"Rented" vs "Owned" community platforms

When I see someone decide to start a community, I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is choosing the wrong platform.

Yes, it's quick and free to start a Facebook group or subreddit, but those are Rented platforms, meaning you don't actually have any of your community members contact info, like an email address.

I like to think about it this way: Can I reach 100% of my community members if I need to?

With Facebook groups and subreddits, the answer is definitely no. Posts might only reach a fraction of members.

If you instead use an Owned platform like Circle, Tribe, Discourse, or custom build one like Courtland did with Indie Hackers, you can reach all your community members via email.

Maybe not 100% of the people on your email list will open your email, but at least you know you're making it into the inbox.

Another risk with Rented platforms: Having your group deleted or banned

Facebook or Reddit can basically decide at any time to delete your group or subreddit.

Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteampunkIdleSpinner/comments/i6ov6u/our_facebook_group_was_deleted_by_facebook_for_no/

With Owned community platforms, you control your own destiny and can't be Zuck'd.

SEO

This isn't really part of the Owned vs Rented debate, but it is something that very few people consider when creating a community:

Do I want people to be able to find posts in my community via Google searches?

SEO can be a HUGE channel for community growth.

However, if you choose a Facebook, Slack, Telegram, or Discord group, none of the posts in the community are indexed by Google, meaning none of them can be found via Google search.

On the other hand, posts on subreddits and Indie Hackers are indexed and can be found via Google search.

I would assume that Reddit and Indie Hackers now get the majority of the traffic from the SEO of the user-generated content (UGC) on their sites.

Additionally with platforms like Circle, you can choose to have your community private or public.

I am building Local SEO Community on Circle because it is an "Owned" platform, and chose for it to be a public community specifically to take advantage of the SEO from UGC.

Here is the chart of the 3 months since launch:

Yes, it's not breathtaking. But it's a start, and it's only going to improve as Local SEO Community grows bigger and bigger (currently 825 members).

You can check Local SEO Community out here: www.localseocommunity.com