Why should you have a Quora marketing strategy?

By now, you have probably at least heard of Quora, even if you are not an active user. That's because it's now one of the most visited websites in the world.

While the site does not disclose up-to-date information about its user numbers, as of April 2017, it had 190 million monthly users - up from 100 million in 2016.

But if that potential userbase alone does not convince you to use Quora, here are three of the key benefits of using it as part of your marketing strategy.

1. position your brand as a leader in your industry.

The basic principle of Quora is simple. Users ask questions, and other users answer them.

Topics on the site range from parenting to computer programming to pretty much anything else you can think of - and the users who answer these questions are often extremely qualified in the field. As a result, the site has become a favorite resource for users who want their questions answered by experts. For example, check out the qualifications of this user who answered a question about artificial intelligence.

Because of his education and experience, he is well qualified to write about this topic - and that's the level of credibility users expect from Quora.

So when users search for information about your industry and find answers from your company, they see your brand as an authority. This is especially true if you achieve "top author" status. This award is given to the authors with the most views on a particular topic.

As Mario Peshev explains, he was able to secure top author status in the WordPress category and over 1 million views of replies within a year. This award has helped him gain credibility on the site and further increase his views on the platform.

While becoming a top author is a challenging goal, especially on popular topics, it could be a worthwhile one once you become familiar with the platform. By doing so, you'll not only raise your profile among consumers interested in your industry, but you'll also position your business as a leader at the same time.

With the right approach, this can also translate into leads and sales for your business. By answering a question that was highly relevant to this target audience, he was able to establish himself as an authority - and then turn that authority into leads.

2. drive traffic to your website

When you answer questions on Quora, you can include links to your sources and other relevant content. For example, check out this answer to the question, "What's the best way to learn about stocks?".

This user is the founder of a stock analysis company, so he's certainly qualified to answer. His answer is just over 1,000 words and provides a comprehensive overview of what a consumer should know about this topic.

In the end, he references his company and explains how it can help a reader who wants to learn more.

If users found his answer helpful and are interested in using the exact methods he recommends, chances are they'll click on it. And if you are wondering if this approach is effective, take a look at This Online World's report on visitor traffic after using Quora for three months.

That's more than 2,000 sessions - and that's after just a few months of answering questions on the platform.

3. Earn mentions in other publications.

If you are lucky, your reach with Quora marketing can extend beyond the site's user base. That's because a growing number of websites are sourcing their content from Quora. For example, a search on Forbes.com shows a variety of articles that originally appeared on the site.

To illustrate why this is so valuable, let us look at the second result from the screenshot above. Here, Forbes has published author Howard Yu's full response to the question, "What economic trends do you predict for the coming decade?"

As you can see in the screenshot above, that answer includes a link to his book's website. To be clear, it's a nofollow link. Still, this is a free publication on a major website. When you consider how much it would normally cost to advertise on a site like Forbes, this is a huge win for an answer on Quora.

But as top writer Nicolas Cole explains, you can only achieve that kind of success if you write consistently on the platform. In 2013, he decided to write a response every day for an entire year. Two weeks after starting this endeavor, his answer was viewed over 10,000 times for the first time.

Within that same year, he was featured in Inc Magazine, HuffPost, PopSugar, TIME, Forbes, Fortune, and landed on the front page of Reddit. In less than a year