Should we ask questions for the sake of building inbound traffic and usage?

Question

After years of taking part in Q&A on other sites (not part of the Stack Exchange network), I've seen a lot of common questions asked over and over again there that haven't been asked here. I believe partly this is due to the average user here having more experience than the average user on those sites (largely due to the nature of how we ask and answer questions).

According to the Martial Arts Area 51 Page (at time of writing) we are getting an average 82 Visits a day (opposed to a relatively healthy 500 visits minimum), with an average of 1 question per day, and are on pace for only 52 users with 200+ reputation at the end of 90 days.

Since participation has been dwindling lately, should we post questions to which perhaps we already know the answer in the hopes that people searching for similar answers might find to draw them to the site?

Edit:

I've attempted to ask an example question here based on something I've encountered a great deal in the past just to get some activity moving, and to cover what I'm talking about with this question.

Answer 1

There's nothing inherently wrong with asking questions and answering your own question. I think it's good to share that knowledge and perspective, and it's even better if other people find value in it. I even asked one myself (but didn't answer) which I feel is rather basic (given where I am in my experience) but believe has value (more so in the answers) for other people.

There's something from the "Asking the First Questions" blog post that is worth mentioning:

It has long been established that no question is too entry-level nor too basic. Everyone is welcome. But, in these earliest days, we are DESIGNING a site for experts. To attract experts, you need a site where people are asking very interesting and challenging questions, not the basic questions found on every other Q&A site. Remember, the pro sites WILL attract the enthusiasts, but not the other way around!

For a site that's still really young, I might place more emphasis on who to attract rather than what to ask (the former which will direct the latter). As long as the questions aren't extremely superficial, will generate valuable answers, and continue to attract experts (or enthusiasts at least), then I think that's perfectly fine and acceptable if it serves the purpose you're proposing.

Answer 2

Personally I don't see much difference between what you are proposing and what I mentioned in this answer, effectively we take some existing/pre-canned questions and seed them on to the site.

As long as we do it in a controlled fashion it can be beneficial. It won't lead to an immediate leap in traffic, but it should increase our GoogleJuice and inbound traffic due to the number of questions.