old and you have to make 10 edits to existing pages.

Making small changes to existing Wikipedia articles lets you learn how to edit and get a feel for the style. Experienced editors tend to be skeptical of new editors who post entire new articles. You need to gain experience before you do so.

Use these steps to edit an article:

1. Log in to your Wikipedia account so editors can see which edits you have made. This gives you more credibility.

2. Use the search bar at the top of Wikipedia to find an article you want to edit. You can edit nearly any article, but it is best to start with topics you are knowledgeable about.

3. On the article page, click the “Edit source” button at the top of the article to edit the entire article. If you just want to edit a section, click the “edit source” link next to the specific section header.

To edit any Wikipedia article, click “edit source” at the top right of the page.

4. From there you will go to the editing page to make changes to the article. If you are familiar with coding, you can use the Source Editor. However, beginners unfamiliar with coding can use the VisualEditor.

5. Cite your sources using the citation tools in the editor.

6. Before publishing your changes, enter a brief summary in the “Edit summary” box below the edit plane. This helps other editors understand why you make your edits.

7. Use the “Show preview” button to see how your changes will look after you publish them.

8. When you are ready to publish your edits, click the “Publish changes button. You should be able to see your changes immediately.

Practicing editing other articles to familiarize yourself with the various editing tools.

9. After you publish your edits, other users may review, modify, or revert them. Keep an eye on the article’s history and talk page for any feedback or discussion.

4. Research your article

Research is the most important part of writing a Wikipedia article. Here are two main reasons for this:

1. The more references you have, the more likely it is that your subject meets the notability guidelines.
2. Your statements need to be verifiable by anyone who reads the article. If you don’t have sources, other users will remove your article.

Use sources that are:

• Reputable, such as books, academic journals, newspapers, and official websites. Avoid blogs or social media posts.
• Secondary, meaning they analyze and interpret primary data.
• Recent, so your information is up-to-date.
• Comprehensive, providing in-depth coverage of the topic, rather than mere mentions.
• Independent of the subject.

Always use multiple sources to ensure a balanced perspective. Wikipedia articles should summarize what reliable sources say about a topic. They should not analyze, interpret, or introduce original ideas.

5. Write your article in the sandbox

Don’t publish your article immediately; use the sandbox instead. This offers a private space for you to draft, edit, and refine your article before publishing it. Follow these steps:

• To access your sandbox, go to your user page. Type ‘/sandbox‘ at the end of the URL of your page. It should look this this ‘https://wikipedia.org/wiki/User:YourUsername/sandbox‘
• Begin by writing the title of your article at the top of the sandbox page. Use the Wikipedia Article Wizard if you are new to this process. It gives you guidance and tips for creating your article to Wikipedia standards.
• Write in a neutral, unbiased way – as if you are writing an encyclopedia. Present the pure facts without taking a particular viewpoint. Avoid promotional language, especially if you’re writing about yourself or your business.
• Structure your article with headings and subheadings to make it easy to follow. Use the Wikipedia Manual of Style for formatting tips.
• Support your statements with citations from reliable, third-party sources. Use the citation toolbar in the editor to format references correctly.

6. Submit your draft

Once your article is ready, and you believe it meets all Wikipedia guidelines, you can move it from your sandbox to the main namespace.

To do this, click the “Move” tab at the top of the page or through the Articles for Creation (AfC) process. Submit the page for review, and experienced editors will review your draft before it goes live.

7. Make suggested changes

Once you click “Submit”, your article joins a queue of drafts waiting for review. Wait times vary from a few days to several weeks or more, depending on the backlog.

An editor will then review your article against Wikipedia’s content guidelines. After review, they will come to one of three outcomes:

• Acceptance: If your article meets the requirements, it will go live.
• Revisions Requested: Often, the review will request changes to improve the article. They will offer guidance on how to edit your draft to meet the standards.
• Decline: If your article does not meet notability guidelines or has significant issues, the reviewer can reject it. They will provide reasons for their decision, and you will have the opportunity to address these issues and resubmit. 

8. Make updates as needed

Congrats, your article is now live and hopefully ranking well in Google search results. However, you still have more work to do.

Wikipedia articles are living documents. Other editors can make edits and add new information at any time. They can even nominate the article for deletion if they believe it no longer meet’s Wikipedia’s standards. Keep your page updated with relevant information.

9. If nothing else works, be notable

You can follow all the steps listed above. But we’re going to tell you something no one else will:

Publishing a Wikipedia page about yourself or your business is difficult.

You could write the best article in the world, but it won’t matter unless your subject meets Wikipedia’s notability guidelines.

There is always the chance that another editor will reject or take down your article. This could be because of a conflict of interest issue or you don’t meet the notability guidelines.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to not create a Wikipedia page at all. Instead, aim to be noteworthy enough that an independent editor creates a Wikipedia page about you without your intervention.

Conclusion: Wikipedia Page Creation

Creating a Wikipedia page involves a lot of work. Most of the work you will do happens before you ever create an account. The most important step is making sure you are notable enough to have an article written about you.

Once you have a Wikipedia page, you will be much more visible in Google search results. This can have positive effects on your online reputation.

Visit our blog for more reputation management advice. If you need personalized help managing your online reputation, get in touch for a free consultation. Our expert team can help you remove negative search results, improve your Google search rankings, manage reviews, and more.

About The Author

William DiAntonio

William DiAntonio is the Founder & CEO of Reputation911, a reputation management firm he founded in 2010 that has earned the trust of its clients for over a decade by helping individuals, businesses and brands control their online search results.