Let's talk about the differences between a group and a public page. What is the difference between a group, a public page, a public page, a community, a meeting, a personal page and what type is needed for what. At the end of the article, we will conclude which type of community is best suited for promotion.
I’ll immediately clarify the terms in order to answer the question “what is the difference between a group and a VKontakte community.”
A group, a public page (public) and a meeting are all different types of communities.
VKontakte community diagram
When they say “community,” they may mean a group or a public page, or less often a meeting.
Communities are a union of people based on interests: professional, commercial, entertainment.
A public page and a public page are one and the same thing.
A meeting and an event are one and the same.
What is the difference between a personal page and a public page?
A personal page is a page of you personally as a person. You cannot create a group, public page or meeting if you do not have a personal VKontakte page.
A public page is a page of you as a person, as a public person, often professionally. Those. you as a designer, as a programmer, as a blogger.
It can be roughly divided as follows: on your personal page you publish everything personal for your real friends, and on the public page what is interesting to your subscribers about your professional activities.
This division, of course, is arbitrary, but VKontakte developers see it this way. No one can forbid you to write about work on your personal page. You just won't be able to advertise it. But you can advertise a public page.
A person should have one personal page, but one person can create as many public pages (publics) as he wants, since he can have many interests and each public can be dedicated to a separate interest or profession.
| Possibilities | Public page | Personal page |
| Can be advertised | Yes | No |
| You can invite friends | No | Yes |
| Subscribers can write on the wall | Yes | Yes |
| There is a products section | Yes | No |
| Shows up on interesting pages | Yes | No |
| This is a community | Yes | No |
| You can create many | Yes | No |
The table of differences clearly shows that a personal page is suitable for publishing personal, family events, and a public page is suitable for publishing events in the professional field, interests, and hobbies.
What is a group and public VK?
Before we figure out what is the difference between a group and a public VKontakte page, let's define each of the concepts.
- A public page is an official platform for promoting a brand, association, or famous person. Conducted on behalf of the promoted object, it is completely open to all users of the social network.
- A group is a platform that brings together people of similar interests. Here you can communicate and ask questions, post on a common wall, and take an active part in the life of the community. At the request of the administrator, you can make it open or closed.
How are communities different on VK?
| Possibilities | Meeting | Group | Public page |
| You can invite friends | Yes | Yes | No |
| Subscribers can suggest news | No | No | Yes |
| Shown in Interesting Pages | No | No | Yes |
| Displayed in the Upcoming events block | Yes | No | No |
| There is a Products section | No | Yes | Yes |
| Open wall | Yes | Yes | No |
| Same design | Yes | Yes | Yes |
You can invite friends - subscribers can invite their friends to groups and meetings. This method is actively used for free promotion of groups.
Subscribers can suggest news . Remember communities like Overheard? These are just public pages; users themselves offer news. This is also called User Generated Content - content created by users. In such a group, the administrator does not need to publish; it is filled in by the subscribers themselves. You just need to be careful not to write nonsense.
Shown in interesting pages . Have you seen the “Interesting Pages” block on your personal page on your personal page? Have you wondered why some communities get there and others don’t? So, public pages go there. There is no group. This is another channel for promoting the group.
Block of interesting VKontakte pages
Displayed in the Upcoming events block - only meetings are included here.
Upcoming events section
There is a products section - products can only be posted in public pages and groups. This block cannot be added to meetings.
Open wall - if the open wall is not disabled in the settings, then in a meeting and group users can write posts on their own behalf. These posts will not appear in the feed of group subscribers; to view them you need to go to the group or meeting page. This method is also used to promote the group, because if the posts that users write are interesting, then other group members may often come to the group to read them.
Same design - all three types of communities look the same in appearance.
Subtleties and nuances that you should know about
We hope that now you understand the difference between a public page and an open group in VKontakte, and you know which type is better to lean towards. Also, you should know the following points:
- It's okay if you initially chose the wrong type of community, you can always change it. Right on the main page, under the avatar, find the “More” button, which reveals additional options. There is a “Translate” button - click and change. The moment of transfer in one direction or the other is no different;
- The translation function is available only once every 30 days and works only in the desktop version of the site;
- This opportunity is available only to community owners (not admins), namely its creators.
Well, the difference between a group and a public VKontakte page, if the first is closed, is very big. In turn, if a group site is open, it quite closely resembles a public one. The final decision is made by the owner of the page, based on the characteristics of his activities, the chosen methods of promotion, and personal preferences. If in doubt, we recommend testing both types of platforms to better understand how they differ from each other. As they say, everything is learned by comparison!
