Link From Wikipedia Worthwhile?
-
Hi Mozzers,
Is it worth the trouble spending the time to get a link from Wikipedia considering they're nofollow?
-
No problem JP. Glad we could help out. Feel free to reach out to us if you have specific questions on link building. We've trained many folks and are happy to help out.
-
Catalyst,
I know this wasn't my question, but thank you for that insight. That really puts a lot of my previous fears/hesitations to try and build links on Wikipedia to rest.
This is great 'feather-in-the-cap' for any SEO who has been struggling to build links via Wikipedia.
Thank you again for this great insight!
-
There's a trick to getting your Wikipedia articles or contributions posted. Wikipedia is like a credit card, if you have good credit then you can do whatever you want but if you have bad or no credit then you can't do what you want.
The other thing is that Wikipedia functions like a virtual world with actual territories over certain pieces of content. These territories or content niches are controlled by an individual or two so when a newcomer comes and starts making content contributions, its like declaring war on someone who invaded your territory.
If you want to get our contributions accepted in Wikipedia then you have to start small in that niche. Start by making simple edits to build up your influence, perhaps 1 - 3 per day by pruning dead links or updating link rot.
Then in a couple of weeks, move on to minor article submissions such as if you work for an automotive brand then you could update the stats on a new model or put a mention about a new plant species in.
By now, your user permissions would have been upgraded twice from a nonregistered user to a new then auto-confirmed user. Try to get more permissions added to your account, perhaps start reviewing bad edits and start flagging them. Try to show stewardship over a period of a few months to a several years on the content niche that you'd like to own.
After six months to one year, submit your contribution and see if it gets denied. It won't be denied now because by now you be considered an active member of the community who's contributed regularly by doing your part (click on any user in Wikipedia and you'll see their history of edits, awards, etc).
-
If you have a way of getting a link from Wikipedia, even if it takes some effort then I would definitely take it.
Even if we assume Google completely ignores the nofollow and we take SEO out of the equation entirely then it could be worth it for the potential visitors you could get as a direct result of the link.
-
I definitely agree with Catalyst here, all I'm saying is that the criteria they use for establishing 'what's a quality contribution' is extremely subjective.
I've created a number of entries that could be considered much more 'high-value' than the other links on the page only to get stuck in the sandbox.
Not to discourage you from trying to get added to Wikipedia, I'm just saying don't get discouraged if your contribution doesn't get added to the page.
Like anything else in SEO, if at first you don't succeed; try, try again!
-
It's worth it because if you manage to write a page of copy on Wikipedia and your citations point back towards your website. People who research the Wikipedia article may jump to your website via the citation and reference your article instead.
Basically write a fairly comprehensive article but leave out some key elements, all of which are found on the secondary information source that is owned by you.
The key is to think long term. Wikipedia typically ranks for competitive queries so you may not get your links in the beginning but you have a chance to build them over time.
One of my mentors taught me that it's not so much as building a single link but rather how you can build system that will build links for you while you sleep. If you seed enough systems around on the internet, one or two links here and there won't matter much but over the course of your career, you will find that you've racked up a lot of links and continue to do so.
-
Wikipedia can drive a lot of traffic, so while it won't help with rankings, it may help you accomplish the goal that rankings are supposed to be accomplishing.
-
Wayne,
IMO I don't think it's worth it. I mean, while it's a great link to have, the rigamarole an SEO has to go through in order to get their link added to the list of resources or cited within the document is so tenuous that it'd be more advantageous to go and try to scout links from a few other, high-yield sites.
In all honesty, you'd probably be a lot more successful doing that than trying to dig your way out of Wiki's sandbox. Nevertheless, it's worth a shot. If your submission isn't accepted there, you can always try to spin it somewhere else.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Should I disavow these links?
Hi all, I have a ski website that I am currently performing a toxic backlink audit on. I have noted that a lot of the links being flagged as toxic/spammy by the tool I am using seem to be the same/similar sites with different URLs. The sites are vaguely related to skiing (relating to helicopter travel options for travelling to ski resorts) but it is concerning me that there are so many of them and they are being flagged as so toxic.
Link Building | | SolveWebMedia
Do you think it is worth disavowing these? Or contacting the owner to ask them to remove the link? I have included an example of some of the links below. https://www.cannes-helicopters.co.uk/index.php?menuopen=21&showcontent=5
https://nice-helicopter.co.uk/index.php?menuopen=21&showcontent=5
https://monaco-helicopter.co.uk/index.php?menuopen=21&showcontent=5 Slightly different site but same favicon icon:
https://monaco-helicopter.co.uk/index.php?menuopen=21&showcontent=5
https://www.whitetracks-holidays.com/Helicopter_Transfers_Villars_Switzerland.htm Thanks in advance for any advice / help!0 -
Disavowing Links
I need some advice... I've noticed our link profile has increased with many comments links --- something I certainly have not pursued manually. I'm new to disavowing links. However, before I go ahead and disavow them, I'd like to ask how harmful these links are and would you recommend this is something I can do myself (relatively novice SEO) or if you'd recommend someone who could do this for a reasonable cost. In one instance, the link from this comment thread is with the anchor text, "porn"... Certainly not something we want to rank for, haha! I look forward to your advice
Link Building | | LukeBTDT0 -
Why are bit.ly and ow.ly links showing up as Inbound Links?
Hello! I noticed this question was asked a while back (around 2013 i think), but I still don't quite understand why I'm seeing these shortened URLs come up as Inbound Links? Can someone please explain? Thanks,
Link Building | | txwildcard
Carlos0 -
Would it be a valid "link building' strategy to pay youtube video owners, to link to our company website in the decription of a certain video. ( For popular video's that are relevant )
I was wondering if it would it be a valid "link building' strategy to pay / work out a deal with youtube video owners, to link to our company website in the decription of a certain video they posted? ( For popular video's that are relevant to our business. ) Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance! Steven
Link Building | | RockyMountainFlyboard0 -
Outgoing links
Hi Guy's, We have a website with no outgoing links (only Facebook). Is this a good way to score better in the SERPS? Or is it better to have some outgoing "relevant" links for a natural linkjuice? Thanks!
Link Building | | Happy-SEO1 -
Link Building
Are there any other webmasters in the MOZ community that are interested in creating multiple high quality link exchanges? Our company has a decent size client list we are interested in building links for.
Link Building | | WebMarkets0 -
Link or Ad
I recently requested a link back from a site that is ranking 2nd for a term that i'm working on and they said they would gladly give me the link and remove my competitors but would also like me to have an ad on the same page for an annual fee that i could link to a landing page. I know that paying for links is no good and google can penalize you. so do i pay them and do a no follow to the landing page from the ad and call it a day? and how does google differentiate an ad from a link?
Link Building | | CHiP_RuN0 -
Which link should I use for link building?
I have an article which have high rank on Google. But recent, I use mod rewrite url so this article have new url. old: mywebsite.com/c1/p-1 new: mywebsite.com/c-e/p-1 Now, google is indexing old url. I want to ask when I build linking to my site, which link should I use for link building? I should build linking for new url or old url. Thanks
Link Building | | sonzin13040