What You Need to Know About Wikipedia Backlinks and How to Get Them

In this article, we talk about how Wikipedia backlinks affect your SEO and the best ways to acquire them. 

The world of SEO is constantly evolving.

That’s why as an SEO or digital marketer, you have to try everything in your power to improve your website or webpage rankings.

However, despite the evolution of SEO, one fundamental has remained constant – the power of backlinks. Backlinks have been and will be for a long time, one of the key ranking factors that search engines use to rank sites. That’s why getting high-quality backlinks is still a major part of ranking websites.

Wikipedia backlinks for example.

What? Wikipedia?

Yes, you got that right.

Wikipedia is one of the top 5 websites on the internet, and getting a backlink from this high DA site (DA 100) will definitely boost your website’s rankings.

How do you get yourself some Wikipedia backlinks?

Before we go into the juicy technicalities, let’s first look at the value of Wikipedia backlinks.

Wikipedia Backlinks – Are they Really Worth the Trouble?

The value of Wikipedia backlinks has been a heated debate among SEO experts for years. While some claim they offer no additional value, others swear by them. So what’s the truth behind getting a backlink from one of the world’s most authoritative website?

Wikipedia Backlinks are No-follow

Let’s start with the elephant in the room – the fact that Wikipedia backlinks are no-follow backlinks. Yes, no-follow backlinks technically carry no link juice. However, if a website has as massive a following as Wikipedia does, you can benefit from the traffic it sends your way.

And guess what?

Traffic is one of the signals that search engines look for when ranking websites. The more traffic on your website, the more the search engines will deem your website worthy to rank higher.

Particularly for eCommerce stores, traffic = money. That’s why huge eCommerce platforms like Amazon are becoming search engines in their own right. When someone is looking for a product, they usually type their search query within the platform itself. Imagine the traffic you can drive to your store with a Wikipedia backlink!

Wikipedia Backlinks Build Your Authority

Building your website’s authority is another reason you need to invest time, effort, and other resources into getting Wikipedia backlinks. A webpages authority is determined by, not just the number of backlinks pointing back to it, but also the quality of those backlinks.

And Wikipedia backlinks are as qualitative as they come.

Again, despite the fact that they are no-follow, links from Wikipedia are valuable as the editors are very strict on who they link to. If your website is linked to, you will automatically be considered as an authority in your field by everyone who reads the page you’re featured on.

Wikipedia Backlinks Attract More Backlinks

One major benefit of getting a backlink from Wikipedia is the fact that your link will attract more backlinks.  As a result of the authoritative nature of Wikipedia as a website, your link automatically proves that the content it is pointing to is also authoritative. Other publishers will then value your resource as “THE resource” to link to when publishing content related to yours.

In essence, Wikipedia is a link generation machine – if you manage to get a backlink, of course.

Wikipedia Backlinks are Hard to Get

Don’t get discouraged just yet. The fact that getting a backlink from Wikipedia is no walk in the park is actually good for you. It’s an opportunity that go-getters like you can leverage to get an edge over the competition. So, while they may be hard to get, it is highly possible for you to get them – if you’re willing to do the work.

 So how do you get yourself a Wikipedia backlink?

3 Simple Backlink Opportunities You can Use to Get Wikipedia Backlinks

Whether you’re doing it for yourself or for a client, a backlink from Wikipedia is a great asset that will boost your website and business. Here are the 3 backlink opportunities you can leverage in order to get one:

Insert a Brand New Link

One great or not so great (depending on which side of the fence you’re sitting on) aspect of Wikipedia is that anyone can register for an account and create or edit a page. This presents you with an opportunity to create fresh content (and include your link).

While this may sound straightforward, it’s not a guarantee that your link will stick, as the Wikipedia editors are known to be ruthless when it comes to links.

Repair a Broken Link

A common link building tactic that will never get old is broken link building. No one wants a broken link on their website – even Wikipedia. Finding broken links and fixing them is a great way to obtain Wikipedia backlinks. Not only that, but it’s a great way to obtain backlinks from the websites that are hosting that same link on one of their assets.

Give Dead Links New Life

Love them or hate them, the editors in charge of maintaining Wikipedias integrity are also helpful when it comes to you getting a Wikipedia backlink.

How so, you ask?

They flag dead links that you can help to revive – with your own link. Being the good Samaritan that you are (and a lover of Wikipedia), this is an opportunity for you to help keep such pages as authoritative and useful as possible.

How to Find Dead Links on Wikipedia

Before we get to inserting your link in Wikipedia, you’ll first of all have to know how to find the actual links you can replace with your own. Let’s take a look at 3 super-easy ways.

1. Wikipedia Dead External Links Page

Wikipedia keeps an archive of all the pages that need to be edited due to containing dead links.

Handy as this feature is, it’s rather time-consuming to sift through all the pages looking for the perfect one for your needs.

2. Google’s Got You – As Always

One of the easiest ways to find dead backlinks on Wikipedia is simply by asking Google. Plug in a query in the format – site:wkipedia.org “your keyword” “dead link”.

Google will furnish you with a list of Wikipedia pages (related to your keyword) that have dead links.

With this sumptuous buffet before you, all you have to do is look for the most relevant page that you can add your link to. When you open one that looks like a perfect fit, hunt for the dead links:

 These are your keys to obtaining Wikipedia backlinks for your online assets.

3. Use WikiGrabber to Simplify the Process

WikiGrabber is a great tool that you can use to scour the millions of Wikipedia pages for relevant dead or broken links – easily.

