Tools and ideas for community builders

One of my communities had always managed itself. I just kept it technically up-to-date. One day, I decided to offer a new exciting feature. I was sure it would be a WOW!

I spent a week developing, configuring, and testing it. Launch day came, and I presented it to the community with internal promotion. I was really confident it would explode like a bomb. However, the first comments about the feature were very frustrating: “What is this good for?” “We do not need it.” “Bad idea.” “Useless.”

Days went by. A few users (less than 1%) tried to use it, but the community mostly ignored it. Ouch! I was completely off the mark. It was a waste of time. A few weeks later, I removed it from my community, and nobody missed it.

But I know that failing is just normal. So, I developed another feature. And the story repeated itself. They just didn’t want what I liked.

My next feature was a full success, however. Would you like to know why? ;)

Imagine you have a community. A new member wants to join, fills out a registration form, and sees a screen instructing them to confirm their email to complete the process. But they never receive the confirmation email.

This is a nightmare scenario for any community.

If you notice many unconfirmed accounts in your community, you're in trouble. There are some free and extremely useful tools that can help you determine the health of your outgoing emails. These tools allow you to see your emails from the perspective of a receiving mail server.

Are your emails being sent? Do they land in the spam folder? Or are they even blocked by major email providers?

Perform some checks to gain important insights and boost your email deliverability. Simple checks and explanations are included.

I am not a designer, not even close. But when I'm starting or revamping a forum or community, one of the first tasks is creating eye-catching graphics, like a logo.  I understand the power of images in conveying messages. However, as a community builder, not a designer, I lack the time and skills to craft intricate designs. 

I've seen many community founders spend months creating logos, images, themes, icons, social media covers, and more. Some never even launch, while others do and then struggle to gain traction. While failure is normal, it's often not because the community lacks a stunning design. It's usually due to a lack of new members, engagement from existing one, and poor promotion.

Dedicating excessive time to design when starting a new community can be a waste. You never know if it'll pay off. However, there are four essential graphics you should prioritize from the outset.

Build a community and they will come. The spammers. Unfortunately, they are the first who will discover your community or forum. And they will waste a lot of your time. Spam registrations, bot posts, spam on your contact form - all this is time-consuming to investigate and to clean.

Fortunately, there are effective measures and tools that can help you to save your time and concentrate on growing on your community instead of fighting with spammers.

Imagine your community as a prosperous medieval town that you must protect from invaders (spammers). Your spam protection system is similar to a grand defense castle, equipped with various fortifications and strategies to keep your town safe and thriving.

I collect community links for analysis and inspiration. One thing I often notice is that most communities aren't concerned about SEO (search engine optimization). They think: "If I build something really helpful, new members will come." Building something helpful and unique is the right approach.

However, building without knowing general SEO rules is like opening a new shop on a side street without a shop sign or window. It's a kind of secret shop that potential customers might only find by accident. Not a good idea, really.

Search engines drive free traffic to your community, help you get new members, and increase your visibility.

There are hundreds of SEO measures that can theoretically be implemented on your forum or community. But you do not need all of them. 20% of the measures bring 80% of the results. There are important measures and less important. You should focus on the measures that will do 80% of SEO.