Creating a Discord server is a simple process. It is far more challenging to take that server and grow it into an established, active community.
Expanding a server means increasing its online presence and visibility, and the best way to achieve that is with advertising. Fortunately, advertising a Discord server is neither difficult nor expensive.
To make sure you are effectively promoting your server, read this guide.
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Build Solid Ground First
Before you begin advertising your server online, it’s important to make sure the server has the necessary foundations in place.
Customize your roles for admins, mods, and other staff. Add roles for new and experienced members. Add dedicated text channels for rules and announcements. Add and optimize any necessary bots. This might include bots for moderation, music, games, etc.
This is a crucial step because you need this kind of foundation in place to encourage people to become members. If your server appears incomplete, no matter how well you advertise it, people are unlikely to stick around for long.
Advertising Through Server Listing Websites
Once your server is ready, it’s time to share it with the world to improve its reach and, hopefully, increase its member count.
Thankfully, there are numerous websites, forums, and even other Discord servers dedicated to advertising your server. These are some of the websites you can use for free advertising.
Top.gg
Top.gg is a well-known platform for exploring the frequently used bots and locating highly rated servers. At present, this website has listings of numerous servers.
You can find successful servers such as Among Us Community, ChillZone, AFK Arena, and many more at the top of the list.
Publishing your server on this list is very straightforward.
- Head to the Top.gg server list and select Add Your Server.
- This will redirect you to the official Discord website to authorize your account.
- Once authorized, you need to invite the Top.gg bot to your server. You then need to return to Your Profile on the website, find your server and click Edit.
- Complete the short form. The form requires a permanent invite code and a description of your server.
Your server is now publicly listed on the website.
If you want to improve your online presence further, there’s also an option for premium advertisement.
Disboard
Another popular platform that lists Discord servers is Disboard. With close to a million servers listed, it might seem pointless to advertise your server here. However, if you manage to increase your member count and quickly accumulate positive reviews, you can swiftly rise through the ranks.
Here’s what you need to do to list your server:
- Log in with your Discord account.
- Go to the Profile Dashboard.
- Select the Your Servers tab and click Add New Server.
- Select the server you want to list.
- Complete the required fields, including Main Language, Category, Tags, and add a short description. You also need to ensure that the listing is set to PUBLIC.
- After that, click Save to complete your submission.
To check that it is publicly listed, go to Search and type in your server’s name.
Disforge
Disforge is not as popular as Disboard or Top.gg, but that could benefit newer servers. It is easier to improve your ranking on a smaller list of servers.
To submit your server to the public list, complete these steps:
- Click Login via Discord and use your Discord account to log in.
- Once logged in, a Submit button will replace the Login via Discord button. Press it.
- You will be redirected and asked to add the Disforge bot to your server.
- Once the bot has been added, you need to complete the form. Add an invite code, select a category and provide a short description.
After finishing these four steps, press Submit Server and you are done.
Discord Servers For Advertising
If you want to boost your online presence even more, you can also search for Discord servers focused on promoting your server. Typically, joining and sharing a link to your server shouldn’t require any payment.
These servers were intended to help users grow their servers, letting people interact, exchange server invites, and share their experiences on each other’s servers.
Remember to respect the server rules and obey them if you want to see a positive response from the members. If you spam your link or post it on the wrong channel, you will probably get kicked or even banned.
Post your link in the appropriate category, describe your server’s purpose, and what kind of new members you are looking for. With a simple introductory message, you could grab the attention of numerous users.
How Do You Find These Servers?
To find this type of server, it’s best to search on the platforms listed above. These include Disboard, Disforge, Top.gg, and any other similar sites you are able to find.
To find somewhere to advertise your server, be sure to use keywords such as advertising, advertise, marketing, self-promotion, ad, free ads, etc.
Good examples are Magicly Advertising & Nitro Giveaways!, Welcome Advertisements・Nitro Giveaways!, Advera | Community & Giveaways, and many others.
Remember that it might be better to look for self-promotion servers with fewer members. This way, your link is far less likely to get buried under thousands of others and lost in the shuffle.
Reddit is the most popular social forum on the Internet. Its numerous subreddits can help you find communities for everything, which makes it an excellent place for advertisements.
You first need an account. The older the account, the better. If you don’t have an account, you will need to create a new one and leave several comments before making your own posts.
It’s possible to purchase an old Reddit account, but it is also a violation of the site’s terms of service. You could get banned if Reddit staff members find out.
Once you have an account, you should visit /r/DiscordAdvertising. This is one of the oldest and finest Discord server directories, where people constantly share servers and their experiences.
Before you begin promoting your server, be sure to read the rules thoroughly. If you don’t, your post could get automatically deleted and your account banned from the subreddit.
After that, you can continue posting to other subreddits directly related to your server’s topic. For example, if you want to build a World of Warcraft-related community, you should be posting at /r/wow, /r/CompetitiveWoW, /r/warcraftlore, /r/worldofpvp, etc.
Utilizing these diverse advertising approaches, you can progressively enhance your Discord server’s reach and boost your member count.
Keep in mind: there are many websites and platforms other than Top.gg, Disboard, and Disforge. They are some of the best examples, but there might also be others that are better suited for your needs.
