Quora is a leading question and answer platform that is visited by more than 300 million people per month. But how does Quora work?
It is used by people to ask questions and get information about things they don’t know. Businesses and marketers use it to connect with their audience and better understand them. It provides a platform to both individuals and marketers.
If you are interested in using it, you must know how does Quora work. Understanding the way it works will help you get started quickly.
How Does Quora Work
In simple words, people ask questions on Quora and those who know the answer reply to it. But it is much more than this. Here is a detailed breakdown of how it works:
Ask Questions
This is the core feature of the Quora platform. People ask questions about things they don’t know:
The question is instantly visible to other users in their feed (based on its visibility settings):
The question is visible on the profile of the poster (depending on the question visibility setting):
People who are following the user are intimated automatically by Quora of the newly asked question. The questions also appear in people’s feeds who have answered similar questions in the past. All the Quora users select their interests and area of expertise. This data is used by Quora to send them relevant questions they can answer:
Users can also request answers from experts by inviting them:
Quora recommends the most relevant people and spaces by matching your question with users’ interests:
So, your question receives exposure and Quora ensures that all questions are answered. That’s how it works. Unanswered questions are a barrier to knowledge sharing so Quora tries its best to make people answer questions to keep the ball rolling.
Writers can get paid to write on Quora. The Partner Program pays people to ask questions. Yes, you can get paid to simply ask a question on Quora.
How much you’ll be paid per question?
Well, it depends on several factors such as question type, popularity, views, helpfulness, and more. A helpful question can be paid around $2:
It is an invite-only program, so not all users are paid for the question they ask. You’ll only be paid once you’ll receive an invitation to join the program.
Answer Questions
This is a different section of Quora that is specifically related to answering questions. This is the most relevant section for marketers and businesses where they can share knowledge with their target audience.
Quora users can access questions to answer from their account:
Users can write answers in detail, add relevant links, and post it for everyone to see:
Quora allows users to add links in both questions and answers (as long as they’re relevant and essential). These links are nofollow but they’re extremely helpful in improving brand awareness and driving referral traffic to your website. This is one reason why a lot of marketers love using Quora.
Readers can upvote, downvote, share in Quora Spaces, and comment on answers:
All the users can check their answers and question statistics from their accounts. This gives them a good idea of what type of answers people like to upvote and read:
Answering questions is the best way for marketers to establish authority in their niche. And this is why it is such a famous platform among marketers.
Quora Spaces
It is another section within Quora that lets users create communities based on their interests. A Space is a kind of group where users can curate content from Quora on a topic of interest.
Here is an example of a Space:
It is all about curating and sharing content on a specific topic. You can share other people’s answers in your space, you can post new content in your space, and arrange your own content (questions and answers) within the space.
Quora space has its own earning program too where you can make money by managing your space and growing it.
Quora Ads
Perhaps the best thing for businesses is Quora Ads. This is how Quora generates income by running ads on its platform. This is the way how Quora actually works. Ads are placed between answers like this:
This is a feature specifically for businesses and marketers. It gives you instant access to Quora’s gigantic user base. The best part: You can promote your answers on Quora to increase exposure and generate leads. Quora has a built-in lead generation form that collects leads for you.
It offers several ad types including conversions, app installs, traffic generation, lead generation, and awareness. And it offers four types of targeting:
- Contextual targeting
- Broad targeting
- Behavioral targeting
- Audience targeting.
Quora Ads is a feature-rich ad network that is useful for businesses of all sizes.
Quora Works Best for Marketers
It doesn’t matter who you are and what you do, Quora is for you. But it is a goldmine for marketers. Not only that marketers can reach their target audience by answering relevant questions but they can understand the needs and issues of their ideal customers.
If you want to know what questions your ideal customers have, head to Quora and you’ll see tons of questions. Understanding your audience and customers is an issue that Quora addresses smartly. You don’t have to reach your target audience with a list of questions, Quora already has these questions and the best answers.
You just need to update buyer personas accordingly and align your marketing funnel with the requirements of your audience.
If you need to up your Quora marketing game, run a promoted answers campaign, and start generating quality leads.
Final Words
Quora works in several ways. It serves the unique needs of a wide audience that includes readers, writers, marketers, businesses, thought leaders, researchers, advertisers, and more. It is a very useful and helpful platform for everyone.
If you aren’t on Quora yet, join it today. It is free and safe.
Featured Image: Jesse Willms
