Using Wikis as Backlink Resources
One of the most influential websites in the Western world is en.Wikipedia.org. For marketers, that’s unfortunate, because this resource does not allow or encourage self-promotion by its contributors. Fortunately, there are still plenty of free Wiki resources for the marketer to use that have good Page Rank and allow self-promotion. The great thing about these resources is the ease of use and the ability to link content together in a way that normal Web pages may not permit.
As a source of backlinks for your promotions, product launches and affiliate sales, a collection of Wiki pages can be very effective. Because search engines like Wiki content, these pages can rank very highly in the search results if you use the right SEO techniques and deliver good content. The key is to model your wiki setup after other successful marketers.
Check out the following sites and see which ones you like best for starting your Wiki Empire:
www.wikidot.com
www.wetpaint.com
www.pbwiki.com
www.wikispaces.com
These are the top four free wiki sites in Google’s search engine. You can also search for yourself and see if there are others you like even better than these do. Don’t spend a lot of time “shopping” for a site like this. It’s better to just go with one and set up your first Wiki, as a test of its ability to drive traffic where you want it. If it fails, you can always delete it and start over, either on the same site or at another one.
Wikis can be one of the fastest ways to set up and get good content indexed in the search engines. They also make very good backlinks to support main sites and weaker slave pages. Since the idea behind a Wiki is people-created content, rather than just promotional content, make sure what you put there has value for the reader, other than putting cash in your payment processor account. Once your wiki content is delivered to the world, you may find that the good stuff gets natural backlinks from satisfied readers. That’s a genuine plus for your promotions!
Since many of you won’t be familiar with using wiki software, feel free to play around with it. Get familiar with the process of setting up and “cross-linking” wiki pages. Like other social networking pages, wikis can be grouped together in logical or thematic groups that all hang together in a useful way. Make sure you become familiar with this method of supporting your content and creating valuable backlinks for your marketing programs.
The power and ease of use of these free resources should not be underestimated. Just because you can get a Wiki page up and running quickly and easily doesn’t mean it won’t work powerfully for you (or against you if you do it wrong). Take the time to become skilled at doing this the right way, and you’ll get all the benefits of SEO and good search engine rankings. Learn the process and use it for all it’s worth!