Can you generate tons of new leads for your business with the help of people’s curiosity? Read our guide on Quora and learn how to use questions and answers for fruitful consumer journeys.
Each day, we are asking tons of questions. That’s the way learning works, that’s the way we’re getting new information, that’s the way we communicate with each other. Good leads are people or businesses asking questions you can answer with the help of the product you sell them. The concept of the consumer funnel journey is also built on the ground of the questions. At each stage of interaction with the market, we have different demands and want to get the appropriate answers with the help of the products we buy.
Keeping all this in mind, the next logical question will be — is there a place where people answer and post direct questions about all the things possible and are open to fruitful consumer journeys?
Yes, there is such a place. It is called Quora.
If you plan to make content marketing your pivot point, grow the startup reputation, and get more search traffic, posting on Quora can become your winning strategy. Haven’t you heard of it? Well, it’s one of the unusual ways to bring free traffic to your website, at least compared to all kinds of advice you get on the SEO master classes and marketing bibles. No worries: after reading this article, even the complete novice will surely know what to do with their Quora account and how to make people interested in their business.
Table of contents
- What is Quora?
- Who’s your target audience?
- Steep turns of the consumer journey
- How are Quora questions ranged?
- Dead questions
- Quora evaluation rules
- Work on your Quora reputation
- Cheating on Quora
- Do the prep work
- Create and optimize your profile
- Produce awesome content
What is Quora?
This web can be aptly named the lovechild of Wikipedia and Reddit: the registered users here answer the questions grouped in topical threads. Its main goal is to keep up with the high quality of content: per SimilarWeb, it’s the second place visited by those looking for information. The first is, of course, Wikipedia.
It’s already here; right from the start, we can give you a bit of evergreen advice. Make the content you’d be glad to find looking for answers.
Don’t be boring. Check the facts. Yes, it’s that simple.
Which questions to answer?
If you want to generate leads who will possibly become your juiciest clients, it’s helpful to think over the answering strategy. Which questions should you answer? Which answers will urge people to examine your profile and click the necessary links leading to your web? There is no universal advice: people are too unpredictable a species for such a crystal-ball gazing. Nevertheless, there’s still one 100 % efficient recommendation: test!
Who’s your target audience?
Of course, nobody can stop you from going on Quora without a single hint about the potential customers. If you are a newborn business, that’s probably one of the efficient solutions for your research department. Quora is a perfect place to survey actual pains and shortcomings before arriving at long-awaited solutions. Still, if you already have a plan and a strategy, it’d be better to prepare beforehand and portray the people who will benefit most from your answers. To reach this goal, map the general user journey with all the intermediate steps leading them to your page or blog — it will help you catch the leads on definite steps with your offers.
Steep turns of the consumer journey
The classic model of the consumer/market interaction can be described with the following chain of “consumer conditions”:
unaware – problem/need-aware – solution-aware – product aware
On each step of this funnel, it’s fruitful to define critical problems and questions for consumers. Afterward, it’s time to analyze the Quora question categories and map your findings onto them.
Nevertheless, we’d like to give one recommendation for all the starters who have just begun their content marketing venture and feel like a new kid on the block: focus on the bottom of the funnel, on product-aware and solution-aware audiences.
- Which question patterns you should pay attention to?
- What are the best *contender’s name* alternatives?
- What websites are the best for *service type*?
- Can you review *contender’s name*?
- Name some companies like *contender’s name*?
- Who are *contender’s name* competitors?
Just answer as many of them as possible. How do your answers help you? Firstly, they increase your visibility on Quora and in Google generally. Secondly, they create the association chain between your company and your (possibly more renowned) market competitors. Thirdly, they give you all the range of possibilities to stand out against a backdrop of other contestants in your market segment. Just think over the viable comparison scheme and possible modifications — and start creating content. No worry if all the comparisons will somewhat resemble each other. Just make them unique and not mutually plagiarized.
How are Quora questions ranged?
On top of the list go the questions matching the so-called 7:1 ratio rule. Doesn’t ring a bell? Worry not, we’ll explain. The idea of the 7:1 ratio was described in the evergreen BAMF Bible — the must-read for all content marketing professionals. After testing all kinds of questions and contents, Josh Fechter found out that Quora’s content evaluation algorithms will more likely pick your piece for organic promotion if it is the answer to the question with at least seven times more followers than answers. Overcomplicated? OK, look. If you see the question with five answers and 35 (or more) followers — answer it since it satisfies the 7:1 condition (35/5 = 7).
