no.stupid.answers

Lately I’ve been reading about “building your blog/reputation/traffic with Q&A.” In fact, in the last few days I’ve read posts from Search Engine Journal, The IT Informer, Swiss Army Librarian, and Baltimore SEO. It’s actually very clever and easy to do, when you think about it. It’s an excellent tool for bloggers, site owners, librarians and professionals to get their names out and build credible reputations in the online universe.

Let’s say I sell jewelry online. On top of just selling jewelry, I actually know my stuff: I know my gemstones, I know my metals, know what works and what doesn’t. I could actually let me knowledge of jewelry do me good.

Here’s how I would go about it:

• My Username: I would join WikiAnswers and choose a username that sounds professional but friendly. Something like, JewelryGenius or KnowsJewelry.
• My Bio Page: My Bio Page would be the center of my universe on WikiAnswers. It would be the place where I list my experience in the jewelery business, why I’m qualified to answer such questions, what my business is about and how you could contact me. These pages are available to search engines, so make it look good, it’s a reflection on you and your cause. Your Bio Page and contributions are also linked from your username, so when you answer a question or make a change on the site, you are constantly linking other people to your details.
• My Watchlist: My Watchlist is an excellent tool for getting new questions answered right away. Add as many categories as you like to your Watchlist, and get notified when those categories are updated with new unanswered questions. I would add the Jewelry category to my Watchlist, for instance. I would also go to My Settings and make sure I’m getting updated with an email when new questions are added to my Watchlist.
• Answer questions: Once that’s set up, I could get started answering questions about jewelry. I could go directly to the Jewelry category or do a search for jewelry keywords.
• Tip: When you are the first to answer a question, your username will stay linked under the question for all of eternity.

For more information on using WikiAnswers, see the Help Center.

As you know, WikiAnswers is based on the wiki concept (anyone from anywhere can add to or edit answers) and answers are grown collaboratively over time by the community. This is the cool new world of user-generated content – where you are the writer, editor and publisher!

But we’re all human – at least most of us – and we do make mistakes. Come on, you know what I’m talking about. When was the last time you spelled definitely as definately or used their instead of they’re? It happens.

There are also those lurking among us who enjoy nothing better than having a good time at the expense of others. On WikiAnswers, that often comes in the form of posting useless, offensive or inflammatory answers or remarks.

So what happens when you come across a question whose answer leaves little to be desired?

You can edit it directly or Flag for Improvement! This handy new link located on the left in the menu area allows you to mark a Q&A as one that could use some TLC. This is especially useful when you are in a hurry or simply don’t have the knowledge required to improve an answer.

When you click on the link, you are presented with the following pop-up:

You can choose one or more of the options listed and even place a detailed comment as to why you are marking an answer as needing improvement. These flagged Q&As (little outlaws!) can be accessed here or you can Browse by Category and see only those Q&As in a particular topic area.

See something you want to clean up?Simply click on the Q&A, select Improve Answer and make your improvements. When you are done editing, remove the flags and comments related to the changes you made by clicking off the little checked boxes or selecting Edit Flags.

So the next time you come across something questionable or in need of some help, don’t turn a blind eye - remember to Flag for Improvement.

Every edit goes a looooong way… ;-)