11 Slack Communities for SEOs and Digital Marketers (That You Should Join Today)

FastSpring
FastSpring
March 11th, 2021
Estimated read time: 12 minutes, 13 seconds

This article was originally published by Ahrefs, a data-driven marketing toolset powered by a huge index of backlinks, keywords, and content. Visit https://ahrefs.com/ to learn more.

The era of messaging apps is on the rise. Juniper research predicts a huge increase in the adoption of mobile messenger apps from 2.3 billion unique users in 2016 to 4.2 billion in 2021. That’s an 83% increase in five years!

Slack is one of those messaging apps. It’s a place where you can communicate with various teams, collaborate on projects, and much more.

But what are Slack communities?

In essence, they’re similar to Facebook groups, but they exist on Slack. Each Slack community is based around a specific topic (e.g., link building) and provides a place for members to share knowledge and insights about said topic. Members can also message other members directly.

Unlike Facebook groups, Slack communities are typically broken down into a number of different channels. Think of these as sub-groups within the main Slack community.

ttt slack community

For example, a community about SEO may have channels named #linkbuilding or #tools. In this instance, the #linkbuilding channel would likely be used for discussing all things link-building-related, whereas the #tools channel is better-suited to discussing SEO tools.

What’s in these marketing Slack channels for you?

If you can’t imagine your life without SEO and digital marketing but you’re not a big social network fan, Slack communities can come in handy. I handpicked the list below with one goal: find the communities that bring the highest value for members in terms of:

  • The quality of the information offered;
  • The activity level within the community

Most Slack channel owners are also admins. You can join the workspace after filling in the form or leaving your email on a registration page. Pretty much all of them have the #introduction channel where you can write a few words about yourself.

Are you ready for another poll?

Since our previous poll for the best SEO podcasts went well, we decided to add another poll here. So, here’s the list of the Slack communities mentioned in the article. Voters chose the communities they considered to be of the highest benefit for them and their SEO skills. See the results. of the vote below:

What is the best Slack community for SEOs and marketers?

  • Traffic Think Tank (38%, 138 Votes)
  • Online Geniuses (23%, 84 Votes)
  • BigSEO (13%, 46 Votes)
  • #Backlinks (7%, 24 Votes)
  • Marketers Chat (5%, 18 Votes)
  • Measure (4%, 13 Votes)
  • Buffer (3%, 12 Votes)
  • Growmance (3%, 11 Votes)
  • Startup Chat (2%, 9 Votes)
  • CRO Growth Hacks (1%, 5 Votes)
  • Creative Tribes (1%, 5 Votes)

Total Voters: 316

1. OnlineGeniuses

Members: 17,000+

Channels: over 10 channels including #seo#ppc#socialmediamarketing#email_marketing#hangouts#good_finds, etc

How to join: fill out the typeform and get the invitation via email

Cost: Free

1 online geniuses slack

The Online Geniuses community emerged from a Skype chat. Its owner, David Markovich, created the chat to connect with other great minds in the digital marketing industry. When the group reached over 300 members, David started looking for a more robust platform with more opportunities for sharing opinions and experience. Slack was the obvious choice.

The workspace has now grown into a strong community of great marketers, SEOs, and other IT professionals. One of the best things about the Online Geniuses community is that each applicant is manually vetted.

Since inception, over 1.5 million messages have been sent inside the community. Over 100 people have found jobs and new opportunities via their #hiring channel. The owners have also hosted live events in over 25 cities across the US. The “Ask Me Anything” discussion channel has included sessions with well-known industry veterans like Gary VaynerchukRand Fishkin, and Dmitry Gerasimenko (from Ahrefs). One of the latest AMAs included a session with Allyson J. Davis of Red Bull.

2. Traffic Think Tank (Paid)

Members: unknown

Channels: 25+ channels including: #linkbuilding#automation#tools#agency#affiliate#analytics#jobs

How to join: choose a plan here.

Cost: $119/month (or $1,190 annually)

traffic think tank slack

Traffic Think Tank was founded by industry experts Matthew BarbyNick Eubanks, and Ian Howells. They are active within the community, sharing their knowledge and ideas. In other words, by joining TTT, you get access to three of the best minds in SEO niche.

