Quora is where 400 million people go to ask questions and get expert answers on everything from skin care routines to business strategy. For merchants, that’s an opportunity: Answer questions in your industry, and you’ll reach educated buyers actively looking for solutions. Sixty-five percent of Quora users have college degrees, and 54% live in households with an annual income of more than $100,000.
With a growth trajectory and engaged community, Quora presents significant opportunities for businesses looking to expand their digital marketing reach and build authority. Whether you’re seeking to share knowledge, drive traffic to your website, or connect with your target audience, understanding how Quora works and how to leverage this platform effectively can transform your marketing strategy.
Unlike scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, Quora users come with purchase intent. They’re researching products, evaluating options, and asking for recommendations—which means your expertise can directly influence buying decisions.
Here’s everything you need to know about Quora. How to use it to establish industry expertise, conduct free keyword research, and reach affluent buyers—plus how to leverage paid ads that may cost less than Facebook or Google. See what makes Quora different from other platforms and provide actionable strategies for SEO, content marketing, and customer research.
What is Quora?
Quora is a social questions and answers platform connecting curious minds with knowledgeable experts across virtually every topic imaginable. Founded in June 2009 by former Facebook employees Adam D’Angelo and Charlie Cheever, Quora became available to the public on June 21, 2010. The platform was created so people could share knowledge and learn from each other’s experiences and expertise.
Users can create new Quora accounts, sign up with email addresses, and immediately begin participating in the Quora community. The platform allows registered users to ask questions on specific topics, answer questions from other users, and engage in meaningful discussions with industry experts and other knowledgeable individuals.
In a move that expanded its global reach, Quora announced support for multiple languages in recent years. The platform covers over 300,000 topics in 24 languages. As of 2025, Quora boasts more than 400 million monthly active users. The United States leads, with 148 million users, followed by India, with 100 million users, showcasing Quora’s global reach and diverse user base.
Key features of Quora
Quora’s success stems from several distinctive features that enhance the user experience and content quality:
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Expert-driven content. Quora attracts professionals, industry experts, and subject matter experts who provide authoritative answers. In fact, 65% of users have a college degree.
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Upvoting system. The platform’s democratic upvoting mechanism ensures that the best, most helpful responses rise to the top through a built-in answer ranking system.
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Search questions and topics. The site organizes content into specific topics, making it easy for users to search questions and follow subjects of interest, as well as for businesses to find their target audience.
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Profile pages. Each user has a profile page where they can showcase their expertise, add a profile picture, and build their brand reputation within the Quora community.
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The ability to share information. Users can share answers that include relevant links to external sources, helping to drive traffic and share content across the web.
How Quora differs from comparable sites
While Quora shares some similarities with platforms like Reddit, several key differences set it apart:
Content formats
All of Quora’s posts come in a question-and-answer format, whereas other sites like Facebook or Reddit don’t limit the type of posts people can make. Users can “upvote” the answers they deem most helpful; they can also “downvote” answers they find unsatisfactory, similar to how Reddit works. Still, while Reddit is more of a discussion forum, Quora has limited discussion abilities. To engage in a discussion means posting an answer to a question.
Once you post your question, you can invite the Quora community or experts to answer it. You can also begin the discussion by answering it yourself. This makes it a great place to establish thought leadership. For example, if you own a makeup business, you can post questions about applying certain products from your Quora Business account and answer them from the same account.
A focus on knowledge
What makes Quora special is its emphasis on professional knowledge sharing and serious discourse. According to Quora, 37% of Quora users are more likely to be in management positions, indicating a professional user base seeking to share knowledge and expertise. Not only do 65% have a college degree, but 28% also have a graduate degree.
People use other sites—like Facebook or Instagram—to make social connections or get visual inspiration. But people come to Quora to conduct research, evaluate products, ask for tips, and learn more about topics they’re interested in.
Real names vs. anonymity
Like Facebook, Quora encourages users to use their real names on their profile page, creating greater accountability and credibility compared to Reddit’s anonymous culture. This is great for users who want to demonstrate thought leadership or brands that want to create brand awareness. However, users can still answer anonymously when needed.
High income audience
According to Quora, 54% of Quora users report an annual household income greater than $100,000, making it an attractive platform for businesses targeting affluent consumers. Additionally, users with a household income greater than $100,000 spend twice as much time on Quora than on LinkedIn, highlighting the platform’s engagement potential. These users also have high purchase intent—29% of users say they intend to buy the premium version of products, and 49% of users tell their friends and family about new products.
