Lúgh Studio’s Ultimate Guide To Building An Online Community

In a digital world that thrives on connection, building an online community isn’t just a marketing trend — it’s a long-term growth strategy. Whether you’re a personal brand, a creator, a startup, or an established organization, an engaged online community can very well become your most valuable asset.

In our latest ultimate guide, we’re giving you everything you need to know about online communities. This includes everything from how to make a thriving community, to the most common mistakes to avoid.

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• What Is An Online Community?
• Why Build An Online Community?
• Biggest Mistakes In Building An Online Community
• How To Build An Online Community
• Tools And Resources
• Conclusion

Let’s get started!

What Is An Online Community?

Let’s first define “online community.” This will help you understand the rest of the information that we provide in this ultimate guide. When we say “online community”, this is what we mean:

A group of people with a shared interest or goal who use the internet to stay connected.

It’s important to note here that an online community can take many different shapes. A simple Facebook group run by a solo creator? A WhatsApp group that serves as an entrepreneurial mastermind? An entire Reddit group devoted to a niche interest? These are all online communities, and they can all benefit the creator.

It’s also essential to know that just about any organization can benefit from creating an online community. Are you a solopreneur? Work for a giant corporation? Head of a nonprofit? Regardless, there is a great chance that any online community you make would benefit your audience — and you. 

Why Build An Online Community?

Before we dive into the how, let’s talk about the why. The best communities don’t start with random features — they start with a clear idea of their overall purpose.

Here are some of the most powerful reasons you should consider building an online community:

• Fosters loyalty and trust. Communities are where relationships are built. A community member is participating. This is different from a social media follower or email subscriber (also important), who are often just consuming.
• Creates a feedback loop. You always want to be on top of what your audience’s thoughts and needs are. This is how you get valuable insights and suggestions of how you might best serve them. If you have an online community, you get this insight, and can continually improve as a result.
• Offers scalable support. If you have an online community, you will often have this interesting experience: members can answer each other’s questions faster (and sometimes better) than you can. This kind of collective expertise helps everyone.
• Generates content and stories. You already know how important good content marketing is. The problem is, the content creation hamster wheel is a difficult one to maintain. That ceases to be a problem with an online community. With what people share (whether testimonials, feedback, or casual conversations with other members), you will rarely run out of content material.
• Increases retention and reduces churn. Lastly, an online community has a tendency to get people to stick around. The fact is, people stay where they feel seen and valued. Build a high-quality online community, and that’s exactly what you give people. The result? People that love your brand — and support you for years. 

In short, a great product or message might spark interest — but a great community sustains it.

Biggest Mistakes In Building An Online Community

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of building an online community, let’s cover the things that you should avoid. This will give you some important context for the different steps we cover below. 

Lacking A Clear Purpose

If people don’t know why they’re in an online community, they won’t stick around. This is especially true if they aren’t getting serious value out of it. Be clear about both of these things. People should be able to point to a specific reason they are in your community. If they can’t, give them one. This can look a number of different ways, but the most important thing is that people know what they’re getting out of it by joining.

Focusing On Growth Over Depth

Like we have said about email marketing, it’s not about the overall size of your audience, but rather the value that it brings. The depth of your online community is what matters. For example, a 10-person community with meaningful engagement is much more valuable than 1,000 lurkers. Focus on bringing in the right people. This will not only make your job easier by being more selective over who joins, but will also make the group itself more valuable to its members.

Relying Too Much On Tools

Advanced or powerful features are great, but there’s one thing they can’t replace: connection. People join your online community to connect with others. No amount of software can save a community where that connection is absent. This should be your guiding star. Prioritize an accessible (and connected) community over one that needlessly introduces complication. As you will see in our “Tools And Resources” section, software is important — just not at the expense of user experience.

Neglecting Moderation

Without a certain kind of structure, communities can spiral. This is the internet we’re talking about here; trolls, spam and bots can ruin anybody’s day. Plus, any lack of “group norms” can lead to uncertainty or discomfort. This is why a certain amount of moderation is essential. It’s important to stay involved. It’s easy to stay motivated in the beginning days of a new community, but you need to maintain some kind of consistency. That said…

Being Overly Controlling

Ideally, your online community provides some kind of value. It’s a perfect place to share your expertise. Still, you can go overboard. As soon as you get into “micro-management” mode, it’s time to take a step back. An online community is not a place to feed your ego. Try to guide wherever you can — and avoid dictating at all costs. 

Six Steps To Build An Online Community

Now that we’ve gone over why you should create an online community, as well as the main problems to avoid, let’s check out a six-part system for making one. 

Step 1: Define The Purpose Of Your Community

Every great online community starts with a clear purpose. We’ve now mentioned this point several times, but it’s true. If you want people to join your online community (and to love it), they need a clear reason for being there.

With this first step, it’s helpful to ask yourself a few questions.

• What is the main reason someone would join my community?
• What kind of transformation or value are they seeking?
• How am I going to solve their problems?

Your purpose doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler and more specific, the better. This strategy makes it easier to be clear about what exactly your community does. 

