Are you looking to get more followers, increase answer views and build your brand on Quora?
Building a following on Quora is possible with a strategy similar to building a following on other social media and content platforms.
It is not necessarily difficult or complex, but will require you to post unique content and be consistent.
Over the past year, I’ve been utilizing Quora to start to build my brand establish myself as an authority figure in the personal finance and entrepreneurship space. I’ve grow my following to 1,000+ followers and over 1,000,000 answer views.
By increasing my reach and following, I’ve been able to send more traffic to my website through Quora. By increasing my traffic with Quora, I’ve also been able to grow my blog’s email list.
If you build a following on Quora, you will have another channel you can use to acquire leads, increase viewership, or grow your email list.
In this post, I will be sharing with you the strategy I used to get more followers, received 1,000,000+ answer views, and became a Top Writer on Quora.
What is Quora?
Quora is a question-and-answer site where questions are asked, answered, edited, and organized by its community of users. Quora is like Yahoo Answers, but a much more sophisticated and mature version.
The topics on Quora range from health to personal finance to everyday philosophy to anime to old movies to entrepreneurship – and the list of topics is growing larger each day.
Users are able to sign up and answer questions in their area of expertise. These answers can be viewed, upvoted, and if someone likes your answers, they can follow you.
Some people have tens of thousands of followers, and after answering a question, can get thousands of views (which could result in hundreds of clicks to a link of your choice.)
Using Content Marketing on Quora
One of the most influential books for contenting marketing is Content Inc., by Joe Pulizzi. In Content Inc, Pulizzi discusses a new way on how to build a business and brand.
First, build an audience. Then, create the product.
Traditionally, businesses have tried to do the opposite, and the track record speaks for itself: 90% of start-ups fail.
Content Inc. breaks down the business startup process into six steps, making it simple for you to visualize, launch and monetize your own business. These steps are:
- The Sweet Spot
- Identify the intersection of your unique competency and your personal passion
- Content Tilt
- Determine how you can “tilt” your sweet spot to find a place where little or no competition exists
- Building the Base
- Establish your number one channel for disseminating content (blog, podcast, YouTube, etc.)
- Harvesting Audience
- Use social media and SEO to convert onetime visitors into long-term subscribers
- Diversification
- Grow your business by expanding into multiple delivery channels
- Monetization
- Now that your expertise is established, you can begin charging money for your products or services
On Quora, I’ve found the most success focusing on #1 and #2: The Sweet Spot, and Content Tilt.
Write about Your Passion on Quora
“The sweet spot is a place where a combination of factors results in a maximum response for a given amount of effort.” – Wikipedia
When looking to build a following on Quora, you must identify your content sweet spot. Your content sweet spot is the intersection of your knowledge or skill area and your passion.
While it’s possible to develop a sweet spot without a passion point, your passion will drive you to continue answering questions and posting consistently.
For me, my content sweet spots are personal finance, book recommendations, and self-improvement.
Asking yourself which subject areas you have expertise in and which subject areas you are passionate about will lead to finding your content sweet spot for Quora.
Creating Unique Content for Quora
“Everything under the sun has been said… you have to find a new way to say it.” – Henry Winkler
The majority of content developed every day is just like everything else out there.
It doesn’t matter the frequency or delivery or the channel you deliver the content through; if the content doesn’t tell a different story, it will most likely be ignored.
What’s your unique story? What makes your expertise different than other people’s expertise in your field? Can you tell your story on Quora which will be compelling and inviting?
There’s so much power in story telling!
Figuring out what makes you unique in your subject of expertise will allow you to grow faster on Quora and increase your viewership.
Specific Strategies to Get More Followers and Views on Quora
Below are 4 specific strategies and tips for getting more followers and views on Quora.
These strategies are specific to Quora, but could potentially be applied in other content creation platforms.
- Answer Questions in Topics Which are Highly Followed
- I like answering questions on the topic of Personal Finance. The topic of personal finance has 1.7 million followers, which is fairly large for a topic on Quora. In comparison, real estate investing has only 135 thousand followers.
- To get a lot of page views, answering questions in topics which many people are already looking for will result in a higher chance of your answer getting viewed.
- Answer Questions that Highly Followed People have Answered
- There are a number of people on Quora with THOUSANDS of followers. They answer a question and get 5,000 views in an hour.
- A strategy I’ve utilized is to answer questions which these people have already answered – in an effort to gain readers off the coattails of the “famous” person. These people have shown they enjoy this type of question, why wouldn’t they like my answer?
- Re-Purpose Existing Content to be Able to Produce Long Form Content
- With over 400 blog posts on this website, I have a LOT of content. For my book recommendation answers, I will typically copy and paste from existing posts and then make some edits to make sure it’s tailored to the question.
- Having 1,000+ word answers tend to do better than shorter answers. If you already have the content ready to go, this will allow you to leverage past work.
- Put in a Few Pictures where Necessary to Spice Up Your Answer
- Humans are visual creatures and like pictures.
- Yes, Quora is an information driven site, but having a few pictures can help break up the content!
How to Become a Top Writer on Quora
Each year, Quora selects a number of high performing users and awards them the status of Top Writer.
Becoming a Top Writer is quite the achievement, and requires consistency in posting, having unique and solid content, and being an active member of the Quora community.
While there are no specific rules on becoming a Top Writer on Quora, I became a Top Writer through answering about 10-15 questions a week and looking to provide high quality information.
Becoming a Top Writer will further your influence on the Quora platform and give you some perks other writers do not have.
Is Medium or Quora a Better Platform for Content Marketing?
When approaching building a following online and increasing your brand exposure, people will ask if Medium or Quora is a better platform for content marketing.
Business owners and marketers love Quora and Medium because they can amplify their content and reach a bigger audience. Readers and users love Quora and Medium because these websites provide a simple interface to read about topics in which they’re interested.
These two platforms can serve different purposes for your business. Quora is great to build a following and use it to supplement marketing efforts of an organization. The questions answered on Quora can position an individual as a subject matter expert.
Medium is another content platform which already has a user base which individuals and companies can use to build their brand online. Medium is a powerful platform which could serve as a company blog.
Deciding on Medium or Quora will be dependent on your organization’s goals. Both could serve a role for building your following online.
Whatever your decision, your organization will want Medium and Quora to be secondary to a website with product offerings to drive sales.
Gain Thousands of Followers and Views on Quora
Getting more followers on Quora, increasing your answer views,and building a following will require consistency and effort.
Overnight success is rare, but over time, you’ll be able to drive more traffic to your website. With more traffic, your sales people will be able to capture more leads and hopefully close more deals and sales.
Are you building your brand online? What strategies are you utilizing? Are you interested in getting on Quora?