Upon entering the keywords that are relevant to your industry, niche, or article you want to link back to, WikiGrabber gives you a list of all Wikipedia pages that need citations or links. But because you are only interested in dead links, you can set the filter to only show you those.

With a healthy choice of pages to choose from, we can now get into the next phase of operation Wikipedia backlinks.

2 Simple Steps to Obtaining Wikipedia Backlinks that Actually stick

Now that you’ve done your preliminary research and have found target links or content to beef up with your own. Let’s get to building Wikipedia backlinks, shall we? Here’s how you can do so:

1. Create Wiki Worthy Content

Wikipedia is an authoritative information resource. To keep it that way, they have very strict guidelines concerning the content that they accept. While anyone can edit, not every edit is accepted. 

So how do you ensure that your content passes these great guidelines?

Whether you are just editing a sentence, section of a page or even creating new content, here’s what you have to keep in mind:

Be Relevant

Don’t create content just for the sake of creating an opportunity to inject your link into the page. Check the content around the dead link. Will your content and the content the link is pointing to be a seamless fit?

Check the content that was there before the link got broken. Wait, what? Can you really do that?

Of course you can! And no, you don’t have to travel back in time. Well, in a sense you do – by using the Wayback Machine.

Copy and paste the URL of the dead link into the Wayback Machine and click “Browse History”. This will show you what the page looked like before it got taken down. Read the content and check to see if it’s relevant to your website, particularly the link you want to place.

Tip: Run the link through a backlink checker to see the number of backlinks pointing to the dead link. This will help you in 2 ways:

• The more backlinks it has, the more likely that piece of content is relevant.
• It gives you more backlink opportunities as you can reach out to the webmasters running those domains.

In both cases, if you have relevant content on your website, then you can use your current content. If, however, you don’t have relevant content, then go ahead and create it.

Be Specific

To avoid your edits (and precious link) being stripped by the editors, make sure that your content specifically addresses the point the page was created for. The slightest ambiguity and your hard work will go down the drain.

Your edit, and particularly your link, should back up a specific claim on the page. If the content on the other side of the link is general, your link might be stripped. Endeavor to keep everything as close to the subject as possible.  

Be Authoritative 

One key factor that has made Wikipedia the trusted resource it is today is the fact that all their content is authoritative. It can be trusted because it is written by experts in their respective fields. If your edits are to stick, write like the expert you are, backing up your facts with data where possible. Of course, your link makes up part of the data you cite.

Which brings us to the next requirement for your Wikipedia backlinks building mission.

2. Use Wiki Worthy Links

With anyone being able to edit Wikipedia pages, there is a high possibility of spammers taking advantage of this great platform. To mitigate this, Wikipedia editors are trained to scrutinize each link closely to make sure it’s:

• Not self-promotional
• Relevant
• Comes from a reputable website

To avoid your link being flagged as being spammy:

Link from a High DA Website

High DA websites are considered authorities in their niche, therefore content from such websites is regarded as being trustworthy. Don’t worry, your website doesn’t need to have an uber-high DA. Anything above DA 30 is acceptable. However, if there is a similar source from a higher ranking website than yours, that link will be favored above yours.

Again, make sure the content your content is well written and not promotional. After all, Wikipedia is looking for resourceful content that adds value to their content. 

Editing the Wikipedia Page to Add Your Link

Now that we’ve laid all the pieces of the puzzle in place, we’ve reached the last leg of our Wikipedia backlinks marathon – editing the Wikipedia page.

Don’t worry, this is easy. First off, you have 2 options of editing:

• By registering a Wikipedia account. This allows you to be recognized as a contributor.
• Without an account. You won’t get credit for the edits and in place of your user name, Wikipedia will use your IP address.

 Once you’ve decided on how you want to do the editing, find the place on the page that you want to edit and click on “edit”.

 Doing so will take you to this page:

Switching to the visual editor is highly recommended. If you’re proficient in HTML, though, you can continue with the HTML editor. 

And the link? Adding it is pretty simple too. All you have to do is click on the “cite” tab enter your URL into the box that appears.

Click the “Generate” tab next to your URL and then “Next”.

Once you’re done, save your changes. Wikipedia will then ask you to explain (very briefly) the changes you have made in the edit summary box. Be as clear and direct as possible as this is your chance to prove to the editors that the edit is necessary.

Source: Wikipedia

After filling in the edit summary, click on the “Save page” tab and you’re done. All you have to do now is wait for the editors to go through your edits and approve (or, God forbid, disapprove) your hard work. Check your edits regularly to make sure they have been approved or not. 

If not, endeavor to find out why. The editors always leave helpful comments that you can use to increase your chances of success.

Wikipedia Backlinks – Well Worth the Effort

Congratulations! You have just obtained a Wikipedia backlink for yourself (or your client). While it may be a bit of hard work, it definitely is worth it, after all, it will help:

• Establish you as an authority
• Drive traffic to your website
• Boost your SEO

Go ahead and try this awesome link building technique out. Be sure to update us on how you fare. And if you need to up your backlinking game, make sure to read our article on creating a sure-fire backlink strategy that gets results.

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This post was created by Shahid Abbasi. He is a serial content marketer and SEO specialist. He helps individuals and agencies with online marketing bringing them traffic, leads, sales and revenue growth. He blogs about digital design on Cruzine and on MarketerSearch about SEO and content marketing.