How to Use Quora to Cook Up Great Content
The most successful blogs offer useful content often, as it keeps readers coming back and helps with search rankings. But with the pressure to constantly come up with new ideas, it’s normal for bloggers to experience “blogger’s block” and become a bit overwhelmed with it all. Fortunately there are sites like Quora that can help you generate new ideas by discovering what people are asking about — and searching for — already.
What is Quora?
Quora is a social platform like Facebook or Twitter, but it is designed specifically for its users to ask, and answer, questions on pretty much any topic. Questions posted on Quora are wide-ranging and can be about anything, from why a certain TV sitcom is so popular to advice on choosing a divorce lawyer. The beauty of Quora, and why it is better than Yahoo Answers, is that you’ll get responses to your questions from anyone who is familiar with the topic, along with subject matter experts, who you can quote in your blog post (with their permission of course). The best answers are upvoted so they’re located at the top of the page.
To sign up for Quora, create an account and link your other social media sites by finding your friends through Facebook or Twitter. You can then pick a few topics to follow that will appear on your homepage. Like the questions asked, topics can be general, such as “law,” or more specific, like the name of a TV series. Follow any topics that are pertinent to your blog.
How to Find Blog Post Ideas on Quora
After you’re familiarized with Quora, it’s time to get inspired. While it’s a good practice to scan through the topics you’re following to see what people are talking about, it’s even more valuable to start searching your blog’s keywords to see more specific questions related to your topic. For instance, if you blog about the law industry or family law, use those topics as search terms.
A number of questions, and answers to those questions, will then appear. Glance through the questions and see if any of them would make a great topic for your blog. For example, a search for “divorce lawyer” yields dozens of results. While many are asking for specific recommendations in cities, others sound like blog topics, including questions like “How do I know if a divorce lawyer is good?” and “What should I know and look for when I want to hire a divorce lawyer?”
Not only is this good for idea-generation, but also to see what your potential readers are searching for, and what words they’re using to search for it. Then you can use some of their keywords in your blog post too, as that may help your search ranking and make it easier for people to find your blog on places other than Quora.
Promote Your Blog
Once you’ve written your blog post on the topic of divorce lawyers or family law, head back to Quora and answer the question that originally inspired you. While you can link to your blog post, be sure to also offer useful information in your comment to follow Quora’s terms of service. You want to show you’re an authority that can educate, inspire, and entertain your readers, depending on the topic, so show that in your comment. (It will also help in getting your comment upvoted by other users and thus appear higher up on the page.) After you’ve provided useful information pertinent to the question, you can then link back to your blog by saying that more information is available on your site.
Other Ways to Help Your Blog With Quora
Answering questions may build your authority, but it’s not the only way Quora can be useful to your blog and business.
- Ask questions. Have an idea for a topic but not sure it’s something people will be interested in? Or looking for sources on a topic? Post a related question on Quora and see the answers roll in. Or, if they don’t, start looking for a new idea that has more interest.
- Follow questions. Get updates on people’s responses to particular questions of interest.
As with most social media efforts, the more you use Quora, the bigger the benefit to you, your blog, and your business. So sign up for the site today and see what you find.
Have you used Quora to help guide your blogging in the past? Do you have any tricks or tips for discovering questions people will find interesting? Share in the comments!
Adrienne Erin is a blogger and freelance writer who loves finding new ways to fuel her blog, Pongra. To see what she’s up to, follow her on Twitter at @adrienneerin.
The importance of quora to building relationship and killing writer block cannot be overemphsized.
Its great advantage as you said is the ability to ask question from professional from your own niche that why I wrote an article on using quora to leverage your business.
Its a great platform for seeking quality content and you would even get those difficult question answered.
Great advantage and additional free service form Quora. indeed good article