DesignReviver believes a successful online community cannot survive without 10 key elements elements.
Looking at some successful examples of online communities. I believe you can succeed without most of these. Especially:
- Great Design. Design can be nice. But judging by the many, many, online communities with nice design that have failed – compared with the thousands of crappy designs that succeed, I think this is one aspect your community can live without.
- Content. Contentious one this. Content can help with most online communities, but it’s not essential. Most of the successful communities using forums thrive quite happily without any central content.
- SEO. No community really needs SEO. Again, it can help, but I wouldn’t put it anywhere near the must-haves when getting going.
- A leader. Leaders tend to develop followings rather than communities. Having a manager to keep order is fine, having a leader to break new ground really isn’t essential.
- Widgets. Anything that doesn’t absolutely have to be there for people to participate can be left out. Very few widgets add anything to the community. They distract from the key elements.
- Multi-platform. Being multi-platform accessible can be cool, but if you picked the right platform in the first place you’ll be fine.
- Facebook/Twitter. Few communities receive much benefit from social media platforms. They can help, but the benefits are limited at best.
The only element a community can’t survive without is activity. No activity, no community. Focus on that.
