I do not mean to trash Quora, guys.
I suggest sharing answers on the platform to expand your exposure and to polish up on your expertise, for at least a few minutes daily.
But the more I see aspiring bloggers ask questions on the platform pertaining to blogging, I need to set the record straight. Blogging on Quora is not only a bad idea, but it also is not even blogging. People who have no idea how to blog simply begin allegedly blogging on Quora. None of these folks buy their domain and hosting, believing Quora blogging is a sweet, free alternative to buying your domain and hosting and beginning your own WordPress dot org blog.
Nope.
Quora blogging is not blogging because Quora owns Quora. Do you own Quora? Nope. Meaning, you are a Quora user who expands the Quora brand, and who creates content for Quora, because since you do not own the platform, you do none of this for yourself.
Quora Blogging
You are simply a Quora user who creates content through their blogging feature but you do not own the blog. Heck; you do not even own the content. Think about that, for just a moment. Imagine trying to brand yourself and impress readers and impress bloggers and gain credibility by creating content for a website and not being able to own anything you create? Bad idea, folks. At least if you want to blog successfully.
Quora is super easy for using and publishing in terms of blogging because you can create and publish super quickly and easily, with virtually zero learning curve. Like everything in life, the easiest, laziest way to do something leads to ruin and failure and quitting, while the uncomfortable, but fun and freeing way to build a skill always leads to success and happiness.
On to the benefits of real blogging.
Blogging by Owning Your Domain and Hosting
First off, you own everything. Content? Yours. Brand? Yours. You own the domain and pick a domain perfectly reflecting your blog and brand.
Owning your domain and hosting rocks because you max out monetizing and branding potential, mainly because you customize your blog to your liking and can add infinite streams of income to your self-hosted blog. Owning your blog also instantly boosts your credibility because the domain name reflects your blog and brand, instilling trust in readers.
Imagine seeing a Quora blog link branding Quora – not you – and then imagine seeing blogwithvk.com….which seems more credible? Vishwajeet’s domain name, of course, because he brands himself, blogging with VK, versus someone branding Quora.
Conclusion
Quora blogging is not blogging and certainly is not a viable, intelligent alternative to owning your domain and hosting. If you asked this question on Quora recently, inquiring into starting a Quora blog versus buying your domain and hosting, this is an absolute no brainer, guys.
Buy your domain and hosting. Begin blogging intelligently. Buy some trust. Buy some credibility. Tap into unlimited monetizing and branding potential. Own your blog. Set the rules. Quora can kick you off the platform at any time, for any reason deemed fit, even if you do not clearly grasp the TOS. Unless you do something egregious, you will never be kicked off a domain you own because you largely set the rules and hey, it is your own blog.
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Hi Ryan,
Quora is best for sharing your expertise, skills, and experiences and tapping into the great minds and experiences of others. Learning from others, culture, countries, etc…
But starting a blog on Quora is not just advisable, especially if one desires to take the blog to the next level and earn income from it. Like you rightly put it, it is a rented land and the “landlord” (Quora) can just kick you out at any moment for whatever offense they consider you’ve violated,
Moreso, I have been here online for some years now, and have never seen any great successful blog been built on such blogging platforms like Quora, blogger, and the WordPress dot com.
Thanks, Ryan, and Vishwajeet.
I love the landlord analogy Shamsudeen.
Hey Ryan Biddulph,
Great post as usual. I like the post and thanks for clearing out the difference between Quora blog and regular
blog. It is really important for users to be aware about quora blogging. Quora platform is very easy to use and publish and
to share skills and expertise.
Really helpful post and thanks for sharing.
Big difference between the 2 Aadarsh, for sure buddy.
All true Ryan, we shouldn’t’ invest a bulk of our time building up Quora’s brand.
Also, each member beside answering questions can have a personal Quora blog. Total waste of time as those blogs have a no-index tag applied to them so it stays within Quora ecosystem and Google doesn’t index it.
Yep Nikola, you said it buddy.
Hi Ryan,
I love Quora but I have never blogged on it. I just ask and answer questions. Answering questions has brought traffic to my website over time. It took 6 months of answering questions before I saw any. Now I ask questions and get paid very lilttle for those but they are questions I do want to know the answers for.
It’s great to connect with other people who are more knowledgeable on certain topics.
Great point Ryan about not blogging on the platform but using it for what’s it intended for – to ask and answer questions!