Qhub is a new service offering a simple method for creating a Questions and Answers website. If you ever dreamed of running your very own Yahoo Answers, your prayers have been answered in Qhub. Unlike more general solutions, Qhub is aiming to be a more targeted community. Each one can be focused on a specific topic or niche. Not only will users benefit from getting answers to their questions, but the site owner gets valuable user feedback. This can help companies and brands stay engaged with and provide better value to their communities. Qhub offers:
- the ability to customize each site
- full management of your site, its members and content
- the ability to use your domain name
CUSTOMIZING YOUR QHUB
The first thing you’ll want to do is fill out your Hub Details. This is where you define what your Hub is all about. This will help visitors stay on topic and keep the questions focused. Most importantly, you’ll want to fill out the Name (not your name, the name of your Hub), Tagline, and About. You also have the option to add a more detailed description of your hub.
The next step is to customize the design of your hub. You can select an existing theme, or drill down into the details. Setting a custom background, header image, and changing the colors and sizes of design elements are all supported. You can even upload your favicon.
ADDING ANALYTICS
Depending on what you’re using your hub for, you will need a way to tell if anyone is visiting it. You can easily integrate Google Analytics by adding a new site and pasting the code.
- Visit Google Analytics and find Add Website Profile at the bottom
- Enter the URL for you new Qhub and click Finish
- Copy the JavaScript code that appears
- Go back to Qhub and paste this code into the box under Analytics
CONNECTING YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKS
Now that you have everything looking good and you’ve defined what your Q&A site will be about, you should connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts. This will help to promote your hub and bring you, new visitors. Currently, Qhub supports Facebook and Twitter. Just navigate to Social Networks under User Details and click the authentication buttons. No need to provide a username and password for each site.
INTEGRATING WITH YOUR CURRENT WEBSITE
You probably have an existing web presence. A blog or website that your current audience already visits. Qhub offers two choices for attracting visitors to your shiny new Q&A hub. You can create a customizable widget to embed on your site which will show a live update of the latest questions and answers. The other option is a Page-Side Tab. This attaches to the side of your web page, providing a simple link to your hub homepage.
CONCLUSIONS
There are a few other customizations you can make with Qhub, including using a custom domain. Qhub seems like a more professional version of Formspring.me. It also reminds me of Skribit, which lets visitors to your blog suggest topics for you to write about. It’s currently in private beta, so request your invite code and start connecting with your community.
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