As entrepreneur Charlie Bowes-Lyon, cofounder of Wild, explains on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast about Wild’s marketing approach: “We went out and got involved in tons of different Facebook groups on Mumsnet, on any forum we could find. Quora. Basically anywhere that we could speak to people and try to convince them that this was a product that maybe they should sign up to hear more about or purchase.” Participating in more than 500 online groups paid off. “We did £100,000 of sales in our prelaunch, which gave us real confidence that we did have a product that people actually wanted,” says Charlie. “That meant that when it came to launch in April [2020], we were happy to put some significant money behind our Facebook and Google campaigns.”
Smart businesses are using Quora as part of their comprehensive marketing strategy to reach new audiences and share information about their products.
How to use Quora for your business
Quora represents a gold mine for businesses seeking to build authority, drive traffic, and connect with potential customers. Whether you’re answering questions or publishing blog posts, Quora is a great place to test new ideas, share perspectives, and see what resonates with your target audience. The platform’s unique characteristics make it particularly valuable for companies looking to demonstrate expertise and engage with users who are actively seeking solutions.
Keep these strategies to keep in mind:
Use Quora for search engine optimization
There are two ways you can use Quora for your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. First, you can use the platform for keyword research. For example, you could search all the makeup-related questions on the platform and see what people are talking most about. You may see that many people are interested in learning about makeup application tips, so you use that information to inform your content marketing strategy.
Second, creating content on the actual Quora platform can improve your website’s SEO because of:
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Increased organic visibility. Well-crafted answers often rank highly in Google search results, providing long-term visibility when users search questions related to your industry and your answers pop up.
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Keyword optimization. By finding and answering relevant questions related to your industry keywords, you can capture search traffic for relevant queries and help your content appear in search results.
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Backlink opportunities. Quality answers with useful, relevant links can drive traffic to your website.
Buy paid ads
Quora’s advertising platform offers unique advantages for businesses seeking targeted reach. They offer a variety of targeting options, including but not limited to keyword, question, list match, and broad targeting. Some advertisers also find that Quora has a significantly lower cost-per-click (CPC) than Google search campaigns and Facebook ads.
Quora ads appear natively within the questions and answers feed, reaching users who are actively seeking information related to your products or services.
Here are a few actionable steps you can take to advertise on the platform:
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Create a general Quora account and then set up a Quora Business account to access the advertising platform.
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Define your target audience using Quora’s 11 different targeting options, including topics, interests, and demographics.
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Write compelling ad content that addresses specific user questions or pain points.
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Monitor campaign performance and optimize based on conversion data.
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Test different ad formats and targeting parameters to maximize return on investment (ROI).
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Focus on reaching other experts and industry professionals who influence purchasing decisions.
Post blog articles
Quora’s blogging feature allows your business to share content beyond simple question answers, expanding your content marketing reach and helping you share knowledge with the community.
Publishing blog posts on Quora positions your business as an authority while driving traffic to your website. Blog content can explore complex topics in depth, showcase case studies, and provide comprehensive guides that demonstrate your expertise. Your blog posts appear on your profile page and can be shared across the platform, reaching other users interested in your specific topics.
You can also publish content through Quora Spaces. These are community hubs focused on specific interests that allow you to gather followers, as well as share blog posts, Q&As, and other resources.
Answer questions
Answering relevant questions represents the core of Quora’s marketing strategy and offers the highest potential for building credibility and authority within the Quora community. Providing valuable answers establishes your business as a trusted authority in your field. Quality answers to popular topics can generate significant visibility. Additionally, this approach builds trust with potential customers who see your expertise demonstrated through helpful, detailed response content. When you consistently provide the best answer to relevant questions, you build a reputation that can drive traffic and establish thought leadership.
What is Quora FAQ
What is Quora used for?
Quora is one of the largest knowledge-sharing platforms in the world, connecting millions of users across over 300,000 topics in 24 languages. People can use it to ask questions and request answers from industry professionals.
Is Quora a trustworthy website?
Quora is as trustworthy as any other social media site, which means you should still use your best judgment and conduct your own research to confirm what you read on there.
What are the downsides of Quora?
The potential for inaccurate or biased information is high, just like any other social or blogging platform. While Quora moderation aims to flag and remove misleading or inappropriate content, the platform still relies heavily on community reporting, which can sometimes let misinformation slip through Quora’s upvote system.
