Do Wikipedia links help? Results here!

So, I have a website with around 100 or so posts, almost all of them highly optimized for different long tail keywords. Some of those keywords are listed in Wikipedia so I considered testing whether a link from Wikipedia will help or not.

Case study 1:

3,550,000 results for a 4-word keyword

Two weeks after it was published the article was ranking on bottom of page 3. Placed the link to Wikipedia as external link with the anchor being the exact keyword. 4-5 days after the post ranks on page 1 position 8 and it's still there after a week or so.

Case study 2:
912,000 results for a 3-word keyword

Almost the same pattern here, thus it was on top of page 3. Now it ranks on page 1 position 10.

Case study 3:
4,322,00 results for a 1-word keyword

This was supposed to be a more difficult one (although it is not a commercial keyword, more of a medical disorder). Was on page 6 for weeks - 2-3 days after placing the link in Wikipedia I am on bottom of page 1, position 9.

I must add that no link building was done to any of those 3 posts. Now, I do not say that links from Wiki are the holy grail nor that they really pass anchor text, however it might be the authority they send to those certain pages (which were highly optimized - onpage) gives them a great push ahead.

Has anyone noticed similar benefits when getting Wikipedia links?

I have a 25,200,000 keyword with a link from the wikipedia for that same keyword at #6 first page. Not too many other backlinks to that page, around 800 or so and the domain is less than 1 year old.

I think the wiki-link is pretty beneficial in my case.

every time i have ever posted a link on wiki it has been removed
ill pay someone if they can give me link that sticks

I think it definitely depends on the niche/keyword...did not get a single link removed...

I never used Wikipedia for gaining backlinks. I guess I will try this now.

Thanks

Are you talking about an outbound authority link or an actual backlink from a wiki page?

I have a wiki link for months now.. Just take an already existing link and change it with yours. It might not give you anchor-text juice, but it will stay there longer. It didn't really help my site a lot though.

Kappa84, I personally praise you for conducting your own tests.

Not a lot of people can be bothered to learn SEO. SEO is all about testing your own methodology and you have simply revealed that no followed links do help in rankings.

Funnily enough Rand Fishkin from seomoz.org revealed the 2011 ranking factors do give weight in rankings to no followed links.

I also believe that Wikipedia is a seed site to Google.

I have several links in Wikipedia on high PR articles, but it's easy for me as I have an extremely high-standing account there with thousands of edits.

Hmm... I might even start a Wikipedia linking service (lol).

Yes Wiki links are a great backlink, regardless of whether or not they are nofollowed. Since Wikipedia is so highly visited, and edited regularly by members generally the higher quality links will stick. The longer your Wiki link sticks around, the easier the chance of ranking well.

Sounds like a good idea,try it later

I have to agree on this post.
Bad time getting my link stick there as it gets removed within one week or so.
If the link is there then you are sure to get increase in SERP.

I have a private blog about the area where I live - I am not selling anything there, it is not monetised at all, just my random rants and some photos and videos. I managed to sneak a link into the Wikipedia page and I now outrank it - I am number 1 in G00gle LOL! The link is nof0110w, but it counts!

most of the links that get removed from a wiki are e-commerce sites and other non-informational sites. If you put in relevant links that aren't strictly about selling something or pure ads on the site, then your link will stay in the WIKI.

Its very helpful, its not just another link, but from an authority site is great!

How are you even allowed to link outward on Wikipedia when the only outlinks are possible references or sources. Wikipedia is managed tightly and likely chance a link will stay is difficult.

is there such a thing as "wiki software to submit articles to wiki sites" Thanks in advcance, im having trouble finding any info on this as im sure there is somewhere as there are plenty of people selling 100's of submissions so surely they are not doing this by hand, anyboday also know anything, please advise?

eskimo said:

every time i have ever posted a link on wiki it has been removed
ill pay someone if they can give me link that sticks

Click to expand...

try posting in discussions and post one link only with one account.

I got a quick question: Does linking to Wikipedia from your niche have anything to do with SERP results? I know in Some Senuke videos, one of the guys said to link to a authority site like Wikipedia. Not sure why but curious if it makes a difference.

I've been a huge fan of wikipedia in terms of getting links back. They are no follow for sure but they certainly help as an extra source of traffic.

I tried by first putting up a link on a #1 ranking keyword but it got bumped off pretty quick. So instead I went around and added 10 links from second rung keywords (meaning, keywords that trigger wikipedia links in top 5). Its been a month and the links have stuck.

During the month (June), wikipedia sent me 374 visits.. which has helped boost my overall daily visits. Besides, if the link posted is highly relevant, these visitors also tend to improve the overall bounce rate of your site as well.

Here are my results:

Case 1 (2 word keyword)
Linked from wikipedia. 63,000,000 results, rank #2 (rank 1 happens to a page from Yahoo)

Case 2 (2 word keyword)
Ranked Page 7. 1,730,000 results. 2nd search result is from Wikipedia, and I get traffic from there.

Case 2.1(2 word keyword + 6 one word variations)
Ranked in top 5 for all the above.

Case 3
Some kind soul added a reference to another page on my site. Its not one of my main money making keywords, so I don't bother to check on its value in terms of traffic.

Ever since, i've been focusing on hunting down topics from Wikipedia and making sure my articles reflect on them + add a bit more additional information.

@sammysmith: I think if any such tool did exist, it would never match the human involvement with Wikipedia which is why it makes it one of the best resources on the net.

@jerzydawg: I personally haven't come across such cases and keen to know from other members as well.

I just tried adding a link to a highly related Wiki article and it was removed in under 5 minutes! Sheesh!