Moreover, as a TTT member, one gets access to hundreds of hours of exclusive video content and live events. There are also regular private webinars and trainings with top industry experts that can’t be found anywhere else.

TTT consists of many experts, some of whom are very high-level. As a result, there are some high-calibre discussions where experts openly share what is and isn’t working in SEO today.

3. BigSEO

Members: 2,300+

Channels: #general#business#events#localseo#must-reads#technical-seo#international#penalties#sitereview#jobs

How to join: fill in this Google Form

Cost: Free

2 bigseo slack

The BigSEO Slack workspace emerged from a subreddit of the same title. When Steven Van Vessum proposed taking SEO discussions to the next level with a Slack community, he didn’t expect it grow to a few hundred members in a couple of days. Now it’s a tight community where people can talk, make connections and build business relationships.

Mathew Carey, one of the admins, added a bunch of funny quotes about Matt Cutts that welcome members each time they log into the channel. Such sentences like “Matt Cutts can speak braille” or “Matt Cutts can delete the Recycling Bin” add zest to the workspace. People make friends there and some have even started businesses together.

Members discuss various aspects of SEO and marketing in such channels as #business#must-reads#sitereview#technical-seo#tools#analytics#localseo and more. The #jobs channel helps companies and people looking for a new challenge find one another.

4. #Backlinks

Members: 1,400+

Channels: #general#guestposts#traffic-boost#random

How to join: fill out the typeform and get the invitation via email

Cost: Free

3 hashtagbacklinks slack

#Backlinks is a community of like-minded professionals trying to solve the two big issues every website owner faces: getting the best content and getting backlinks. The members help each other by sharing articles and content ideas, finding opportunities for guest posts, etc.

The workspace has three main channels: #general#guestposts, and #random where members can chat, share the latest news, and discuss their issues. There are a lot more industry-specific channels (e.g., #arts#education#doctor, etc.) to help professionals within each niche come up with ideas to collaborate.

The main channel of interest here is #guestposts. It includes a pinned link to a Google Sheets document where the channel members can view guest post opportunities or register to become a guest author for the other blogs. Since the workspace includes CEOs, business owners, SEO professionals and content creators, it’s the perfect place for everyone in digital marketing industry to grow and collaborate.

5. CRO Growth Hacks

Members: 900+

Channels: #general#cro_hacks#seo_hacks#email_hacks#analytics_hacks, #social_hacks#site-critique, etc.

How to join: fill out the Google Form

Cost: Free

5 cro growth slack

The CRO Growth Hacks community was created to promote an open exchange of ideas around conversion rate optimization. Aside from the main channel for CRO discussions, there are also channels like #seo_hacks#social_hacks#business_hacks, and others.

Members can also check out the #hiring channel where the job openings are posted, and there is a special channel for AMAs and giveaways.

One of the coolest channels is #chatbot_hacks. Its members discuss the latest and the most challenging marketing activities—the use of chatbots in sales and marketing.

The #shameless_plug channel allows members to promote their businesses, establish professional connections, invite others to meetings, conferences, webinars, and so on. It’s also a place where members can share their latest blog posts, videos, and other useful learning materials.

6. Buffer

Members: 6,000+

Channels: over 20 channels including #watercooler#buffer-products#buffer-events#announcements#community-feedback#our-work#topic-socialmedia

How to join: fill out the Google Form

Cost: Free

4 buffer slack

Buffer has always had a strong social media presence. But the Buffer Slack community is definitely the most engaging community for those looking to gather and connect in real-time.

The community has gathered amazing professionals in different spheres of social media marketing, content marketing, video creation, developing, blogging, entrepreneurship, etc. The community admins and moderators encourage members to share their challenges and get thoughtful advice, support, and inspiration in return.

The Buffer community has several traditions like sharing goals in the #weekly-goals channel or discussing books in the #reading-room. It even has the channel for sharing funny pics and gifs as well as a few area-specific channels for members from different parts of the world.

7. Creative Tribes (Paid)

Members: 1,100+

Channels: #analytics_datascience#content_marketing#socialmedia_marketing#blockchain#seo_strategy, etc.

