Nathan FieldSkool's own team says growth on Skool runs on one loop: you send people to your About page, they join, and Skool's network starts sending you more. If you are working out how to grow a Skool community, this guide pulls together what Skool's team says in its Skool News videos, where new members really come from, and the Skool features that help. Every Skool step here was checked against Skool's help centre on 29 September 2026.
To grow a Skool community, Skool's team says to send traffic from your own channels to your About page, put your community link in every bio and description, and mention it inside your content. Then get found inside Skool through Discovery search keywords, active engagement and optional Growth Boost. Showing up daily keeps the loop going.
The video at the top of this page is Skool News #46 (24 February 2026), where Skool's team introduced the new traffic sources report and gave growth tips for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Skool itself. A week later, Skool News #47 went deeper.
Where new Skool members come from
Skool's help article on traffic sources sorts every visitor and new member into five sources:
- Invite: an admin sends an email invite and the person joins from it.
- Affiliate: they join through a member's affiliate link.
- Skool network: they find you inside Skool, through Discovery, the recommended groups sidebar, or Skool's paid ads.
- External website: they click a link somewhere else, such as a social post or your own website.
- Direct: they type the link, come from an email broadcast, or come through a redirect or URL shortener.
In Skool News #47 (3 March 2026), Skool's team said roughly 30% of memberships across the platform come from the Skool network: about 70% of that from Discovery search, 20% from user profiles and 10% from browsing Discovery. These are Skool's platform-wide figures, not a promise for your group. Read the other way, most members still arrive through links, invites and affiliates that owners and members bring.
The growth loop Skool's team describes
In #47, Skool's team boiled their advice down to four habits:
- Build a good community that people love.
- Show up daily, engage and build real relationships.
- Drive traffic from your social platforms to your About page.
- Join other communities you are genuinely interested in, and "be the member you want to attract".
The more members you bring in, the higher you rank in Discovery, and the more the Skool network sends you. But Skool's team was clear that you start the loop yourself, with outside traffic. Skool's Growth Boost help article says the same: drive traffic to your About page, put the link in all your social bios, and give it time.
Step 1: Get your About page ready
Skool's help article on setting up your About page calls it "essentially a landing/checkout page for your group". It suggests images or video showing what is offered, an explainer video, and what members say, plus a description of what the group is and what members get.
- Do not put links in the description. Skool's article says links in the About page description will not work.
- Use the words people search for. Skool's team says search is the biggest part of the Skool network, and that keywords matter more than your rank there. Their example was a community about chickens that people found by searching "chickens". Put the plain words your ideal member would type on your About page.
- Meet the Discovery threshold. Skool's article on why a group is not visible in Discovery lists what a new group needs: a cover image, a group description, a completed About page, a post, and invited members. After that, Skool's team reviews the group before it is listed.
Step 2: Send your own traffic to the About page
This is where Skool's team spends most of its time. Here are their platform tips from Skool News #47, in short form.
| Platform | What Skool's team suggests |
|---|---|
| YouTube | Link in your channel bio, in every video description, and in a pinned comment. Mention the community inside the video itself, near the start. |
| Link in bio. Mention the community in posts, reels and stories. Many of the owners who get the most from Instagram also use a comment-keyword tool that DMs the link to anyone who comments a set word. | |
| Put the link in your cover image, your bio and your profile links. | |
| TikTok | Link in bio, mention it in your videos, and go live. Skool's team says live streams tend to work well here. |
| Everywhere else | Your website or blog, your email footer and newsletter, your podcast. One Skool Games winner they featured put up posters around his town with a QR code. |
Mention it inside the content, not just the bio
The biggest tip in #47 is about how you mention your community. Skool's team showed a YouTube creator who added a short spoken pitch for his community near the start of each video, and Skool says his YouTube traffic went up about five times on the same views. Their reasoning is simple: everyone watches the video, but few people read the description or open your profile. In Skool News #65 (14 July 2026), they came back to the same point and passed on another owner's report that rewriting his description around a specific freebie tripled his traffic.
Say what members get
"Join my community" gives nobody a reason. Skool's team suggests leading with the benefit or with the best thing inside, such as a course, a template pack or a weekly call.
Use your real Skool link
Skool's traffic sources article says link-in-bio tools, redirects and URL shorteners strip the traffic source, so those members show up as "Direct". For the cleanest data, use your About page link itself. Skool's help article on inviting members gives the steps to get your link: click SETTINGS in your community, then in the Invite tab click COPY. Then click your own bio links now and then. Skool's team says they often find owners whose link is missing or broken.
Step 3: Get found inside Skool
Skool's help centre says Discovery ranks groups per category on member growth, member activity (posts, comments and likes) and retention. Its Discovery FAQ lists the boosts: high-quality artwork and About page, an interesting niche, authentic human engagement, and an active owner and admins. The penalties are roughly the opposite, including spammy engagement, poor artwork and an inactive owner.
