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If you’re interested in creating a dating website, you’re not alone! New dating sites are created every day, so it’s important to be informed if you want to be successful and stand out from your competition. In this article, we’ll go over all the basics to consider when planning, launching, and beginning to maintain your brand new dating website. First, let’s take a look at an example of a pre-existing dating site. We’ll use this site as an example to look at the basic structural components of a dating site.
The first thing you notice on the page is the simple signup form. You’ll also notice a wide variety of member photos spread across the landing page to convey a sense of success for the website. As you scroll down, the website shows you some local profiles in your area, then explains the benefits of online dating with a few customer testimonials thrown in along the way. With this basic layout in mind, let’s go over the actual process of creating your very own online dating service!
The Basic Steps Required to Create a Dating Site
- Defining Your Niche. With loads of dating sites already online, it’s vital to figure out specifically which customers you’re trying to appeal to if you want your dating website to be successful. “Gay bears,” “adults over 40”, or “working-class singles” are all good examples of very specific niches possibilities. You’ll need to pinpoint your niche and make an accurate customer persona before proceeding.
- Picking a Name and Domain. Now that you know your target audience, it’s time to create a name that will make them click! Avoid lengthy or overcomplicated names—all the best dating websites use simple, straight-forward, and memorable names that ensure they’re hard to forget. A few examples are Match.com and Tinder. Nearly anyone you talk to will recognize these companies! This level of brand recognition of what you’re aiming for. Once you’ve selected a name, pick your website hosting service, and register your domain name.
- Making It Visually Appealing. Your platform will use the same color scheme across the entire website, so it’s important to choose the right colors that will make your dating site easily recognized, even from a blurry screenshot! You’ll also need to create a visual design/layout of your website using that color scheme. While you can definitely do this manually, most hosting services offer pre-made templates you can use from the get-go. You may also consider hiring a graphic designer/programmer to handle this for you.
- Creating Communication Options. You can’t have a dating website without messaging options! This is another place where you can hire a programmer to take care of it for you or use a plugin (like pHpSocial) to easily add a messaging feature to your website. There are many different options available, so consider a few possibilities to give your users the best online dating experience possible!
- Providing Useful Content. No-one will join your site if they can’t find it, so writing blogs (and other forms of engaging content) are a great way to boost your rankings! Using SEO practices, you can create helpful blog content that the general public will find useful, thereby establishing your website as an authority in the industry and creating shareable content. Make sure that this content is available to the general user so you can share the articles on other social media networks!
So How Much Are We Talking Here?
The good news is you can start a dating website for very little money! Your initial investment can be very low (depending on the domain name you choose); your first big investment will be on your site plugins! Still, you can have your site up and running for as little as $200 if you use a hosting site like WordPress. That said, we would recommend budgeting at least $1,000 before launching your website. This will give you a bit more flexibility when it comes to site development, advertising, and content creation.
Congratulations—now you know the basics to starting your own dating website! Remember, it’s a competitive landscape, so if you want to succeed, you’ll need to niche down right away. Once you’ve selected your target audience, launched your website, and began growing your community, you’ll be spending a lot less time building on your business & a lot more time on enjoying it!