How to join: fill out the typeform, pay the one-time sign-up fee, and get the invitation via email

Cost: $27

creative tribes slack

The global community that grew up to 1,000+ members over three years. This workspace is not only for SEOs and digital marketers. There are tons of channels for solopreneurs and startup founders as well as for designers and developers who wish to exchange their experience with others. Creative Tribes host AMAs with experts from time to time. Some of the latest ones included DevriX’s Mario Peshev, and Louis Grenier, a host of Everyone Hates Marketers podcast series.

8. Growmance

Members: 4,600+

Channels: #general#feedback#growth#marketing#random#tech

How to join: get the invitation via email

Cost: Free

7 growmance slack

Ondrej Kubala, the creator of the Growmance, founded this Slack workspace. Initially, he wanted to share his knowledge with the community of like-minded people, chat about various topics and host a few “mastermind” talks with professionals. The workspace exceeded his expectations. Now the Growmance workspace counts around 3,000 members.

The community is what makes the workspace great. Hundreds of people from around the world have joined the channels to share their marketing and growth hacking ideas, tips and solutions. They discuss the viability of their ideas at the deepest level, exchange knowledge and help each other with the promotion of their content on a “Help the marketer out” channel.

Discussion channels also include #marketing#growth, and #marketing-books where everyone can share their favorite books to read. The #job-offers channel is aimed at those who seek for a marketing position.

9. Marketers Chat

Members: 3,000+

Channels: #announcements#events#hangouts#news#services#offers#suggestions#tools#promo_zone

How to join: get the invitation via email or Facebook

Cost: Free

6 marketers chat slack

Syed Irfaq created this workspace when he perceived a gap in real-time communication between the affiliate marketing industry and internet marketing in general. The existing forums and chats on Skype were somewhat useless because they lacked organization. Slack came in handy here as a well-structured place for discussing marketing-related topics.

Marketers Chat is mostly focused on affiliate marketing and everything connected. They have channels related to marketing strategies, PPC, PPV, PPI, marketing tools, and many more. #seo and #smm are two of the most popular channels where members discuss their best strategies, share their experience in these niches. Thanks to a versatile community of marketing experts, industry veterans, business owners, as well as affiliate marketers, bloggers, and marketing newbies, the channels are extremely active.

Dedicated channels, like #promo_zone or #services, help job seekers to find cool offers or promote their own services to the audience. The #news channel is connected to a number of the most popular industry blogs so members see instant updates whenever a new article or a blog post is published.

10. Startup Chat (Paid)

Members: 7,500+

Channels: #startup#tools, etc.

How to join: fill out the typeform, pay the one-time sign-up fee, and get the invitation via email

Cost: free (but only if you’re a member of Startup Deals which costs $29)

Startup Chat brings together entrepreneurs, startup founders, and various professionals. They often run AMAs and Q&A sessions where members share their success stories. Aside from general channels for all members of the community, there are channels for every country. Thus, you can interact with entrepreneurs from all over the world to find opportunities for partnership.

11. Measure

Members: 7,000+

Channels: #measure#seo-sem#data-science#blog-and-podcasts#conferences#google-analytics#adobe-analytics#testing, etc.

How to join: fill out the Google Form

Cost: Free

measure chat

The first members of the Measure Slack community were friends that met via the Web Analytics Association and chatted mostly on Twitter. Since Twitter communications were not too comfortable, the group owner, Lee Isensee, decided to try Slack. Since then the community has grown to over 7,000 users.

Measure Slack is 100% free. It is open to people with all levels of experience. New users are immediately exposed to key channels (#measure#lobby-bar#job-postings#conferences, etc.) which are typically the seeding ground of discussions. Community owners stick to the rule of having fewer channels to keep conversations livelier.

There are numerous high-profile industry experts who are always happy to chat in the channel or via direct message. Each year top contributors are provided a special thank you gift.

The Bottom Line

Slack communities are awesome workspaces for those looking for actionable advice and collaborations with like-minded professionals. Find answers to your questions, get help with urgent issues, find a job, and even draw some attention to your works and content. Just remember—it works both ways, so you should aim to give something back and share experiences, feedback, etc.

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