Can Answers Build Links, Credibility, And Authority?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

People-powered search engine Mahalo is opening up a new revenue stream for people who have answers. But will it be as useful as Yahoo! Answers, Wiki Answers, or LinkedIn Q&A? Furthermore, what kind of credibility and authority can answerers gain from these systems?

As a matter of course, Yahoo! Answers has become incredibly popular. Google tried something similar but it didn’t work out. Yet, while Google leads in search, Yahoo! has the lead in community knowledge. And users of social network LinkedIn say that the Q&A portion of the service is actually one of the best ways to get new business. Is that all it’s really about?

Practically speaking, if you provide good and useful answers to people’s legitimate questions then you can become somewhat of a trust authority, especially if you are prone to answering questions within a particular niche. But you can also gain some valuable backlinks. So there is a dual benefit. Links from a trust site and a reputation for being a credible, authoritative source. What more could you ask for that can help with your long term search engine optimization efforts?