Is Wikipedia hard to beat?

[jayveen]

There's lots of comments on here about how an Amazon or Ebay or article site on the first page is a good sign because they can be beat with good content and backlinking, but what about Wikipedia? I ask because I'm trying to rank for a term that has Wiki in the first spot, but interestingly, for an article that is only peripherally related to my keyword. (The phrase just appears in another context in their article.)

[bgmacaw]

More than likely you haven't selected a buying keyword but an informational one. This means that it will probably be a 'dog' in terms of conversion. In other words, beating it won't be worth much so you should concentrate on other, buying, keywords.

[digigo]

that is so true.. if all you have is wiki ranking on the top.. it means the key phrase only has reference value.. but little commercial value. on the other hand, if Amazon/Ebay are at it, it means it has commercial value and if there is no website/article for that keywords, you may find a valuable niche which you can profit from

[jayveen]

That can't be right. Many buying products rank with a description in Wikipedia, just like they rank first for "dslr camera", which is surely a buying keyword. So the real question is whether or not they can be beaten in the SERPs.

[Troy_Phillips]

They can be beaten in the serps . I have tackled them in several sports related niches and won.

What everyone is saying about information seekers is true but if they are seeking information on youth travel baseball, collect their emails with your own information.

They will be interested in niche related products for youth travel baseball.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by jayveen

That can't be right. Many buying products rank with a description in Wikipedia, just like they rank first for "dslr camera", which is surely a buying keyword. So the real question is whether or not they can be beaten in the SERPs.

Actually that's a high level generic term that can bring any kind of traffic and, as such, is highly competitive. However, I see commercial sites and major review sites on Google when I look for dslr camera without quotes, no Wikipedia.

For buying terms you want to get to the specific brand/model, as in "Canon EOS DSLR" or something that indicates a buying attitude like "dslr camera reviews", "Inexpensive DSLR cameras" or "where to buy a DSLR camera". Avoid more informational keywords like "How to use a DSLR camera" or "History of DSLR cameras" (Wikipedia is #1 for this one).

[noah.whitmore]

I would say, IMHO, that you could better spend your time trying to rank for other keywords. Wiki is beatable, but I bet it will take some time. I bet that you could rank for three, four or five keywords in the time that you spend trying to beat Wikipedia.

That's just my experience (I've never beaten the wiki though, just to clear that up).

-Noah Whitmore

[TimG]

Wiki can be beat but before spending the time and work required to beat that site why not pick on easier sites to knock off. Just like there are low hanging fruit keyword phrases there are also low hanging fruit sites that are ranking well but can be knocked from their perch faster than dealing with a site like Wiki.

Tim

[chitika]

content is gold mine... and they have already dominated the G