How To Use Quora For Content Marketing

What is Quora?

Quora.com (launched in 2010) is a website where questions are asked, answered, edited and organised by its enormous worldwide community of users.

It is a place where everyone with access to a computer, tablet or smartphone can gain and share knowledge. And it’s free to use.

What can I do on the Quora site?

Ask questions when you have them. Answer questions when you can!

If you have a question, Quora supplies answers and content from real people - doctors, economists, scientists, philosophers, screenwriters, police officers, etc.

If you can answer someone’s question by sharing your knowledge and expertise on a given subject, Quora makes that easy too.

How can using Quora help my business?

Quora’s website attracts 700,000+ monthly visitors.

Contributing to Quora by answering questions is a great way to build authority and reputation. Done correctly (see below), this can also drive visits to your website.

It’s also a very handy source of inspiration for new topics particularly if you’re looking for ideas for blog posts to add to your own website.

Answering questions on Quora, fine-tunes your writing skills and establishes the habit of creating content regularly.

And, once you’ve written an answer, Quora makes it easy to share on your social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) for maximum exposure.

How do I make the best use of Quora?

Personalise your feed

You tell Quora what you’re interested in (and what you’re not) by personalising your feed.

Build a good feed by following relevant topics and people.

Upvote answers you like. Your votes help make good answers more visible so more people will see them.

‘Pass’ on topics/questions you’re not interested in. This will remove them from your feed.

The more you interact with your feed, the better Quora gets to know your preferences.

Follow topics

When you follow a topic on Quora, your Feed will start to include its activity — new questions and answers.

Follow people

When you follow people, you’ll see their questions and answers in your feed. You may wish to provide your own answer or elaborate on what has already been said.

Ask questions

When you ask a question, make it genuine.

To be taken seriously, you’ll need to get the basics of spelling and grammar right and provide enough information so that the answers aren’t generalities.

More information in the questions will provide more valuable answers.

Answer questions

Use Search to find questions & topics of interest that you can answer.

Unless you can rattle off an answer quickly, be choosy about the questions you spend time answering. Look for questions that have a high number of views and followers with as few answers as possible. You want your answer to stand out rather than rehashing what’s already been said.

Make your answers easy to read with short, punchy sentences and plenty of paragraphs. A conversational style works well.

Bullet points and numbered lists are helpful. Long answers are fine but make them legible!

Add references and links to external sources in your answers if you’ve used any. Don’t forget that if a page or post on your own website is relevant, you can link to it.

Don’t be boring. Don’t sell or politicise. Use humour when necessary. Or when not 🙂

If you have the option, try adding a video to your answer. It provides a LOT more exposure.

In short - just answer the question!

How do I get started with Quora?

The Quora Help Centre is an excellent resource and you should definitely take a look at it. Here are some more quick tips to get you up and running.

Create a relevant profile

Base your profile on your business niche and make it as complete as possible. Make sure it highlights your background and the area of expertise you have.

Most importantly, include your company name, position and link(s) to your website(s).

Pick the right topics

Pick topics that not only allow you to demonstrate your expertise, but are of interest to your ideal customer / client (ie, not just business-related topics).

Post to highly active questions

Find popular questions (look for numbers of upvotes, followers, comments, and shares) and write clear, concise and valuable answers.

Answer the question, don’t sell

Always answer the question being asked. Don’t “pitch” your business or your products. Link to posts or pages on your website where relevant but always remember this is an exercise in building authority rather than out-and-out selling.

Provide quality content

It should go without saying, but your answers should always be relevant and add value.

Use multimedia

Make your answers more visually appealing by uploading images, embedding YouTube videos, etc. where appropriate.

Use links wisely

Link to valuable information, tips and your own website if appropriate. But don’t overdo it.

Be consistent

Schedule regular time slots to answer questions on Quora. Make it a part of your daily / weekly routine. Post often and consistently to build your reputation and authority more quickly.

Post your answers to social networks

Use “Post to…” at the bottom right corner of your answer to share your answer on your social media channels.

Summary

Quora is a unique platform that allows people to showcase their expertise and interact with potential customers.

Used correctly, Quora provides an excellent opportunity to build authority and reputation by creating content (in the form of answers) and attracting potential customers to your business.