7 Questions with Josh Greene of The Mather Group
Josh Greene is the CEO of The Mather Group - where he focuses on utilizing Wikipedia, SEO, retargeting and pay-per-click (PPC) as means to improve clients’ online presence and website traffic. Josh worked in corporate marketing before starting the Mather group and has a keen understanding of how SEO and web presence can enhance a brand. This week, we asked Josh 7 questions about his work.
In what cases is it beneficial for a company or organization to have a Wikipedia page?
In almost all instances, a Wikipedia page is going to be important. Wikipedia is visited by billions of people a month, almost always ranks as a top 3 search result on Google, and is used to supply answers to smart assistants like Alexa and Siri. Companies or organizations with a page can take advantage of Wikipedia’s authority and use their page to boost brand awareness and grow their online presence.
The one caveat I have here would be if your organization is highly controversial, or deals with highly controversial topics. In these instances, a Wikipedia page can quickly become either overly negative, highly spammed, or both. While the Wikipedia community will step in and protect certain pages - restricting who can edit them because of past controversies and editor behavior - you don’t want to depend on that, or go through the pain it takes to get there.
What are the biggest mistakes you see when it comes to approaches to Wikipedia?
Anyone can edit Wikipedia, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should. The online encyclopedia has a plethora of guidelines and highly invested volunteer editors. Taken together, these two things can cause trouble for someone who doesn’t understand what they’re getting themselves into. If you’re trying to scam the system, you will get caught, and you could see your page deleted or account blocked. On the other hand, if you have the best intentions in the world and aren’t trying to slip around the rules, but don’t understand them, you’re going to face a lot of reverted edits. There are articles upon articles that cover everything from who can edit a page, to usable sources, to how to write copy. Take the time to review them on your own, or work with someone who has a lot of experience.
What steps can an organization take to have a better Wikipedia presence?
A better presence comes from a better understanding of Wikipedia. This means studying all of the encyclopedia’s editor guidelines, and reviewing the Talk page and history of the specific page you’re interested in before you start jumping into editing yourself. If you find yourself getting confused, you aren’t alone. For something that’s free for all, Wikipedia has a lot of confounding red tape. Reach out to someone you know has a lot of experience, and have them guide you through the process.
What are some ways Wikipedia can help advocacy or political campaigns?
People trust Wikipedia to have up-to-date information about a topic that is sourced from reliable second or third party sources. Advocacy or political campaigns that work with and don’t abuse this reputation can use Wikipedia and its search result rankings to provide searchers with neutral, factual information.
How is the digital marketing landscape changing?
With the ever increasing availability of digital marketing tools, it’s important to keep in mind that delivering individualized messaging is both easier and more important than ever. One size fits all campaigns tend to underperform relative to historic norms and aren’t where you want to focus your time and energy.
What common mistakes do companies and organizations make in digital marketing?
I see two big mistakes pretty often. One is when companies don’t adapt to different environments. Just as personalization is important in messaging, it’s also important in strategy. Remember that what works on LinkedIn won’t work on TikTok, and your brand and message may not resonate across all platforms. Craft messaging that makes sense for specific environments and audiences, but don’t try to force your messaging in if the space isn’t right.
The second mistake is just the opposite - when there are significant internal roadblocks to new channels or new messaging, and companies are missing out on campaigns that could be really beneficial for brand awareness and sales. Always be willing to workshop different ideas and theoretically walk yourself down different paths to see where they lead. If the path is wrong, that’s fine. Try something new. Just whatever you do, don’t expect that you can keep in front of a pack of competitors by sitting still.
What are good resources for information on SEO and Wikipedia?
Moz is my go-to recommendation for information and tools on SEO. It offers several free SEO tools, as well as paid options. Take advantage of its keyword recommendations, performance insights, and site crawls.
As for Wikipedia, it actually has a lot of great information about itself, although it isn’t always the easiest to find or navigate. You can start by going to its Help:Introduction page. Once you’re there, just start clicking through and reading any relevant tutorials.
*Bonus Questions*
Do you have favorite tools for web optimization and SEO you recommend?
My three favorite tools are Moz, SemRush, and Google’s Search Console. You might not decide that you need to use all three, but each one provides a lot of rich, insightful information so I think all three are worth checking out.
What podcasts have you enjoyed listening to recently?
I recently had a long drive up to Buffalo and I enjoyed To Live and Die in LA; I Love Marketing; and the Bill Simmons and Zache Lowe podcasts about everything basketball.
To learn more about Josh Greene and The Mather Group, click here.