How to get a Wikipedia page: notability, explained honestly

The short answer

Nobody grants a Wikipedia page. Volunteers keep an article when the subject meets the notability guideline: significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject. That is a fact about your press history, not a service anyone can sell.

Paying someone to write your page breaks Wikipedia's rules unless every step is disclosed, and even then the guidelines discourage it. Blue Leopard Media does not create Wikipedia pages. What we can help with is the real prerequisite: a visible, accurate presence for your name, through our founder PR service.

What notability actually means

The general guideline asks for coverage that is significant (it addresses the topic directly and in detail), reliable (the source has editorial integrity), secondary and independent (not produced by the subject or anyone affiliated with it). Multiple sources are generally expected.

The guideline for companies) is blunter: "Only unpaid sources count." It excludes press releases, press kits and paid media, and says routine announcements such as raised capital do not make a company notable. The guideline for people) says trivial coverage is not usually enough and that autobiography and self-promotion are not routes to an article.

Wikipedia's reliable sources guideline treats sponsored content as a paid ad formatted like an article, to be handled as a self-published, primary source. A sponsored feature, ours included, will not establish notability.

What the rules say about paying someone

The conflict of interest guideline covers editing about yourself, clients and employers. It says you should generally refrain from creating articles about yourself or anyone you know, and that paid editors must disclose who is paying them and on whose behalf the edits are made. They are strongly discouraged from editing affected articles directly and must not act as reviewers.

The paid-contribution disclosure policy is part of Wikimedia's Terms of Use. It applies to anyone paid for edits, or compensated for publicity connected to the article's subject. A paid editor who will not disclose is prohibited from editing.

So a freelancer who promises to "get you a page" while keeping the client quiet is breaking the rules, and a page built on thin sourcing is a poor investment whoever writes it. Money buys writing time. It does not buy independent articles.

Your realistic options

How the options compare:

Editors with a conflict of interest are asked to submit through Articles for Creation or propose changes on talk pages. The page says there is no fixed waiting time and that most topics need significant coverage in multiple reliable, independent, secondary sources. A paid editor is the better fit if you already have that coverage.

What to do first

1. List every article about you or your company that someone independent wrote, not interviews you arranged or releases you issued.
2. Count the ones that go beyond a passing mention. If there are fewer than several, you are not ready.
3. Earn more independent coverage by giving journalists something worth writing about.
4. Keep your own pages and profiles accurate, so search results are right while you wait.

If you want a clear, clearly labelled page about you in the meantime, tell us about your background and we will recommend a publication and an angle.