Do they use special SEO tools or software? Not at all. So how does Wikipedia beat the odds on Google every time? It's easy... They use a concept called Latent Semantic Indexing, or LSI for short.
The complex theories behind LSI don't matter to us. All we need to know is LSI considers other, somewhat related, words on your page when ranking. These are words that have been sampled from "authority sites" and set aside in a database that Google references when it decides how to rank your page.
Trying to imagine what words are the best neighbors for any given keyword might be near impossible if not for a site called Quintura.
Quitura is a free service that shows you all the best latent semantic indexing "hot topic" words. It's very easy to use.
1.) Go to http://www.Quintura.com
2.) Type in any keyword and click the search button. A "cloud" appears on the left side of the page.
3.) Look at all the words around your keyword in the cloud. These are all good but the ones in bold are most important.
4.) Now hover your mouse over your main keyword in the cloud and watch the cloud change. These are the words you really want to ensure make it onto your page.
I'll use "SEO" as an example. In my initial cloud I see bolded words, deemed most important such as "marketing, services, optimization, expert, and "company." These make sense but could be refined.
To refine the list I let the mouse hover over "SEO" and I get "optimization, expert, search engine, company, and services." This is better for the context of my page and will even help lead me into writing more complete copy (page text.)
That is how you use LSI to advantage. But the following insider tips will show you how to take on the big guys like Wikipedia and Wall Street Journal Online.
LSI; Insider SEO Tip 1: Try to use the "hot topic" words in a similar manner as expressed in the cloud. In other words, if "optimization" and "expert" show up before or above "SEO" try to use them before the second mention of "SEO" (the first mention of "SEO" should be in the first few words of your opening paragraph if possible.)
LSI; Insider SEO Tip 2: You can also combine several hot topic words as a second mention. If we add, "search engine optimization expert" somewhere toward the end of the page text, we have combined three important hot topic phrases. Just don't overdo it!
LSI; Insider SEO Tip 3: This one is right out of the Wikipedia playbook. Create a separate page for each of the hot topic words and link to and from them internally, within your page text. So in our "SEO" example, we would also have pages focused on "search engine" and "optimization." If you've ever been to Wikipedia you'll understand the beauty of this little gem.
Bonus Insider SEO Tip: Build inbound links and check your ranking regularly. Normally this would be split into two tips but there is software than can do this for you like a pro and in record time. I use a product called SEO Elite (http://www.SEOeliteWeb.com) because it gets the best results of any I've used and does both link building and rank checking. It also finds those elusive "authority sites" that Google loves so much.
So there it is, LSI in a nutshell. With Google incorporating more and more latent semantic indexing strategies all the time, the timing to use this could not be better. Good luck.