You just decided that you want to have your dating website and make a profit out of it. Before you make it to the end of this article, make sure that you have already defined why you want to put up a dating site in the first place. Come back here when you are convinced that opening up a dating website business is the right niche for you.
Online relationships
Almost everyone has created a relationship online. It doesn’t just have to be a romantic relationship – it can also be between friends, family, your boss, and much more. However, online dating has become a trend in the recent years, especially with the social network giants that have created online relationships in at least one out of five. This can be a shocking figure to some who are sticking to the old tradition of dating in person, but it is a fact that many dating relationships these days started online.
Dating websites have become trendy these days as well, even if social media giants such as Facebook are already there gathering billions of users worldwide. You don’t have to get discouraged when faced with high competition. Dating websites will always be successful as long as you do your part in it, too.
Creating a Dating Website through WordPress
While the title does say that you create a dating website with WordPress and BuddyPress, the latter is a theme that you can find within WordPress. The theme itself is widely used in community or social network style websites such as Facebook. Another thing why the BuddyPress themes are very popular is because of the plugins that are useful for community sites that can only be used in themes powered by BuddyPress. It is like working in WordPress within a WordPress platform.
Many of those who start with dating websites usually have monetization in mind, so here are some tips on how you build up your dating website.
Paid Membership
If you want to monetize your dating website and make a profit out of it, look for a membership plugin. Both WordPress and BuddyPress has a plugin that will do the monetization process for you, but it won’t work unless you have a good grasp on the method of monetization you have picked. Having a membership plugin will restrict the access of unauthorized users into the content authored by the user. At first, it may be wise to set up your membership for free first as a way to lure in more members. It would be difficult to invite members to pay up for their membership if they have no clue what kind of dating website you are putting up. They want assurance that you are not scamming the members. The membership plugin also provides an option wherein members can get to higher tier membership, which is usually labeled as premium membership, wherein members get exclusive deals that only they can have access to. Doing it this way will lure in more members to sign up to your website.
Creating Profiles
Every social network has a profile, which is a very important element to have on a dating website. By default, WordPress creates the profile per user. So you are already safe in this area. But if you want custom profiles, such as adding more information about the user, all the more you need to find a plugin that will provide the user the ability to customize their profile. Both WordPress and BuddyPress offer such a plugin.
Private Messaging
Since it is a dating website, it is a must that every user can send and receive private messages from other users. BuddyPress has a plugin that will let your users send private messages and even make a reply through their email without the need to log in. Every member of your website is provided with a private inbox; wherein users can exchange private messages or PMs using their username. They also get to avoid using their email ID, too.
Private Calling
Major dating websites provide their users the ability to call other users, but only for their premium members. This is a cool service to add in your dating website, and another tool to lure in members to go for a higher membership tier. Once the members get subscribed to this particular service on your website, they can call or even text the other user without divulging their personal information. All they will see each other is the profile that they have set up in the first place. Also, the phone number is kept private, since the dating website will be the one to generate its phone number. You can find a plugin that offers this kind of feature with BuddyPress-powered themes.
Matchmaking Service
This is what every dating website should have – the matchmaking service. But to give a tease to your members and make them want to go to higher memberships, this service should be offered for higher level members. The matchmaking service is catered to address the need of the individual, which will be tailored exclusively for them. This is something that can’t be redeemed with free membership since that membership level is like giving freedom to users to find their match without the need of this service at all. This service provides every user to specify their desired candidate and many other specifications that will get them the perfect match.
To create this feature into your dating website, you need to find a builder plugin such as Gravity Forms. You can find a similar one in BuddyPress as well.
Prep Your Dating Website Now!
The above are just some of the most significant features that you should build for your dating website. You can always ask for assistance or hire a web developer to create a website for you. Just make sure that you communicate with them well so that they will be able to deliver the kind of dating website that you want. Your web developer might even find features or plugins that will make your dating website even better.