What type of community is best for promotion?
Each type has its own advantages.
If you want to promote a group for a short event, or one that repeats at the same time every year, a meetup may be a better option. You can invite up to 500 participants per day.
If you are planning a community for a long time, then a group or public is better. The community can be transferred from one species to another. Which one is better to start with depends on your goals.
I often start my communities with a group, so that I can invite friends and promote them through inviting. And then I leave them as a group or transfer them to the community.
What topic should I create a group on VKontakte?
Let's figure out what topic to create a group on VKontakte ? If you create a group with the goal of subsequently making a profit, then it would seem that you need to choose the most commercial topic. However, this is not quite true. A social network is a place of relaxation, which is why choosing a theme for a group being created on VKontakte differs from the criteria for choosing a theme for a website.
Working on the Internet, Forex, copywriting and other similar topics about making a profit may be of interest to some. But groups with entertainment and educational themes are truly very popular. A group of absolutely any topic with a large number of subscribers will bring good money.
The main criterion when thinking about what topic to create a group on VKontakte should be your personal interest. You should be interested in what you do, it should bring you pleasure. Otherwise, what is the point of this? With the same success, gritting your teeth, you can go to your “favorite” job offline.
Useful article: Socialink: registration and earnings by entering captcha (ankapching)
Even if you are interested in something unusual and alien to the majority, it is worth creating a group on this topic; there will be subscribers. VKontakte has a multimillion-dollar audience and a group of any topic will find its audience. In addition, a group on an unusual topic will have few competitors and can easily take a leading position in the segment.
Summing up, we can conclude that the choice of topic for the created group on VKontakte should be based on the tastes and preferences of its author. You need to choose a topic for the group that will be interesting to work with for a long time. Otherwise, sooner or later you may get tired of leading the group, and you will want to quit, thereby erasing the wasted effort and time.
Add a catchy cover
The cover is the first thing a VKontakte user sees when entering your community. Therefore, it is important that it matches the theme of the page. If, for example, you are promoting a yoga studio, put a photo from the class on the cover. Our Figma layout with the dimensions of social media images will help you quickly prepare pictures. To make people more willing to join the community, use live or dynamic covers. I'll tell you more about them.
Live cover. A video or a selection of five images replacing each other. Live covers only work in VKontakte mobile applications; a static picture is displayed on the computer and in the mobile version of the social network.
Under the live cover there is a target action button. An interested user can immediately go to the site or leave a purchase request. For example, in the community of the musical group twenty one pilots they posted a video from a concert on the cover. The Go button opens a selection of tracks in Apple Music or the Boom app.
How to use live covers on VKontakte
- In the online store community you can show a new collection of clothes.
- On the sports section page - post a video filmed during the lesson.
- A cafe or restaurant can demonstrate the interior and the most mouth-watering dishes.
- Travel organizers can add a video taken during the trip.
Dynamic cover. An automatically updated cover that contains specific information. For example, a weather forecast, exchange rates, a birthday person’s avatar, or a list of the most active subscribers for the day. Dynamic covers increase engagement: people are pleased to see their name. He enters the community again, and at the same time reads posts or studies information about the company. Covers are also used to hold competitions for the most active subscriber or offer to join a YouTube channel.
The avatars of the birthday boy and the last subscriber are displayed on the cover
Dynamic covers are created using constructors; Dycover, Letscover and LiveCoverStudio are suitable. In order for the cover to work, you will need to constantly pay for the service, on average it costs 100-200 rubles per month. I'll tell you how to use dynamic covers in communities on different topics.
- In the music group community, you can set a countdown timer and show the time remaining until the concert.
- In the group of a specific area or city, you can display the weather forecast.
- YouTubers can put their latest video and number of views on their cover page.
- In groups where user-generated content is published, you can show the most active authors.
- In communities of any topic, you can display the names of subscribers who are celebrating a birthday on the cover.
Connect VKontakte to Amplifier to develop your community: publish on a schedule and receive recommendations on the best time to post
How to create a group on VKontakte?
Creating a group on VKontakte is very easy. To get started, go to the “Groups” section using the link in the left menu. Next on this page you will see the “Create a community” button, click on it.
Next, a window will appear in which you will need to specify the name of the community and its type: group, page, event. If you want to create a group on VKontakte, then select “Group” from the list and click on the “Create Community” button.
Then you will be redirected to a page with group settings, select the ones you need and save them, or you can leave it for later. In any case, you have already created a group on VKontakte and can manage it as you wish.