Step 2: Choose The Right Platform

There are a variety of platforms you can use when setting up your online community. That said, there are a few things you should be clear on before you pick on. Is your audience tech savvy? Do you want to prioritize ease of use, or advanced features? Will there be paid membership tiers? These are all questions you should be asking yourself.

Once you have, it’s time to pick the platform. Here are a variety you can choose from: 

• Slack: Fast-paced and real-time interaction
• Circle: Great for more structured, branded communities
• Facebook Groups: Powerful for broader audiences
• Reddit: Good for long-form discussions
• Custom-built platforms: Best for full control but a much higher upfront cost

If there is one piece of advice you should take to heart about the right platform, it’s this: pick whichever one your audience will be comfortable with. 

Step 3: Create Foundational Content + Culture

Before you open the doors to your online community, it’s important that you already have some kind of value to give. This is where great content comes in. People don’t want to be added to a community that isn’t going to immediately help them. Set up the community with the right kind of content, and this becomes a non-problem.

Here is some content that you might consider preparing: 

• Welcome message. Explain the purpose of the community, how people can participate, and what new members can expect.
• Core threads. These should be the start of discussions on key topics that you know your audience cares about. 
• Rules and guidelines. People need guidance when joining a new group. Be sure that you set the tone early. What’s encouraged, and what kind of things won’t be tolerated? Take a moment to think about these answers.

And as for the “culture” part? This is highly dependent on your brand. A good rule of thumb is that you should model the kind of behavior you want to see. Be an example. Also, it’s generally a good idea to keep things “human”. Be genuine, and try to avoid over-automation. You might also consider a bit of humor. A well-placed joke or meme can go a long way in building a connection with your audience. 

Step 4: Invite Your First Members

The first members that join your online community will shape its trajectory. Focus on quality over quantity. There are, of course, a number of ways you can get your first members. Here are a few methods you might consider: 

• Tap your existing audience. This is the most common way to get a community started. Think about where your audience already is. This might be your newsletter, social media followers, or customer list. Assuming you know how to contact them — give them a reason to join.
• Personally invite 20–50 people. If you are serious about building a community, it’s time to use some elbow grease. Often, simply sending people an invitation is the way to get an online community off the ground. One caveat here — make sure you are inviting the right people. 
• Use it as an upsell. Depending on what kind of product or service you sell, community membership can be a great “value add.” You might consider including it in your funnel for your main product.  

Still confused about who to offer community membership to? Be sure to have some kind of “vetting” in place for who would be a good fit. 

Step 5: Keep Members Engaged

There is a common myth in marketing that goes something like “If I build it, they will come.” The fact is, it’s much more complicated. No matter what your online community claims to offer, if you don’t actually deliver, members will become disillusioned. 

While you should already have “foundational content” set up, the best online community will keep people engaged. Here are a few ideas for encouraging that engagement:

• Weekly rituals: Q&A sessions or monthly challenges 
• Member spotlights: Showcase community members and their work or results
• “Ask Me Anything” sessions: Bring in experts or host your own
• Resource sharing: Suggestions on tools or templates your audience might find useful

And one last thing: make it easy to contribute. Most people won’t participate, and there will be differing levels of engagement for the ones that do. Don’t expect everyone to post a novel. Quick polls and simple questions can go a long way.

Step 6: Measure, Adapt, and Evolve

Your online community should never be static. Ideally, it’s less a “consistent group” and more a “living ecosystem.” Pay attention to what’s working — and what’s not. To do that, you’ll need to track data. Here are the most important metrics to pay attention to: 

• Active members (daily, weekly, monthly)
• Member retention over time
• Post / comment volume
• Referral sources (where new members are coming from)
• Qualitative feedback (surveys, DMs, conversations)

While most of these things are easy enough to have a general idea about, getting specific with your data truly is important. And once you’ve started tracking it — don’t be afraid to change things. This might be anything from different sub-groups within your community to different content styles. Adaptation is essential for a long-lived online community. The best communities evolve with their members.

Tools And Resources

If you want to build the best online community possible, you’ll benefit from the right tools. If you haven’t started yet, you’ll need to begin with a platform. To choose the right one, see step 2 (“Choose The Right Platform”) above. Once that’s done, here are three different kinds of tools you might also consider: 

Engagement 

• Common Room: Community intelligence and analytics
• Loom: Personalized welcome videos for better onboarding

Analytics and Feedback

• SavvyCal: Easy scheduling for community calls or one-on-ones
• TypeForm: Quick and easy feedback through surveys
• Google Analytics: A reliable way to track behavior on external community portals or hubs

Inspiration

• CMX Hub: A ton of resources and best practices for community professionals
• Community Club: A group full of knowledgeable community builders

Conclusion

An online community can be a great resource for an organization. That said, to build one that’s genuinely valuable takes a bit of planning. It also takes time, intention, and deeper knowledge of what your audience actually needs. 

Still, when it’s done right — it’s well worth it. Create a high-quality online community, and you are facilitating deeper relationships, stronger brand loyalty, and a space where your people want to be. 

So start small, stay focused — and keep putting in the work. The members of your online community will thank you for it!

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