How to Start an Online Dating Business

Do you know the odds of finding love? It’s less than the odds of winning the lottery which is either a 1 in 38 or 1 in 37 chance. Thus, the odds of you finding love now is 1 in 562 chances.

There are around 7.674 billion people in the world as of 2019. With the statistics above in mind, it is natural to think that starting an online dating business has a high chance of flourishing. Indeed, launching a business dedicated to helping people from different walks of life seek an ideal partner means doing potential users a great favor.

When you play your cards right, you are also increasing their chances of finding the lover of their dreams. The convenience of online dating allows people from various parts of the globe to meet and connect with people who have the qualities they seek in a romantic affair. The whole dating experience does not lose its charm, but the awkwardness of first meeting someone decreases to the point that you can simply swipe left or right until such time that you meet someone who you strongly feel could potentially become your other half.

But, like any other niche business, you need to plan out how you will handle every aspect of your business. It is for that reason that we are here to answer the question of how to start a dating business online.

The Game Plan: Starting an Online Dating Service

Picture yourself as a successful business that provides numerous users the opportunity to find love. You could not have done it without a fool-proof plan that has achieved all your short-term and long-term goals. Here are detailed steps on how to effectively create your game plan and execute it for your dating business.

1. Brainstorm on your Business Model

A business model is an outline that your dating service is going to follow. It allows you to distinguish which part of your business is going to be your core, how you will prioritize each, along with other essentials that would help you establish your service provision.

Below are examples of business models to use as basis:

• Subscription Model: For the clients who do not mind paying every month for your service or want first-hand access to exclusive offers
• Bundling Model: For the clients who want to try more than one of your features or services
• Freemium Model: For the clients who want free access, but are willing to pay for more features monthly
• Crowdsourcing Model: For your hiring preferences in different platforms

There are many more different models, however, these are the most applicable when you start your own online dating business. Aside from this, make sure that you decide on whom you are targeting for your services. Do you want to help young adults find love who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community or do you want to venture into an even specific niche, such as heterosexual military personnel? Either way, make sure you establish your target market before creating your website.

Understand the dynamics of each relationship or dating preference. Pattern your app or website’s services based on these unique structures and choices of your target users. It is important to prepare features that speak to your audience and refrain from providing generic ones.

2. Customize Your Dating Website

When you have established which business model you want for your startup, supplement it with a website that anchors your presence on the internet. Aside from your website, you need to have a catchy name like OkCupid, Bumble, or Tinder. Make sure that when people say your name, they know who you are and recognize instantly that you offer dating services. Go wild for your name, if you must! So long as it is relevant to your brand and helps you stand out from the various other dating platforms out there.

Capture your market with visuals and an easy-to-access website dependent on your business model. Do you offer Freemium or Subscription payment? Bottom line, the more unique and easy-to-navigate your app or website, the higher the guarantee of converting on-lookers to full time users.

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3. Talk About Legal Matters

This is an incredibly important matter that we cannot emphasize enough. When answering the question, how do I start my online dating service, you have to make sure that you and your users are safe. You must be registered as a business in your respective Small Business Development or Administration Offices to legally provide dating services.

Study the clauses and legal perimeters that focus on what you promise as a dating service provider. Do not, under any circumstance, give empty promises and divulge personal information outside of your business. Should you need to share user information to third-party entities, you must disclose it completely. Specify what kind of information will be shared, to whom, for what purpose, and under what limitations.

Aside from this, make it known to your users that, albeit their privacy while using your services is your responsibility, you are not accountable if users agree to go on dates with other users, regardless if the outcome is positive or negative.

4. Decide: Paid or Free?

Relating to number one, if you are aware of your business model, then you have a clearer idea of what you want your community to look like. Would you want them to pay before joining or give them free access to your features?

Paid Memberships entails spending more cash for marketing and collaborating with an affiliate dating site to drive new users to your website or vice versa. In an affiliate setup, each of you gets a percentage of profit from the new users that come in. Another possible method with paid memberships would be pre-registration of members before launching the site.

Meanwhile, Free Membership entails a faster growth rate of your dating community, especially if you are targeting a small market that could later on transition into a freemium kind of business model.

As long as you uphold user convenience and satisfaction, then you will earn while helping hopeless romantics find their life partners.

5. Choose Your Platform

Be where your market will be. In other words, create an online presence. Whether it be on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other platform, choose wisely where you are going to appear. Knowing where your targets are eases your worries of not being able to connect to the correct dating community you are catering to.

Aside from enticing more users to procure your services, you also unlock opportunities to advertise yourself on different platforms. Capture the attention of a diverse population of people who may or may not want to date, but love your content on the page. Utilize your social media presence wisely and watch as numerous end-users come your way.

6. Incorporate SEO Measures

Backing up number 5, make sure that you have search engine optimization measures as part of your game plan.

Why?

It helps you get ahead of other sites in the search engine ranking. The more clicks you have, the higher you go. With more service-specific keywords incorporated into your blogs and social media posts, your website takes the top of the industry of dating online.

7. Create a Moderation Plan

The last ingredient to starting an online dating business is content moderation. Protecting your website and preventing it from being proliferated by phishers who love to scam your authentic users is a must. It helps build your reputation and engagement tenfold since you interact with your real users, and they enjoy a scam-free dating experience.

Moderation also becomes one of your strongest marketing techniques, particularly when paired with the power of word-of-mouth. Testimonies from real people also increase your credibility and become an asset to your marketing plan for your startup.

In Conclusion: How to Start Your Own Online Dating Business

Now you know how to manage and build up your dating business. It will be arduous at first, especially when establishing your community and gaining patrons, but you will get there. With a little nudge here and there from this game plan we created for you, you will surely succeed in your endeavors.

You may mix and match these techniques as you please. Just remember, creating a solid identity for your digital dating services and staying aligned with the legal boundaries that come with this industry are key to truly establish your business and become the best version of it.

In line with that, Chekkee is here for you to be able to establish your reputation well. Our moderation for your dating site will surely blow the phishers out of the dating pool. We will surely keep you and your users safe from legal discrepancies and reduce unpleasant user experiences caused by catfishers and trolls from taking place.

Cheers to your startup and many more years of dating services to come.

Build, Moderate, and Succeed!

Merlene Leano

Director of Marketing