With the decrease in volunteer editors on Wikipedia, the demand for paid Wikipedia editors has increased. This has caused many freelancers to jump into the market without really knowing what they are doing. Instead of helping those looking to create a Wikipedia profile that adheres to Wikipedia standards, they cause confusion for clients.
Inexperienced editors offering professional Wikipedia services need to be careful. Providing the wrong advice or creating articles that do not conform to guidelines are likely to get their clients into trouble. How do I know this?? Simple….
Some of my clients only become my clients AFTER paying an inexperienced freelancer who did nothing but create a spam article that was later deleted.
When this happens, the cost to create an article increases. This is because it is more difficult to create and post an article for the 2nd or 3rd time. Volunteer editors feel that if an article was deleted the first time, then it should be deleted subsequent times (as they fail to see if the article establishes notability and simply judge it based on its prior deletion). This means that the article must be perfect when creating it for a 2nd or subsequent time.
I don’t want to put it all on freelancers as clients often do not understand what can and cannot be done on Wikipedia. Clients needs to realize that just because they are paying someone to create the article, does NOT mean that they can put anything in the article they want. It still must conform to Wikipedia guidelines.
Some freelancers are scared to tell their clients that the content they want does not adhere to guidelines. In the end, you get a “spray and pray” mentality where the editor shotguns the content and prays that it doesn’t get deleted.
So, what are you paying a professional Wikipedia editor for?
Expertise and advice:
The first thing you should receive from a professional service is the benefit of their expertise and advice. If the person doesn’t know what they are doing, why would you hire them? A professional Wikipedia writer must be well versed in Wikipedia guidelines such as those relating to notability, using reliable sources, and overall encyclopedic tone.
The majority of your battle with Wikipedia will be related to notability. As such, why would you hire someone who has no clue what notability means? If they are unsure if your article meets notability guidelines, give them a copy of my Wikipedia notability guide.
What do you really want when you hire a Wikipedia writer?
Are you paying in hopes that you get what you want published or are you truly seeking to have a professionally written article that conforms to Wikipedia guidelines?
If all you are looking for is someone to post content you have already written, then I suggest going to Upwork or Freelancer.com. These sites are wonderful for finding freelancers who will post anything you want on Wikipedia. However, keep in mind that if your content is not up to Wikipedia standards, the likelihood of it being deleted are great. Once this happens, it will be more difficult to get it posted again.
If you are looking for a Wikipedia page that stands the test of time, I recommend eliciting the help of a professional who will evaluate your content, advise you on the rules and policies, and create a draft that meets Wikipedia standards.
Getting it done right the first time is key to successful content creation on Wikipedia.
If done correctly, you will have an article that correctly depicts the topic being written about as well as something that is written to withstand challenges from other editors.