The best way to avoid making mistakes is through making yourself aware of those mistakes, as to what those are. Especially when you are dealing with a site that is peculiar about the content that gets posted on their platform. Although there are many protocols that can be followed, perfection is not required as Wikipedia is a site that is in constant growth and progress. It is advised to be bold and confident about your content and approach it after thorough understanding. Here are some mistakes that you need to refrain from;
Autobiographical articles:
This is one of the most common mistakes that people often make when they are unfamiliar with the ways of Wikipedia and how the site works; it is that they end up creating content on themselves or someone they know, directly. Since Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, it does not require to add every human being on their platform. However, they allow personalities that are well-known to surface on their site. But even for that, the rule is to have the page created by a third party that has no association with the person themselves. The rule has been made to keep the content within the site, as neutral as possible; without any biases and judgment that might cause gaps within factual information.
Company articles:
It is best to not write the content yourself on the company you own or work for. Since you will face difficulty maintaining a neutral point of view and secondly, the content will be more susceptible to being deleted by the management of the site. In case your company is well known enough and you think it stands out then you can always consider approaching Wikipedia article creators who write content on behalf of their clients.
Redundant articles:
Before you get on with your work, that is content creation; you should run a thorough search on the topic your content is going to be based on, just to make sure that it does not exist already. It is better to add to existing articles that have already been made but require a few edits here and there and updates on the information they contain; than directly jumping into the process of creating an entirely new article. As far as keywords are concerned, make sure that you use the right terms in your content since search engines depend on those keywords. One wrong move and your content can be lost under some other category that you didn’t put it under.
After going through these factors that you should avoid for your Wikipedia content, make sure to implement it as well. The more flaw-less your content is further it’ll reach out.
Key features that contribute to Wikipedia’s quality contents
Wikipedia is one of the top-ranking sites with a massive following; has a lot of responsibility on their shoulders, mainly to maintain the quality of their work. What adds to it is the fact that it is an encyclopedia, which also means that its content is entirely based on facts. It has no biases or sides, it flows freely from a neutral perspective. Here are some key features that contribute to Wikipedia’s quality maintenance as a site;
Badly-structured leads:
The lead should be able to form the context in a systematic manner and summarize the important points under one headline rather than having information drifting all over the place. Wikipedia page creation that is working for the content should be able to describe the notable points, highlight them in a comprehensive manner so that the viewer knows why this content was posted on the site in the first place. Keeping all factors in mind; you should be able to consider the most important one of all that is to write the content from a neutral point of view so that the reader does feel any objection over it.
Inconsistent format:
It is included within the manual that has especially been made to explain the content writers the importance of consistent styles and format, within the content. Broken bits aren’t helpful for detailed and intense topics since they might result in a breakage of the viewers’ attention. Not just that, it will affect the credibility and quality of the site.
References made by one’s own self:
Referring to the Wikipedia page is not appropriate for articles. The main reason as to why this rule was made in the first place was to allow users to connect and collaborate more easily with the site. Secondly, references that aren’t applicable will reduce the reliability of the content, making it more faulty and biased in the end.
External links:
Relevant links are a must to add within Wikipedia’s content. Without authentic sources being referred to the content, it will not be published in the first place. It is essential to add citations, at least one per paragraph as per the guideline. And straying away from the guideline has never proven to be the best approach towards creating content.
Signatures within articles:
The importance to connect edits with users is looked after by the edit history that Wikipedia has implemented to keep their quality in check. Therefore, after making any edit within a content that has already been published; make sure to use your own personal signature.
Now that you know what factors contribute to the decrease in contents possibility of being published on the site, you will be able to refrain from it and create your content even better.
