Answering your way to authority on Quora
Which questions still get traffic, how long an answer should be, and when to link.
Quora still sends meaningful search traffic, years after the answer is written. That is the whole reason to be there, and it changes what a good answer looks like.
Which questions are worth answering
Not the ones with the most views. The ones that:
- Rank on the first page of Google for a query your buyer actually types.
- Have fewer than five answers, none of them recent.
- Are specific enough that a real answer requires expertise you have.
A question with 400 answers is a question you cannot win.
How long
Long enough to be the last answer somebody needs, and no longer. In practice that is 300–600 words with a clear structure: the direct answer first, the reasoning after, an example at the end.
Open with the answer. Quora truncates, and a preamble means the fold cuts before you have said anything.
When to link
Once, late, and only where the link is the natural next step for somebody who has read the whole thing. An answer with a link in the first paragraph is an ad, and readers downvote ads.