If you are a search engine optimisation person, what I am going to tell you is nothing new. Wikipedia has worked out how to appear near the top of nearly every ranking page on the internet.

A good search engine optimisation expert is also a good copycat. They often analyse the competition, copy the strategy, and if they can, improve it accordingly to their knowledge. From time to time, I write about this subject because with my type of company, this is the one topic that people want to know more about.

As you might have realised, when you are searching for something using Google, the results almost always present Wikipedia content in the top couple of listings. For me, I come across the online encyclopedia several times a day.

Do you know the reason why?

It’s very simple. Google loves the way Wikipedia organises it’s pages.

Given that search engine optimisation experts are good at copying, they take it as a reference for ranking a page. Here are some of the points that SEO’s have found from Wikipedia

• Use content that is current (up-to-date), of quality and relevant.
• Create a structure that is easy to navigate for a better user experience.
• Prioritise the use of internal links and external links.

SO now we know the three main factors of ranking results on Google.

Wikipedia is a medium that is made by people who contribute their knowledge and time without asking for something in return.

Generally, several changes and revisions are made to content so that it stands out for its timeliness and relevance.

These two factors are very important to Google.

An protective safeguard exists so that no one sneaks links into a page with the aim of driving traffic to their website.

Lessons learned about Search engine optimisation:

Frequently update content

Google likes pages that not only focus on supplying quality content but are also concerned and care about the content factors.

There are many website makers that have started to remove the date of publication in their content.

This will not improve anyone’s ranking if it is not accompanied by an extension and/or modification of a published article.

A structure that is easy to navigate for a comfortable user experience

If you have already spent a little extra time on Wikipedia, you will have realised that navigation on the website is very easy and easily understood (or at least I perceive it to be so) such that the user can read one piece ofcontent and easily move on to the next.

The fact that the length of a user’s stay on a page increases and the page views per user is high (for example > 2 to 3) sends a positive signal to Google.

These are indicators that show that users (page viewers) are comfortable with the web page.

This point is important as it is a matter of importance to the search engine.

When someone performs a search and gets disappointed with the quality of the content presented by Google, they may choose the alternative (e.g. Bing).

As much as Google wants to present the relevant content, it doesn’t want to worry about losing its users to the competition.

Make the user the center of attention of your activity

A lot of integrated internal links like an index at the beginning of an article facilitates easy navigation

The use of internal links and external links

These links do not serve only for an easy navigation. They are also essential in making Google locate your content, making it more relevant.

All these are placed under SEO OnPage. Basically, it uses the internal energy of a page to channel force and authority (relevance) to those pages that we are most interested in highlighting.

One important thing is to also vary the keywords within the anchor without abusing the term that you want to position in the top ten Google results.

You may be surprised that the search engine analyses not only the structure of internal links but also positively considers the type and quality of the outgoing links.

Google wants to see that you are an expert in your field by you referencing other experts of authority in your field.

Do not be stingy when using external links on your website

Do not be bothered that the user will leave your website for another.

Google will value you positively because you reference quality pages.

Google typically acts as though Wikipedia or other digital means are better because they show the user the linked pages of authority.

When you include internal links, do not abuse the use of the central keyword.

It is recommended to vary, using synonyms to make it look more natural.

To get started with SEO, copying is definitely a recommended strategy.

Doing only what Wikipedia does is no guarantee to place your web page at the top of Google result rankings, but these are the successful ones that have worked at all times. SEO can be both a technical discipline and an art, but in both cases, one goes through trial and error.

The best have invested a lot of time and have made mistakes before getting it right.

If you start with absolutely nothing, do not expect to rapidly advance to the top.