When the thinking of posting a question about almost anything and getting useful answers from users all over the globe, we hardly need to think of any other Question-Answer platform than Quora. Yes, over the years Quora established itself as the undisputed leader among the social question-answer platforms. The company has received $11 million in funding and boasting a total valuation of $86 million, is the most sought-after platform for both useful questions and for gaining expertise and exposure by posting relevant answers.
But if you are aspiring to build a robust web platform for question-answer on diverse topics, it is advisable to cut your expectations to size and evaluate the corresponding challenges. You cannot just build a site like Quora overnight and stay relaxed. Through continuous posting of user-generated questions and answers, you can only build credibility and relevance for your website modelled after Quora.
What is the crucial secret of Quora?
Before aspiring to build a website like Quora and taking up the development challenge for the same it is advisable to know the secret of Quora’s popularity and its underlying strength.
Though you can see these days all sorts of questions representing all niches and topics are appearing on Quora inviting answers from other users, initially, the platform only started focusing on some particular niches. It was the business and entrepreneurship that Quora primarily was focused upon when accommodating questions and answers. Quite reasonably, you can just start with all niches and so it is equally advisable to go for a broad niche, build a solid audience and thereafter expand across other areas.
But there are other secrets behind the success of Quora that as an aspiring app marketer-developer you should know. The most important thing about Quora is that it is a highly democratic platform with no top-down control of the contents except for maintaining sanity with the general guidelines. From very expertise-driven answers to bogus answers, all are equally listed and it is up to the users to vote relevant and helpful answers above others.
Technical Checklist to evaluate the development cost
Now that you have a fair idea about the crucial relevance and secrets behind the success of the Quora as a social media question-answer platform, it is important to get down to the technical aspects and evaluate the development cost in detail.
Domain name
Obviously, you need to get a domain and fix a domain name not only worth remembering but also an impressive one by giving an instant sense of what your website platform is all about. There are some good web platforms where you can compare and evaluate domain names before finalising one. KnowEm and Domcomp are two great tools out there for this purpose. An ideal domain name should be short, lightweight, easy to pronounce and very easy to remember. When it is about choosing an extension, it is advisable to go for .com but it doesn’t matter too much if you can find your preferred domain name with a different extension.
The cost of a suitable domain name may vary from as low as $25 to $100.
Web Hosting
Now, it is important to choose a web hosting service that never compromises with the performance and assures keeping your site alive and kicking for round the clock all through the year. It is advisable to go for an international hosting service provider with the presence of servers across all continents and global locations.
The web hosting cost approximately stands between $100 to $300 for a year.
Web Designing
One of the core strengths of Quora is that it’s simple and easy to use UI interface devoid of distractions and cognitive load. Quora is pretty robust in contents but never looks crowded and overloaded simply because of the design excellence. It follows a flat design convention with maximum stress on content visibility and easy navigation. When designing your website go through extensive mock-ups and A/B testing to ensure the output.
The approximate cost of designing a user-friendly website with a clean interface like Quora will cost around $500 to $1000.
Website Development
Now, coming to the core development, Quora used several popular and must relevant frameworks that are particularly useful for content-focused websites like this. Quora also used some custom scripts like the one used for the search box. The platform also used Python programming language. Some of the other relevant technologies used by Quora include Pylons ( Lightweight web framework), Tornado ( Web framework for Live update), Memcached ( Caching Layer ), Thrift (communications between backend systems), Webnode2 & LiveNode, and Git ( Version Control ).
The estimated cost of web development with all these technologies vary between $6000 to $12000.
Support and Maintenance
Quora is such a robust platform that accommodates thousands of questions and answers across diverse topics every day. Naturally, such a big content rich and continuously expanding website requires frequent updates, support and maintenance. While most development companies do not get into a prolonged contract for post-development support and maintenance, for a site like this it is absolutely crucial.
The continuous support and maintenance service from a reputed development company may cost $300 to $2000 per month.
CTA
We are a website development company having years of experience and great portfolio in building several content-rich websites with great user engagement. If you are aspiring to build a website like Quora let us explain you the challenges and requirements and provide you with the most competitive quote for your project. Just drop us a message and let us reach you at the earliest.
- How much does it cost to make a website like Quora? - February 4, 2020
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The App Ideas is the leading mobile and web app development company that can help your business grow with innovative and engaging solutions. We build cutting edge digital solutions with quick-engaging user interface and user experience.