How to Build a Thriving GHL Community (Without Losing Your Sanity)

Welcome to the GHL Jungle

Steven Tann

Introduction: Welcome to the GHL Jungle

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or worse—ignoring marketing trends), you’ve probably noticed that online communities are taking over the world. Businesses, course creators, and influencers are all jumping on the bandwagon, creating spaces where their audience can engage, learn, and, of course, buy more stuff.

GoHighLevel (GHL) is no exception. In fact, it’s one of the best platforms for building a community because it’s constantly improving based on user feedback. So today, I’m going to walk you through how to create a successful GHL community—without breaking your keyboard, your budget, or your will to live.

Let’s do this! 🚀

Step 1: Setting Up Your GHL Community

1.1 Navigate to the Right Place

First things first—head over to GoHighLevel and make your way to:
➡️ Sites ➝ Memberships ➝ Communities

You’ll see a magical button that says “Create Group”. Click it. You are now officially a digital landlord. Congratulations!

Step 2: Choosing a Domain That Doesn’t Look Like a Wi-Fi Password

By default, GHL gives you a domain that looks like a secret government code:

ghl123xyz.marketing.com

Not exactly on-brand, right? Here’s how to fix it:

1. Go to Client Portal ➝ Settings ➝ Domain Setup

2. Change it to something recognizable, like:

   • community.yourbrand.com

   • vip.yourbrand.com

   • notasketchysite.com (okay, maybe not this one)

Remember: You can’t use your main domain. You need a subdomain like portal.yourbrand.com.

Step 3: Creating Your Community Space

3.1 Give It a Cool Name

Pick something catchy! Examples:
✔️ Marketing Masters
✔️ Tech Titans
✔️ The Funnel Freaks

(Okay, maybe not that last one.)

3.2 Fill in the Essentials

• Community Description – If writing isn’t your thing, use ChatGPT! (Shameless plug.)

• Logo & Cover Image – Make it look fancy. If you don’t have a logo, just use a cat meme.

• Favicon – That tiny icon that shows up in browser tabs. Don’t skip this!

Once you're happy, hit Create Group and boom—your community is alive.

Step 4: Organizing Channels Like a Pro

Now, let’s talk channels. These are like the rooms in your community mansion. Too many, and people get lost. Too few, and it’s chaos.

Some must-have channels:
✔️ Announcements – For big updates (and the occasional dramatic post)
✔️ General Discussion – Where everyone hangs out
✔️ Q&A – To avoid 500 “where do I find the login?” posts
✔️ VIP Members – For your paying customers (a.k.a. the “we love money” channel)
✔️ SOPs & Resources – So you don’t have to answer the same questions 10,000 times

Create these by clicking “Add Channel” and naming them accordingly.

Step 5: Adding Courses (and Making $$$)

Want to sell courses inside your community? GHL makes it easy.

1. Go to Learning inside your community.

2. Click “Add Course” (pick free or paid).

3. Set a price (or make it a reward for active members).

💡 Pro Tip: You can also connect Stripe or PayPal to monetize your community. Because why build a free club when you can build a profitable one?

Step 6: Managing Members Without Losing Your Mind

Your community will attract two types of people:

• Awesome, engaged members 🎉

• Trolls and spam bots 🤦‍♂️

6.1 How to Add Members

• Manually – If you like doing things the hard way.

• Via Automation – The smart way! Set up workflows where:
  ✔️ People who buy a course automatically get access.
  ✔️ Users filling out a form get invited.
  ✔️ VIP members get special access to premium channels.

6.2 How to Ban (a.k.a. The Digital Bouncer Method)

• Click on Members

• Select the troublemaker

• Click Ban (sweet, sweet justice)

You can even delete all their posts upon banning them. No evidence left behind. 👀

Step 7: Using Events, Leaderboards & Rewards to Keep Members Hooked

7.1 Setting Up Events

1. Go to Events ➝ Create Event

2. Add Office Hours, Q&A Sessions, or Webinars

3. Set it to Recurring so you don’t have to keep adding it manually

📢 Bonus: GHL can remind members one day before the event automatically!

7.2 Gamification & Rewards

Want to make your community addictive? Use points & levels!

• Likes & comments = points

• Points = higher ranking

• Higher ranking = rewards (discounts, free courses, VIP access, etc.)

Go to Gamification Settings to rename levels. Example:
✔️ Level 1: Newbie
✔️ Level 5: Marketing Ninja
✔️ Level 10: Overlord of Funnels

Use leaderboards to make it competitive!

Step 8: Automating EVERYTHING

Want to save time? Automate membership access!

1. Grant Access – If they buy a course, tag them & auto-add them.

2. Revoke Access – If their subscription expires, auto-remove them.

3. Send VIP Upgrades – If someone pays for VIP, move them into private channels.

💡 Extra Tip: Use the Social Planner to schedule posts weeks in advance.

Step 9: Promote Your Community (a.k.a. Get People to Join)

What’s the point of building a community if no one knows about it? Here’s how to get members:

✔️ Link it in your email signature
✔️ Promote it on social media
✔️ Offer it as a bonus in your courses
✔️ Advertise on GHL’s “GoCollab” (once you hit 10 members)

The bigger the community, the more valuable it becomes. So start inviting people ASAP!

Conclusion: You Did It! 🎉

And that’s it! You now have a fully operational GoHighLevel community, complete with:
✅ A custom domain
✅ Organised channels
✅ Paid courses & memberships
✅ Automated access & rewards
✅ Events & leaderboards

Now go forth and build the most epic community ever! (And don’t forget to ban the trolls.)

FAQs

1. Can I use my main domain for my GHL community?
Nope! You need a subdomain like community.yourbrand.com.

2. How do I make money from my community?
Charge for courses, VIP access, private events, or coaching.

3. How do I automate community access?
Use GHL workflows to grant or revoke access based on purchases or actions.

4. What if my community is dead?
Host events, post daily, reward engagement, and promote it like crazy!

5. How do I prevent spammers?
Use moderation tools and ban anyone who posts sketchy links.