Three details matter for new owners. New groups rank lower, and rank rises as the group ages. Removing inactive members does not improve your rank. And, per Skool's team in #47, you can pick up members from search even with a low rank, if your keywords match what people type.
Your profile is an ad too
A Skool user profile shows the groups a person owns and belongs to. Skool's team says the owners who get the most profile traffic comment a lot, because a comment speaks to one person, who may then click through. Their advice: comment far more than you post, and join groups you enjoy, even outside your niche. Joining a group only to promote yourself does the opposite.
Growth Boost
Growth Boost puts your group at the top of search results for relevant keywords, boosts visibility and lets Skool run off-site ads for you. Skool's FAQ puts it plainly: "You pay the 30% commission only when Skool gets you a member." Its Growth Boost article adds that it is on by default, you can switch it off under SETTINGS then Discovery, the cut applies to recurring charges while that member stays subscribed, and it is not recommended if you sell through sales calls. We cover the details in Skool Growth Boost explained and how to get found on Skool Discovery.
Step 4: Let members bring members
- Member affiliates. On the Pro plan, you can set a commission so members earn for referring others. Skool's help article warns that lowering or switching off the commission applies to all current affiliates and may upset them, so pick a rate you can keep.
- Invites. From the Invite tab you can send email invites or upload a CSV of past customers or members. Both let people in without buying, so they suit free groups or people you want to let in free. Skool suggests an outside CRM for large lists.
- Ask where they found you. Skool's plugins article suggests using your third membership question to ask where a new member found your group. Membership questions work on both plans.
Check what is working
Skool's traffic sources article says the Growth tab in your admin settings shows the last 30 days, in near real time: visitors, sign-ups and conversion rate for each source. In #47, Skool's team showed the old Metrics, Growth and Analytics tabs merged into one Dashboard, so the label on your screen may differ from the help article.
Skool uses last-touch attribution: the last link a person clicked before joining gets the credit, within 14 days for the Skool network and affiliates and 90 days for everything else. Use the report to spot a channel with many visitors but few sign-ups (fix the pitch) or one you post on that shows nothing (check the link).
The honest part
None of this is fast. Skool's advice comes down to making content, pointing it at your About page and showing up, which takes months. The Skool network share is an average, not your number. Growth Boost costs 30% of each boosted member's recurring charges while they stay. And with no audience elsewhere, you lean on Discovery search, so a clear niche and plain keywords matter more.
If you have not started yet, our guide on how to start a Skool community covers setup, and you can start a Skool community here (affiliate link).
Keep the members you worked to win
Every member you pull in through that loop can still leave. A card fails, or they hit cancel. Skool does some of the work itself: it retries a failed card on its own, and on the Pro plan you can show a cancellation video on the cancel page. What Skool does not do is send the member a personal note from you. See our guides on failed payments and reducing churn on Skool.
Backpack fills that gap. Its Payment Recovery messages a member when their card fails, and its Cancellation Recovery messages a member who cancels, in words you write, from your own Skool account. Each sequence stops once they pay or come back. It runs on our servers, so it works with your computer off. It is $9 a month for every Skool community you admin, with every feature, and it is not made by or affiliated with Skool. Learning how to grow a Skool community is half the job. Keeping the members is the other half. Try Backpack free for 7 days.
FAQ
How do I get members for my Skool community?
Send people to your About page from the places you already have attention: your YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, email list or website. Skool's team says to put the link in every bio and description and to mention the community inside your content. Then get found inside Skool with clear keywords, and keep showing up.
Does Skool bring you members?
Yes, some. Skool's team said in March 2026 that roughly 30% of memberships platform-wide come from the Skool network, mostly through Discovery search. Growth Boost adds Skool's search placement and off-site ads, and you pay a 30% commission only on members Skool brings in. Most groups still need their own traffic to start.
How does Skool Discovery rank groups?
Skool ranks groups within each category by member growth, member activity such as posts, comments and likes, and retention. Its FAQ lists boosts for good artwork and About page, an interesting niche, real engagement and an active owner. New groups start lower and rise with age. Removing inactive members does not help.
Where should I put my Skool link?
Everywhere your audience looks: social bios, every YouTube description, a pinned comment, your Facebook cover image, your email footer and your website. Use your real About page link, not a link-in-bio tool or URL shortener. Skool says those strip the traffic source, so members show up as Direct.
How do I see where my Skool members come from?
Open your group's admin settings and look at the growth data. Skool's help article calls it the Growth tab, and Skool News #47 showed it inside one Dashboard. It shows visitors, sign-ups and conversion rate per source for the last 30 days, using last-touch attribution.
Why is my Skool group not showing on Discovery?
Your group has probably not met Skool's minimum threshold yet. Skool's help centre lists a cover image, a group description, a completed About page, at least one post, and invited members. Once you meet it, Skool's team reviews the group and lists it. A new group also ranks lower at first.
We may earn a commission if you start a Skool community through a link on this page. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not change what we write.