Try answering seemingly dead questions!
If you answer a question someone posted a couple of weeks ago, the author will probably read it. Chances are, he’s stuck and still needs an answer. Imagine how grateful he will be!
Quite a few businesses use Quora to promote themselves (just as you will after reading our material). Even though it’s true, the web team constantly tries to make its content as applicable as possible. To comply with their efforts and to become top-notch in their ranks, you can try reading their guidelines.
Remember: browsing through the Quora questions, you only see the first answers, as though all the rest never existed. So, all your efforts in the desired topical field should be aimed at creating the Perfect Answer.
Quora evaluation rules
- Keep it topic-related and straightforward.
- Let your answer contain the key terms from the question to link them.
- Pack all your ideas in 800 words or less. People don’t like to read longer pieces online. Quora algorithms don’t appreciate them either.
- Link your answer to credible sources.
- Mention other Quora users.
- Use lists. Lists are the tastiest piece for SEO. Format them with the native Quora tools.
DON’T MAKE IT LIKE THAT
MAKE IT LIKE THAT
- Don’t forget about images. Let them be unique if you can. If not, use paid stocks. There is no proof that unique pics boost your Quora answers, but why not if it takes a few minutes?
- Update the content. Even the tiny link alteration or some new sentences matter. (Quora’s sorting algorithms are tailored but not ideal.)
Some more helpful tips
The rank of your answers also depends on the community engagement (upvotes, downvotes, comments, reads) and the authority of your profile.
If you’re new, you build your authority from the bottom.
How to work on your Quora reputation?
- Add topics to the “Knows About” section. After getting invitations to answer the questions on these topics, thank those who invited you — firstly, it’s polite. Secondly, it’ll boost your reputation.
- Answer as many questions as possible.
- Generate helpful content that’s likely to be upvoted.
- React to as many requests to answer the questions on your topics as you can.
Cheating on Quora
No, you will get no instant results. In case you want them, look somewhere else. Quora is what it’s meant to be — it’s the web with questions and answers, not a like-boosting service, not a marketplace, not a shortcut to the happy future with 1000+ daily leads out of thin air. There’s no cheat sheet for becoming a trusted Quora grandmaster in a week — just as there’s no such cheat sheet in real life. Experience matters here more than anywhere.
Nevertheless, the urge of swindling, hoaxing, and cheating is too tempting to resist for some people. What do they do? The main ways to cheat on Quora are paid upvotes (in the numerous dark corners of the Internet, one can easily find dwindles offering a few hundred votes for a dime) and sockpuppeting (creating multiple profiles to upvote your questions from them).
Remember two things.
After finding out about the scam, Quora bans all your accounts. Forever.
After the ban, you’ll be in no position to negotiate.
So, what’s the righteous path to success then?
Do the prep work
- Inspect your target audience
- Find out what segments are the most profitable for you
- Map their customer journey
- Choose the questions for the last two stages of customer awareness
Create and optimize your profile
- Pick a quality headshot photo
- Compose a neat profile summary
- Add your logo and business description
- Post a link to your landing page
- Fill in your “Knows About” section
Produce awesome content
- Find your clients’ pain points and cater to them
- Remember the Quora SEO rules
- Answer the requests
- Define your cornerstone topic and stick to it
Sounds exhausting and long? Think of it like the vast pool you’re filling with tablespoons of your answers. OK, not tablespoons — glasses. As long as the pool is shallow, no goldfish will be interested in it. If your answers are clear, helping, and engaging, you’ll get your desired leads, reputation, and influence. Aren’t these your wishes as a business founder?
About Yuliia Mamonova
With 5+ years in digital marketing, as a Head of Content, Yuliia is driving Lemon.io’s growth with her spot-on writing and clear messages. A writer and a researcher at heart, Yuliia knows how to engage with the readership and build a story that’ll stand out. Yuliia has written over 1500+ pieces over the last few years, reshaping the world of FinTech, startups, and content marketing with her skills.
