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If you’re looking for new blog post ideas, one often-overlooked resource is Quora, the social Q&A platform that launched to much fanfare back in 2009. Quora has carved out a useful niche for itself as the online destination to ask and answer questions – but it is far more than just that: it is also a great way to come up with winning blog post ideas.
#1: See what’s trending in your field
The key to using Quora is learning to understand how it can help you spot emerging trends that might be turned into engaging blog posts. For example, let’s say that your small business manufactures widgets. Your Quora topic area would be “widgets,” and you would make sure that you are following every single trending topic on Quora involving widgets. You would keep updated on what’s on people’s minds and understand what types of problems or issues they have.
You would also check out which Quora posts have the most views and upvotes – that would give you a very good idea of what kind of content is trending right now. Some of the biggest media companies actually use this strategy. For example, Forbes.com often reposts questions and answers found on Quora, along with a simple disclaimer like, “This question originally appeared on Quora.” Some part of this has to do with traffic, of course. Questions that get a lot of traffic on Quora are likely to get a lot of blog traffic as well.
#2: Find the biggest experts in your field and follow their example
Within the Quora platform, you’ll often notice that certain people emerge as the subject matter experts. They are the people with all the views, all the upvotes and all the badges. As a result, people turn to them with questions, asking for an answer. And it’s here that you can find out what the “thought leaders” are discussing. As an added bonus, you can often cite, reference or embed this Quora content in your own blog, giving you a nice little boost in traffic and perhaps the seal of approval from a thought leader.
#3: Explore new ways to approach tired, old topics
There might be some topics that you’ve written about so many times that you probably think there couldn’t possibly be any new way to approach it. But that’s where Quora can give you a real boost. On Quora, for example, one secret to getting answers to questions upvoted is by sharing personal (the more personal the better!) stories from your own life. Stories of struggle and perseverance, stories that are uplifting, and stories with an “a-ha” moment do best. So why not think of ways to incorporate personal stories into your blog posts?
With just these three tips, you’ll have plenty of insights for new blog posts. Moreover, here’s the really big advantage – you won’t waste your time writing on topics that nobody cares about and won’t read. Chances are, if content does well on Quora, it will do well on your blog. Just remember – the type of blog content that performs well is constantly changing. By examining how top people on Quora are answering questions and getting upvotes, you’ll be able to up your blogging game and become known as a real subject matter expert in your chosen field.
