Discovery Setup

Discovery work begins with a community that people join, use, and keep returning to. As of July 2026, Skool named member growth, member activity, and member retention as ranking signals, but it did not publish the exact weights.

What matters

• Member growth means new members joining the community.
• Member activity includes posts, comments, and likes.
• Retention means members continue returning over time, and Skool described it as crucial.
• New groups can begin lower and improve as the group ages.
• Growth Boost can increase visibility and search placement, but it does not guarantee a position.
• Removing inactive or level 1 members does not improve rank.

How to set up for Discovery

1. Make sure the group is meant to be found by the people your community actually serves.
2. Write an About page that makes the audience and outcome easy to understand.
3. Choose the closest available category without forcing a misleading fit.
4. Improve the inside experience before sending more people to the page.
5. Give new members a useful first action through Community Setup.
6. Review why members return through Retention And Churn.
7. Measure genuine posts, comments, and likes instead of manufactured activity.
8. Use Discovery Ranking Signals for the known factors and Discovery Delisting Risk before trying aggressive tactics.

Best practice

• Use clear language that matches the terms your ideal member understands.
• Keep the promise on the About page consistent with the member experience.
• Treat Growth Boost as paid visibility, not as proof of community quality.
• Let lurkers stay when they are receiving value and following the rules.
• Test category and keyword changes carefully because Skool has not published every field rule.

Pitfalls

• Nobody outside Skool knows the exact ranking weights from the published guidance.
• A fixed age threshold for new groups has not been published.
• Top and Trending behavior should not be guessed from a few observations.
• Deleting quiet members is not a ranking strategy.
• Like farming and shallow activity can damage trust and may create delisting risk.