community management A guide to selecting the right metrics for your community How do you know if your community is having a positive effect on the broader organization it represents? Where do you turn when you have to defend the existence of your community? Metrics. They tell the story of your community’s impact. If you are unsure where to begin, identifying
community management The importance of data ownership for community leaders A community’s data is more than just numbers and names; it reflects the community’s pulse—what members care about, discuss, and engage with. This data includes all of the knowledge generated through those discussions which should be a lasting resource, always accessible to your community. However, many platforms
community management Online Community Engagement: Understanding Lurkers In a time where connection and belonging have never been more essential, online communities have the potential to offer members the remarkable gift of being seen and heard. These virtual spaces, with their vast reach and diverse participants, offer a platform where individuals can share, learn, and engage like never
community management Dealing with Toxicity in Online Communities Online communities are places where people should be able to come together to share ideas and learn from each other in an environment that is safe and enjoyable to participate in. In healthy communities, members follow established guidelines and norms to create a culture of collaboration and mutual support. Occasionally
community management Enough With the Water Bottles and T-shirts… Everyone loves good swag, but the key to motivating the behaviours you want to see in your community is focusing on intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic motivation is based on internal incentive such as pleasure or interest, so the key to rewarding appropriately is to support those behaviours. Humans
community management There are Two Types of Ideas – Bad Ideas and Ideas Worth Testing While push-button solutions are quick and simple, they prevent us from really understanding the landscape in front of us, identifying how to drive improvements, and exploring the optimal pathway to success. When I trot that title line out to people, it inevitably gets an intrigued look in response, but there
community management Not Everyone Wants to Talk to Your Community Manager The greatest asset any business can have is good relationships with their customers, and communities are a powerful environment to not just foster those relationships, but to do so in an environment where the world can see how engaging, supportive, and kind you are. So how do you do that?
community management Less vs. More: The Battle for Better Communities We live in a world where more is more. People are cranking out more content, posting more to social media, watching more movies, eating more food… abundance is the name of the game, it would seem. But… more doesn’t always mean better, especially when it comes to communities. A
community management A Strategy For Making the Most of Community Health Metrics Community health metrics can be overwhelming and trying to track everything is probably not going to deliver the results that you are hoping for. So which ones should you choose and how do you use them to your best advantage? I am going to share something rather embarrassing with you…
community management Why Your Community Didn't Take Off (and How to Fix it) Spoiler: It can't compete with Netflix. Too often we hear from customers who have tried and failed to get their community off the ground. They put in time and effort getting it all set up and then find that it's a constant struggle to keep up
online community Free Discourse Communities For Creators We would like to help creators build their communities. If you are a creator building on the web, then you might be eligible for a free, hosted Discourse community.
online community Improve Your Community Experience Using a DIY Community Health Check Communities are living, breathing systems. They can either be growing, thriving, stale or dying, and this state of the community is defined by the community’s health. A healthy community is filled with growth. But how do you know what state your community is in? To figure this out, it’
community management Celebrate Your Community with a Year in Review The end of the year is a time full of celebrations. It’s also a great time to celebrate your community’s most impactful members and discussions. While digging up the data to find these users and topics can be time consuming, we’ve made it extremely simple with our
seo Handling SEO for Discourse Communities If you are concerned about how your community is performing in search engine results (SEO), there are a number of questions to keep in mind when looking to optimize your community software of choice. We frequently get asked questions in our support inboxes and in our public community [https://meta.
seo Eight Tips to Improve Your Community's SEO Helping people find your community takes time and patience. It also takes a little knowledge about search engines, how they work, and how people locate your community through them. In this article, we’re going to demystify the basics of SEO and how you can optimize your community for discovery.
