It is OK if someone asks you what is Quora? But it isn’t OK if a marketer asks you what is Quora?
Consider it a sin if you – as a marketer – don’t know what is Quora.
Founded in 2009 and made public in June 2010, Quora has become one of the leading question and answer platforms that is used by millions of people daily. It is estimated that more than 300 million unique people visit Quora per month making it one of the most visited websites in the world.
Enter a question in the Google search bar, and you’ll see several questions and answers from Quora. That’s how popular it is. You will find an answer to any type of question on Quora be it related to marketing, health, astrology, cooking, engineering, and more.
Not sure what is Quora? Let’s dig deep.
What is Quora?
Quora is a knowledge-sharing platform where people ask questions and experts answer these questions. Anyone can ask a question and anyone can reply to it. The platform is completely public and you don’t have to be an expert to post a reply. You can follow others, upvote and downvote answers, run a blog, and connect with the Quora community in several ways.
Most of the Quora features resemble a social networking site such as following others, upvoting and downvoting answers, following questions and topics, sharing and resharing answers in your space, and having a complete bio with a profile picture.
Here is an example of a Quora profile:
You can add links to your website/blog, social media accounts, and write a detailed bio to showcase your expertise, education, and interests.
How Quora Works?
Using Quora is straightforward. You don’t need any training to get started. As soon as you register, the onboarding sequence will initiate and you’ll be asked to complete your profile step-by-step.
The way how it works is even simpler:
- Quora users can ask questions and answer questions at the same time from a single account.
- Users ask questions and invite answers from experts in the field. Quora algorithm suggests the most relevant experts when people post questions.
- Other users can search questions, follow relevant questions they’re looking for answers for and wait for replies.
- All the users see relevant questions in their dashboard based on their interests. This helps them answer the most relevant questions they’re experts in.
- Users upvote, downvote, and share answers accordingly and the whole community stays connected.
Quora Features
The Quora comes with tons of features and benefits, here is an overview of the major ones:
- It is free to use. It doesn’t cost you any money at any stage
- You can link to your website and add external links in your answers. This helps you promote your business without getting salesy
- It helps you build authority in your field by helping the Quora community and sharing your knowledge
- You can curate and create content on Quora using Spaces that you can use as your blog where you can connect with your community
- You can monetize your content on Quora and get paid via your Space. Quora space owners earn money after approval from the moderation team. This makes Quora a source of passive income for you
- You can run ads on Quora to promote your business or products
- You can use your Quora content on your blog and repurpose your answers and answers from other users with proper citation. This provides you with a great opportunity to share content across multiple channels
- You can use it like a social networking platform where you can follow others and grow your community
- Quora republished its best answers on leading websites including Forbes and Inc and there are good enough chances of your answer being republished to an authority website
- Users get notifications when new questions are posted in their areas of interest or when someone answers a question they are following. These notifications are auto-generated by Quora
- You can promote your website and business in your profile without any issue. You can even generate leads from Quora.
How Marketers Can Use Quora
Quora is no less than a goldmine for marketers and businesses who are looking for traffic and leads. There isn’t any better platform than Quora where you can connect with your target audience, solve their queries, understand them better, and offer solutions.
Ahrefs, for example, generated over a million views on Quora in just two years via its marketer Si Quan Ong:
When used right, Quora can turn out to be a gigantic traffic source for any business. Here are the best techniques to use Quora as a marketer:
Make Your Bio Compelling
Your bio is the most important part of your Quora account. It must be compelling, persuasive, and detailed. The more detailed it is, the better. Here is an example of an amazing bio:
Having a clear bio with a powerful call to action makes it stand out from the crowd. You can add links to your landing pages, blog, social accounts, and more. There are no restrictions at all.
Build Authority
At the end of the day, Quora is all about finding and answering the right question, sharing knowledge, and establishing your authority. You want to make sure that your answer is accurate, informative, gets views, upvotes, and shares. Mediocre answers don’t work.
You have to do an awesome job to stand out from the crowd and make your answer the best among several others.
Quora sorts answers based on several factors including relevance, upvotes, views, shares, content type, and more. A great answer will be shown at the top and will get more views as compared to other answers. Make sure it is your answer that makes it to the top position.
Drive Traffic
The links are no-follow at Quora but they still work great for referral traffic. If people like your answer, they’re most likely to click the link in the answer or check your bio.
Here is an example:
Adding relevant links in your answers naturally doesn’t just drive traffic but it improves your answer ranking too. However, you need to keep it natural. Adding promotional links and forcing people to click your links will negatively impact your profile and your account might get blocked.
Final Words
Quora is a great platform for everyone. It has something for everyone. Whether you want to drive traffic, build authority, ask questions, or simply want to share information, Quora got you covered. The reward sharing program via Spaces is another reason why a lot of people have started using Quora actively.
As a marketer, you shouldn’t miss its gigantic community that helps you connect with your target audience. What’s better than finding your target audience’s top questions and issues free of cost?
Featured Image: The Verge
