5 Question & Answer Sites to Help You Build Authority in Internet Marketing

I love Question & Answer sites for two reasons. First of all, they allow you to build your authority in almost any niche by letting you demonstrate your expertise on any given topic to those who are seeking answers. Second, they provide a hotbed for discovering popular topics to write about on your blog. The following ten Q&A networks should have questions for people seeking to answer them in any niche.

LinkedIn Answers

If you have a LinkedIn profile, you’re already set to participate in LinkedIn Answers. This professional network covers categories ranging from Administration to Technology, including Blogging, Internet Marketing, and Search Marketing. Those whose answers are selected as the best answer have the chance to be listed as the category experts.

Tips to maximize your LinkedIn Answers experience include:

• Be sure to complete your LinkedIn profile prior to participating & make sure it is public. This way anyone who enjoys your answers can learn more about you and head on over to your website! Pay particular attention to creating a crafty headline as this will be shown next to your name when you answer questions.
• If you have a blog post that supports an answer you give, add it as a web resource.
• Great answers can lead to job opportunities, clients, and leads, so make your answers count!

Quora

Quora is a Q&A network with an estimated 1.5 million unique visitors per month. Their network covers a wide range of topics from A to Z including SEO, Web Marketing, and Blogging.

Tips to maximize your Quora experience include:

• Filling out your profile. This includes adding links within your bio information to your website and top social profiles so people can check out your website.
• When you follow a topic, go back to your profile and click on the Topics link. Then add a quick blurb for each topic in the “Describe your experience” area. This will be added next to your name when you answer questions within that topic.

Focus

Focus is a community that connects businesses with experts. Their Q&A network covers over tons of business-related topics including Internet Marketing, SEO, and Link Building.

Tips to maximize your Focus experience include:

• Fill out your profile completely. Your job title will be listed next to your name when you answer questions. Your profile also allows you two dofollow links, so choose them wisely.
• You can add links to your answers as well – just paste in the full URL and it will be hyperlinked automatically.

Stack Overflow

When you think of Q&A networks, Stack Overflow may not come to mind at first. But with 8.1 million unique visitors per month, it should. Their community is mostly focused towards developers and programmers, but it does include questions tagged with SEO, SEO Friendly, and Social Networking.

Tips to maximize your Stack Overflow experience include:

• Subscribe to your favorite question tags via RSS. That way you can keep up with new questions without having to visit the site daily.
• Prepare to talk to a very technical audience as most of these people are developers, not Internet marketers.

Yahoo Answers

While the Yahoo Answers community is not always professional, it is still the Q&A network whose questions get featured in search results often. Hence it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on the Search Engine Optimization category to see if there are good questions to answer.

Tips to maximize your Yahoo Answers experience include:

• Get your 250 points early by answering easy questions. Once you get 250 points, you reach Level 2 and can add links to your answers. Before you reach Level 2, your links will not be active.
• People seem to prefer cartoon avatars over actual photos. You’ll be in the minority if you put a real pic on your account.

Do you use Q&A networks? What other networks would you suggest for helping build authority, find blog topic ideas, and building links?

Similar Posts:

• 4 Ways to Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Website
• Is Facebook’s BranchOut Really Going to Outshine LinkedIn?
• 5 Things You Can Learn by Drilling Down on Traffic Sources in Google Analytics
• Is It Wise to Rely 100% on Link Networks?
• Why You Need Your Own Platform

Kristi Hines

Kristi Hines is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media enthusiast. Don't miss her Web Domination Review on Kikolani. Follow her on Twitter and Google+!

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10 Comments

• 
  Adeline January 20, 2012 at 11:43 am

  Wow! I’ve never considered building authority links on Q&A sites before. Thanks for sharing your ideas. Will give this a try.
  Adeline recently posted..Download College Textbooks with Touch Textbooks

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  • 
    Kristi Hines January 23, 2012 at 6:10 am

    You’re welcome Adeline!
    Kristi Hines recently posted..Fetching Friday – Resources Mashup & Timescapes (dofollow)

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  • 
    John March 2, 2012 at 12:27 pm

    Same here!
    Never crossed my mind to put myself forward and try to build some kind of reputation in my field of expertise. Always thought it be a waste of time

    Thanks Kristi for opening up a whole plethora of avenues for building PRO.
    Cheers
    John recently posted..Check Out the Coolest Tips to Lose Weight this Winter

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• 
  Tim Ryan January 20, 2012 at 7:20 pm

  The tips in this article are really helpful. LinkedIn should always be filled out with complete information. So that anyone who searches for your profile will have all the information that they need.
  Tim Ryan recently posted..5 Simple Ways to Stage Your Home (dofollow)

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  • 
    Kristi Hines January 23, 2012 at 6:10 am

    Totally agree Tim! Every profile should be filled out with the most information you can jam into them.
    Kristi Hines recently posted..560 Resources for Blogging, Online Marketing, and Starting a Business (dofollow)

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• 
  Ray January 24, 2012 at 8:14 am

  I am surprised that Yahoo Answers ranks as well as it does. Sometimes it is helpful and other times it is more entertaining and even hilarious. I rarely hear about people saying they get much traffic from it. And, I don’t know about their link / spam policy. I do see links in the replies sometimes so I guess you never know.
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• 
  Catherine67 January 24, 2012 at 1:32 pm

  I think you are right! Q&A is great for the sites! Thank you for sharing the tips on maximizing the experience from different Q&A websites.
  Catherine67 recently posted..how to treat tinnintus

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• 
  mike January 30, 2012 at 5:56 am

  Thanks Kristi, I’ve learned the more you fill out and do it completely the better off you are… To be in the digital world you have to have some sort of transparency and just do it.
  mike recently posted..Have Interest In Pinterest It Could Be For You

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• 
  Marc Rasmussen April 5, 2012 at 1:58 am

  Great article. Stack Overflow and Focus are new to me. I have used ASK.com in the past.
  Marc Rasmussen recently posted..First Quarter Sarasota Market Update – Prices Up!

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• 
  online directory February 21, 2013 at 4:52 am

  Good day! This is my first visit to your blog! We are
  a collection of volunteers and starting a new
  project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to
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