How do you beat Wikipedia, the world's number one free
online encyclopedia, managed by thousands of passionate
(and unpaid) editors, and a darling of Google?
In case you didn't realize, Wikipedia already ranks top 10
for almost all popular search engine queries and keywords.
Wikipedia's main page has a PR (PageRank) of 8 and the
English home page has a PR of 9.
Almost every topic and keyword imaginable has been covered
(or will soon be covered) by this digital encyclopedia of
sorts. The fact is they have more in-depth and complete
content compared to your website or blog, and the people
writing this content don't ask for payment. Tying to match
Wikipedia in terms of content integrity and completeness is
suicide.
So how do you beat a giant like this?
The answer is to NOT become another Wikipedia yourself.
Look at it this way - how many people actually read an
encyclopedia?
Are you telling me that just because encyclopedias exist,
no one sells a book? Not in the real world. In the real
world people put encyclopedias in a dusty bookshelf and use
them only a handful of times in a year. But they read
magazines, they buy books, they attend events and they most
certainly read blogs.
The only time you should be looking at an encyclopedia is
when you need a point of reference when writing a serious
publication or thesis. Encyclopedias are boring, and so is
Wikipedia.
So here's Gobala Krishnan's 5-step process to beating
Wikipedia:
1) Improve your writing style
You must improve your writing. If your writing is similar
to the boring (although concise) Wikipedia text, you're
doomed. Inject your personality and develop your own style
of writing. My style of writing is very plain, direct and
personal. Some people choose to write in a more poetic /
scholarly way. Some people inject humor or use harsh words.
Whatever it is, improve your writing because it will set
you apart and create a loyal readership base.
2) Become more opinionated
People sitting on the fence sooner or later fall over. You
either like something or hate it. If you're neutral, you're
Wikipedia. Don't become the best encyclopedia around;
become the most dramatic blogger or writer.
Express your feelings for a certain product or service
you've tried, even if it means you may lose some affiliate
commissions from your honesty. It's ok if some people hate
the way you completely flamed a product or service. In the
long run people will still prefer to read what you have to
say then read a neutral page on Wikipedia.
3) Stay current and relevant
Read up on your industry, and put yourself in a position
where you understand not only the past, but also the
present and future of certain topics in your market.
Wikipedia can't beat you if you can (based on your
established position of an expert in a focused market)
foretell the future and influence others to accept your
views.
As valuable as history is, people care mostly about today
and tomorrow. If you are ahead of the market, or at least
up-to-date with the latest developments, write about it and
let people know.
4) Perfect your personal brand
Make everything you write, everything you sell, your sites
and your design smell, taste and feel like YOU. If it's
consistent enough, the moment someone looks at a site they
would know it's yours before they even read a line of text.
Don't brand yourself as a know-it-all; brand yourself as an
expert in one specific field and people will love you for
it.
Wikipedia goes a mile wide and an inch deep. You need to go
an inch deep and a mile wide.
You are a brand. Market that brand, and your online
business will take a turn for the better. Common marketing
wisdom has already proven the power of unique branding.
5) Don't put all your eggs in SEO
Search engine optimization is great and all, but it only
takes another 9 more Wikipedia type of sites to completely
dominate the first page of Google. There's absolutely no
way you're going to beat sites like that in terms of pure
SEO.
Focus more on social networking, making friends, finding
new business partners, and creating more non-SEO-dependent
sites. There are other ways to get traffic to your blogs
than just search engines, so get creative. If you're stuck
with the idea of "Write great content and the traffic will
come", you're in for a big surprise.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that you cannot beat
Wikipedia (or any other big content site for that matter)
at it's own game. But if you change your game, as far as
your online business is concerned, you'll always win.
----------------------------------------------------
Gobala Krishnan is a blogging enthusiast and direct
marketing expert. Subscribe to his blog at
http://www.gobalakrishnan.com for marketing information
that will transform the way you look at your online
business forever. If you're new to blogging, download 2
chapters of his beginners guide to Wordpress at
http://www.easywordpress.com
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