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The dating world is constantly expanding every day, so what better way to get your foot in the door than to create an online dating website? In this article, the creators of igetnaughty suggest looking at several ways to monetize your dating site for profit. Creating a fully-functional dating site with an ever-growing user base is an accomplishment in itself, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the money—so let’s start making some!
In this article, we’ll be going over the four main ways dating sites make money: paid memberships, advertising, offering dating advice/coaching, and affiliate programs. Each monetization option has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to explore all potential options before attempting to implement one (or more) on your own website. Ready to start making some money? Let’s explore these four options!
Paid Memberships
Arguably the most common way to make money on your dating website is by offering premium memberships to your users. It’s important that all basic features of your site be accessible to free users. Otherwise, they’ll be unlikely to subscribe (as few people are willing to pay for something they haven’t seen yet!). Beyond the basic features is where the money lies. You can offer many different features, such as “Who Liked You,” unlimited matches, and profile visibility boosting, for a fair price on your website. Remember to make the paid perks worth the user’s hard-earned cash; they’re not going to pay you $15/month for an extra “like” per day!
Advertising
Another common way to make money is through the implementation of advertisements. Fortunately, you’ll have a bunch of options when it comes to this method, so you’re not limited to working with a select number of advertising companies. CPA (cost per action) advertising is usually preferred if possible, but you can also reap many benefits from a CPC (cost per click) setup as well. If you’re unsure of where to start, the first thing you should do is look up Google AdSense. This monetization service allows you to place targeted ads on your website, ensuring the products offered will actually be useful to your customers (resulting in a higher conversion rate and more money in your pocket!).
Offering Dating Advice/Coaching Services
As a dating site, you’re expected to be an authority when it comes to love, casual dating, or whatever niche you’re operating in. Fortunately, that expertise comes at a price, so why not start charging for it? There are many different ways you can sell your coaching services, ranging from basic love eBooks to one-on-one coaching or couples’ consultations! Make sure that you will be able to handle managing the services you plan on offering because you may get overwhelmed if the initial demand is too high. Consider hiring assistance if you think the work may be too much for you to personally handle.
Affiliate Programs
Teaming up with another company can be a great way to make money, and the easiest way to do this is by joining an affiliate program. The downside of dating website affiliate programs is that you’re referring potential customers to your competition, but the plus side is that you’ll get paid if they convert! Which websites you choose to associate your site with is where many sites often fail. If your site links to adult-oriented websites or sketchy services that no-one’s ever heard of, it’s fairly likely your reputation will suffer. It’s better to only link to reputable sites, like Cupid.com, which are household names and won’t make your own site look skeezy.
Which Options Should You Choose?
Truth be told, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution: which model is best for your site depends on your individual services! There’s no point in investing a lot of time and effort in a monetization strategy with a low ROI, so be sure to do your research before committing to a particular strategy. A great way to do this is by looking at your highest-performing competitors and seeing which strategies they use on their websites. After you’ve selected your strategy, give it a test run to see how it performs before implementing it completely.
Remember, there isn’t a right or a wrong way to go about making money on your dating site—there are simple ways that work and ways that don’t! With a little bit of research and a tad of testing, you can be raking in revenue off of your dating website in no time!
