Writing your own Wikipedia article – why?

A brief scenario: You ask an acquaintance for help because you’re having a problem at your company. You know that they had a similar problem a few years ago. Unfortunately, they can’t help you personally, but they do recommend another company that helped them resolve the issue at the time. What do you do?

You do a Google search and find a Wikipedia article about this company at the top of the search results.

What do you think now?

“Wow! The company even has its own Wikipedia entry!”

A Wikipedia entry boosts one’s image.

The benefits of having your own Wikipedia article 

Everyone knows it and everyone loves it: that quick click on Wikipedia when, yet again, you’ve no idea what certain things are all about or who’s behind a particular name.

Whether it’s historical or social events, chemical or biological processes, scientific discoveries or important figures: Wikipedia knows it all.

Nowadays, Wikipedia is the first port of call for finding information on any subject online. In Germany, the encyclopaedia ranks seventh amongst the most frequently visited websites.

Since its foundation in 2001, its reputation as a reputable, transparent and reliable source of information has grown steadily. This is partly because the quality of Wikipedia articles has improved over the years thanks to active contributors, reviewers and administrators. They check statements, facts and sources, correct them and ensure that the articles remain neutral.

Google and other search engines love Wikipedia too. If there is a relevant article on Wikipedia for a search query, it displays it at the top of the results.

Wikipedia articles are great for your SEO.

In the digital age, being found quickly and easily online has become an absolute necessity for successful businesses.

For anyone – individuals or businesses – who wants to be noticed by the world, having their own Wikipedia article written now sounds like a tempting prospect. After all, such an entry not only attracts attention but also enhances the credibility of one’s business.

However, anyone who thinks they can simply sit down at their laptop and start typing away is mistaken. Writing your own Wikipedia article sounds easier at first than it actually is.

Wikipedia: What it is (not) used for

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopaedia that provides information on all fields of knowledge. There are over 55 million articles in almost 300 languages. Anyone can also create and edit these articles.

At the same time, Wikipedia is not a website where just any person or company can be looked up. It is not a network like LinkedIn or Instagram, where anyone can present and portray themselves as they see fit.

Wikipedia stands for objectivity and legitimacy. For this reason, the encyclopaedia only contains articles on topics that can be classified as relevant or that meet its internal relevance criteria. Wikipedia is not interested in being part of a marketing strategy for a brand or a company. What counts are facts that can be substantiated, not flowery phrases designed to make you and your company look good.

Writing a Wikipedia article: Who is relevant?

The specified relevance criteria give you a rough idea of the requirements your company must meet in order to be considered relevant. In principle, meeting just one of the criteria is sufficient to be allowed to publish an article. This can only be deleted if you breach other guidelines or principles of the Wikipedia community.

It should be noted, however, that there are also subject areas for which no specific relevance criteria have yet been established.

Furthermore, the relevance criteria that must be met are controversial and are therefore a constant topic of discussion within the community. Changes to the existing relevance criteria cannot therefore be ruled out.

Relevance criteria for businesses

For a company to be encyclopaedically relevant, one of the following criteria must apply (or must have applied in the past):

• The company employs at least 1,000 full-time staff.
• The company has an annual turnover of more than 100 million euros.
• The company has at least 20 permanent establishments within the meaning of Article 5 of the OECD Model Tax Convention (this includes its own branches, production sites, subsidiaries and retail outlets, but does not include independent commercial agents or distribution partners), and meets at least two of the three criteria set out in Section 267(2) of the German Commercial Code (HGB).
• The company is traded on a German stock exchange in the regulated market or in an equivalent market segment in other countries.
• The company holds a dominant market position or plays a pioneering role in innovation within a relevant product group or service (independent source required).

What if my business isn’t suitable?

Due to Wikipedia’s strict (but necessary) criteria, not every company is suitable for its own article. However, this does not mean that your company cannot benefit from Wikipedia at all.

Often, simply having the company’s name mentioned in another Wikipedia article is enough to attract the desired attention. Various achievements and accolades are sufficient to ensure the company is mentioned in well-known articles.

For example, has your company helped to develop and launch a well-known app? Can you provide evidence of this in a publication? If so, we can add your company to the relevant Wikipedia article.

Simply mentioning your company as a contributor to innovative initiatives is enough to generate positive attention.

A Wikipedia article as a status symbol

The fact that Wikipedia ranks amongst the top ten most-visited websites in Germany shows just how beneficial having your own article can be for your company’s reputation.

Wikipedia is the ‘place’ where you can find objective and reliable information about relevant people and organisations.

The strict relevance criteria ensure that only verified and important topics are published.

The difference compared to an online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn and similar platforms is that advertising and self-promotion are completely off-limits. It’s not about selling yourself or your business in the best possible light. It’s about using hard facts to demonstrate why you and your business are a relevant part of society. And why people should be aware of this.

If we think back to that ‘wow’ moment at the start, we realise that having your own Wikipedia article is certainly regarded as a status symbol. If you have one, you can proudly say, ‘I’ve made it’.