- 5 days ago
- 9 min read
Quora is a crowd-sourced question and answer website where anyone can ask a question, answer one and vote the best responses to the top. It sits somewhere between a search engine and a social network. People come to it for credible answers on specific topics, and they stay to write answers of their own in subjects they know well.
Answering questions in your field works best when you have somewhere to send readers afterwards. Wix offers a powerful website builder that allows you to build a great website, fast. If you do not have one yet, you can learn how to create a website for free and link to it from your Quora profile. Below you will find what Quora is, whether it is a reliable source and how to get set up on it step by step.
TL;DR: What is Quora and how to get started
Quora is a question and answer website where users post questions, write answers and upvote the most useful ones. It works as both a research tool and a place to publish your own expertise, and getting started takes seven steps, from signing up to thanking the contributors whose answers help you.
What you’ll learn
What Quora is and how it works
Whether Quora is a reliable source
How to set up a profile that reads as credible
How the feed, questions, answers and Spaces work
What Poe, Quora’s AI chatbot platform, does
What is Quora?
In a few words, Quora is a questions and answers website. It was founded in 2009 by two ex-Facebook employees, and was actually almost called Quiver instead.
Quora reports over 400 million monthly unique visitors and more than 300,000 topics, which is why its answers turn up so often in search results.
Is Quora a reliable source?
The primary function of Quora works quite simply. You can search questions to get answers or provide answers to questions on the site. That said, the biggest concern about this type of crowd-sourced information is whether the information given is actually factual, or at least, completely correct. Luckily, many of these woes are eased due to the fact that industry experts often use Quora to provide answers. We’ll dive into that a bit further down.
How to get started with Quora
01. Sign up
Signing up is the easiest part. How you decide to do that is up to you, but you’re given the choice of signing up with your Google account, your Facebook account or foregoing them both in favor of a simple email sign up.
Once you sign up, you’ll be presented with a screen that asks you to choose 10 topics that you’re interested in. The topics you choose will be used to generate your feed, which we’ll touch on below. The next step will ask you if you’d like to join Spaces groups, which again, we’ll cover later on. After that, you’ll be presented with your feed, which is where the real fun of Quora begins. But first, you have a little digital housekeeping to do.
02. Fill out your profile
As with anything even moderately social on the internet, filling out your profile is a must. For Quora, since being a credible source for answers is very important, filling out your profile to the best of your ability is more crucial than compared to some other social networks online.
The profile section of Quora provides you with an assortment of different sections to fill out. It starts with your profile photo and profile credential, the latter of which can be viewed as your primary industry or sector you have an expertise in or your job title. This will be shown prominently when anyone views your profile. Below this is a section you can add a brief description about yourself, as you’d expect in any profile. Furthermore, you can add links to your website and other social media channels in your bio section.
Pro tip: You can use a link in bio tool such as Hopp by Wix to direct users towards specific online assets and simplify content sharing on your profile.
On the right-hand side of the profile page, you’ll find two additional sections. One is for adding your employment, school and location credentials, and the other is for adding topics that you know about. The latter section will allow you to search topics and it will display all of the topics with the keyword you searched to add to your profile.
03. Get to know your Quora feed
Even if you end up spending a majority of your time elsewhere on Quora, the feed is one of the best places to find questions about topics you care about. In the beginning, your feed will only consist of topics that you previously selected when you first signed up, but you can, of course, add more. You can simply search for a topic in the search box at the top of Quora at any time, select it to open its page and click “follow.” It’s that simple. From then on, new and relevant questions from that topic will be added to your feed. The same goes for unfollowing a topic. Just go to the page of the topic you’re following and click on the blue marked “follow” button. It will then turn white to indicate that it’s a page you’re not following anymore.
It’s more than just your followed topics
Your feed has a lot more to offer than just the topics you follow. It’s also a great place to discover other people on Quora, as well as Spaces to follow. In addition to these, you’ll also see suggested questions for you to answer, in which you can easily answer, pass or follow each of them. You’ll be presented with questions that have already been answered, and you can then up vote, share and comment on them. Furthermore, you can see a list of the topics you’ve followed on the left for quick access. Last but not least, at the very top of your feed you’ll find a super quick way to ask a question or share a link with others.
Set up your account
If you’re brand new to Quora, the feed will also have an additional section on the right. It’s simply a list of tips to help you get the hang of using Quora. This section is called “Set Up Your Account” and has a small list of items that will be crossed out once achieved. The list entails the following:
Visit your feed
Follow 5 more spaces
Follow 6 more topics
Upvote 5 more good answers
Ask your first question
Add 3 credentials
Answer a question
If available, each “achievement” on the list will be linked so that you can begin to take action right then and there.
