If you are searching for something on the internet – regardless of what it is – you can almost guarantee that the first page of returned search results will feature a link to Wikipedia.
The free online encyclopaedia has become one of the leading sources of information on the internet and now has over 23 million freely useable articles in 285 languages written by 36 million registered users since being launched in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger ‘Wiki’ has become the world’s sixth largest website and is visited by 12% of all internet users monthly.
Some people think Wikipedia is given weight by Google, and it is easy to see why with such prominent rankings. However, I personally feel that more credit needs to be given to Wikipedia as a website. SEO practitioners can learn many things from the stellar performance of the world’s favourite encyclopaedia.
Informative
With Google’s algorithms valuing quality content more than ever before, well-written and informative web pages will feature highly in the rankings. There is no better site at producing quality content than Wikipedia. Articles on the site are always comprehensive and provide users with the answers that they are looking for. Good articles become a point of reference for people and are linked and quoted to regularly.
Wikipedia articles are not perfect, but with a little effort, it is easy to emulate or even surpass that quality.
Structure
If you visit a Wikipedia article, you will notice how easy it is to follow; this is due to the organisation. Good structure is seen as a sign of quality content by Google and is an important factor in a high ranking. Wikipedia breaks up content with logical sub-headings that are easier for people to understand and more attractive to the reader.
Fresh
Wikipedia is constantly updated with new articles, and old ones are updated and edited with new information. Google loves fresh content and will favour it over stale articles and blog posts. Following suit can be a good idea by adding to, improving and editing your content as often as possible.
Linking
The quality of Wikipedia’s content allows it to achieve thousands of backlinks. It is also full of internal links and uses highly reputable sources as references in articles. If you can produce something that readers like, you will naturally encourage a flow of traffic through inbound links.
With over 200 ranking indicators in Google’s search algorithms, there are plenty or more ways in which Wikipedia can maintain its dominant position in the search rankings. Looking at how the encyclopaedia performs with articles related to your niche will teach you a hell of a lot about how your site can be improved.
