It’s the Age of Information, and everybody wants to be known—and seen. But not every brand has a Wikipedia page that pops up in a Google search. What to do?
Consider creating a Wikidata page for your brand, like this example of a Wikidata page for entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Streit.
A free, open knowledge base that both humans and AI can edit, Wikidata is one of many Wikimedia properties. It differs from other Wikis in that it “acts as central storage for the structured data of its Wikimedia sister projects,” such as Wikipedia and Wiktionary, to name a few. And it’s pretty popular: both Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri use Wikidata to help fulfill user queries.
If you’re unfamiliar with Wikidata, thinking it’s the latest Wiki upstart, surprise: Wikidata has been flying under the radar for quite a while. It launched in October 2012, so it’s practically an adolescent by now.
What’s more, your Wikidata page is going to help build your brand in a major way. Here’s how.
Supercharging Your SERPS
Creating a Wikidata for your business is a brilliant way to ensure you’ll turn up in a search, because optimizing Wikidata for search engines is easy. And you know how vital SEO is for business success. Today, Google considers Wikidata a highly credible source of SEO data.
Let’s get started.
- Create a strong account. Make sure you log in to your new Wikidata page with your company name and/or your name, depending on how you want the Wikidata page to be known. If you don’t specify identity, Wikidata will simply use your IP address. Not helpful for branding purposes! Create a user profile that describes a bit about your Wikidata goals, your skills and background. Especially in the age of ChatGPT, you want other Wikidata users to know an actual human manages this account.
- Learn by example. Find the appropriate category for your type of business or industry, and see how other listings present their information. For example, Apple’s Wikidata page is a superb guide for how a tech brand could structure its Wikidata page.
- Connect with the community. As with all collaborative platforms, there’s an online community that is passionate about how to do Wikidata right. Plan to spend a little time connecting with your new tribe so you can create an account worthy of your brand. The TALK pages enable you to socialize with your community. This is your opportunity to ask questions about how to build your Wikidata page. People love to share what they know. Be sure to thank everyone for their comments and interest.
- Take a tutorial. In our YouTube-enabled world, there’s no shortage of videos on every imaginable topic. Wikidata is no exception. You’ll also find slideshares and text tutorials. Pick the one(s) that best suit your learning style and comfort level.
- Add your first item. Once you’ve gotten the hang of Wikidata, it’s time to build your company page. Make sure such a page doesn’t already exist by doing a search. If possible, import information from Wikipedia. If you don’t have a Wikipedia page, you’ll build your company page from scratch, adding information you can support with source links and/or references.
Once your Wikidata page is live, you’ve enriched your digital footprint, and made it easier for both search engines and humans to find your brand online. Nice work!