04. Learn your question and answer post options
Getting answers to questions is basically the whole point of Quora, so it’s smart to get to know all of your options for the questions posed.
First and foremost (and most obvious), you can answer a question. But, there’s a whole lot more you can do as well. In addition to answering the question, you can follow the individual question, despite what topic it resides in. You can also click the “request” option, which will allow you to search for someone with knowledge on the topic and request the selected person to answer the question.
While the above options are the most prominent ways to interact with a question, you’re not limited to them. Here are some more options:
Leave a comment
Share on social networks or copy the link
Answer later
Follow the question privately
Get notified about edits to the question
Edit the question and source
Edit topics
Merge questions
View stats and log them
Report
As you can see, there’s a lot you can do with questions. Of course, you likely won’t be using the bulleted options above for every question you come across unless you’re a Quora super user, but it’s good to know that there’s certainly more to do here than simply answering a question.
Answers
Unsurprisingly, answers are displayed directly below questions on Quora. Just like questions, answers have their own set of options, though a bit more on the simple side.
Your job as a user is to find the most appropriate answer for a given question (if it’s not coming from you, that is) and upvoting it. Enough upvotes will change the placement of the answer, and the one with the most upvotes will be placed directly below the question and considered the best answer.
For answers, the primary functions are to upvote, share (on Quora), comment, downvote and share on social networks. Additional options are:
Bookmark
Promote
Suggest edits
Thank
Log
Report
05. Have fun with Quora Spaces
On November 7th, 2018, Quora announced a new feature for the platform called Spaces. Quora referred to Spaces as, “collections and communities created around shared interests and tastes.” The introduction of the feature brings more of a community and social media vibe to the platform which makes it an excellent addition to your social media marketing efforts.
Spaces are a bit like Reddit’s subreddit feature in that they offer a dedicated community space for a particular subject. Quora users can follow specific spaces to discover new questions and answers pertaining to the topic.
Spaces can be particularly satisfying, as you’re a part of a community that’s also interested in the same topic and may ask questions you never thought about. Users that are following a Space can post relevant links to share with other followers, so it can be a source of news on the topic as well.
The Spaces announcement post shared that spaces can be used in a variety of different ways, such as:
A group of people can work together to curate the most interesting answers and links about a particular area of interest, such as Farm-to-Plate or SaaS Daily.
An individual can use spaces to organize their own writing into different sections, as Robert Frost is doing with his collection of his Space Exploration answers.
A community of people can create a space to have shared conversations with each other, like Science Lounge or Defense Quorum.
06. Explore AI chatbot Poe
In February 2023, Quora opened up public access to AI chatbot Poe, which gives you access to AI models from several providers in one chat interface. To use it, you open the app and select a bot to chat with. When you ask it questions, it generates responses based on its knowledge and understanding of the world. People use it to brainstorm ideas, get help with research or just to have a conversation.
07. Ask questions, post answers and thank Quora contributors
There’s no wrong way to use Quora, but there are ways to underutilize it. If you simply use it to search for the answers to questions people have already asked, it’s hard to see the harm in that. Still, asking questions is what makes Quora what it is, so do yourself and others a favor and get to asking those hard-hitting questions.
Quora also didn’t become what it is today by being a platform full of unanswered questions. Finding answers to questions is likely how many people unaware of what Quora even was found it. If you’re looking to take advantage of the site’s capabilities, you’re going to need to give back a little and answer questions. Plus, sharing your expertise on a subject you're knowledgeable and passionate about should boost your mood. Not to mention, the more questions you answer, the more you can build a reputation for being the expert that you are.
A parting tip for using Quora is the be thankful to the users that provide informative, well-written answers. If you see an answer that’s factual and offers an insight that the current top answer lacks, be sure to upvote it and thank the user.
What is Quora FAQ
What is Quora mainly used for?
Quora is mainly used as a question-and-answer website. Users can ask questions on a wide range of topics, and other users can answer them. The answers are then voted on by the community, with the most helpful and informative answers rising to the top. Quora is also used as a platform for sharing knowledge and learning. Users can find answers to their questions, learn about new topics and connect with experts in their field.
Is Quora a trusted site?
Quora is generally considered to be a trusted site. The content is generated by the community, so there is a lot of diversity and variety. However, it's important to be aware that not all of the information on Quora is accurate. It's always a good idea to verify information before using it.
What's the difference between Quora vs. Reddit?
Quora and Reddit are both community platforms built around user-generated content, but they have some key differences. Quora is more focused on providing high-quality, informative answers, while Reddit is more focused on discussion and debate. Quora also has a more professional tone, while Reddit is more casual.
