So you’ve got a significant other. Congratulations!
But how are you going to afford to date them, or perhaps more importantly, afford
to maintain a house and date them?
In my experience, the financial issue is the 2nd biggest topic I’m asked about (right
after how to meet that special someone). And it’s not just an issue facing the
males of the population. In these modern days, women face the same financial
pressures as the guys.
If you’re one of those individuals who are wondering, “Where’s the money?” Well,
I’m here to show you.
The answer is something you’re probably already familiar with - dating. That’s
right! You can earn extr
a money by setting up your own dating site.
This book will help show you the steps to establishing, promoting, and profiting
from a dating site you can call your own.
Just think of it as a guide to making the dating game work for you!
The Online Dating Industry
The online dating industry can help you make the income you need and want -
working right from the comfort of your own home. This is a large industry filled with
many different types of dating sites and they can all make you money though
several means. You can have your own business without your own products or
services to sell. Imagine, you don’t have to deal with invoices, shipping details, or
employees. All you have to do is create your own website, find ways to attract
visitors, and then monetize the traffic that you get from your website. The rewards
of the online dating industry are great, and with a little effort, you could be well on
your way to financial freedom – while helping others improve their dating lives as
well.
Different Types of Sites
This book will help show you the steps to establishing, promoting, and profiting
from a dating site you can call your own.
Just think of it as a guide to making the dating game work for you!
working right from the comfort of your own home. This is a large industry filled with
many different types of dating sites and they can all make you money though
several means. You can have your own business without your own products or
services to sell. Imagine, you don’t have to deal with invoices, shipping details, or
employees. All you have to do is create your own website, find ways to attract
visitors, and then monetize the traffic that you get from your website. The rewards
of the online dating industry are great, and with a little effort, you could be well on
your way to financial freedom – while helping others improve their dating lives as
well.
While you’re
brainstorming on your dating website ideas, you should start thinking about the
kind of dating site you want to establish. You can choose from the following: white label site, directory/portal site, and advice site.
designed specifically for you. However, a white label site shares a common
database of members from other sites. This means you don’t have to build
your own membership from scratch, but you will also share any revenue
made with the site that you are re-branding.
websites. You will be an affiliate of these sites and you will earn an certain
amount per visitor that clicks through, receives a free trial, or signs up for a
full membership.
The compensation you receive from the sites you list
depends on your agreement with that website.
product reviews, or magazine-style articles related to dating and romance.
You also write recommendations and reviews of websites you are affiliated with.
Another thing to think about when planning your website is the audience. Who is
your target audience and what kind of content do they need? Currently, there are
2 types of dating websites based on content: standard dating sites and adult dating
sites. While the latter can make you more money, you have to be mature enough and comfortable with the idea of running an adult website
As with all things in business, the amount of money you make from your site is
generally proportional to the time and effort you devote to its creation and
maintenance.
Chapter 1: Setting Up Your Site
worry that they lack the skills to establish a site on the Internet, but as you’ll learn in this chapter, setting up a site only takes 3 easy steps.
1 . D om a in Na m e Re gi st r a t ion
While there’s no rule that dictates that domain registration comes first, it’s
good practice to register your domain name before you design or code your
site. This is especially important if you want your domain name to reflect the
name of your site. When you register your domain name first, you prevent
other people from taking it before you do. Also, it gives you a sense of focus when it comes to creating your website.
good practice to register your domain name before you design or code your
site. This is especially important if you want your domain name to reflect the
name of your site. When you register your domain name first, you prevent
other people from taking it before you do. Also, it gives you a sense of focus when it comes to creating your website.
But before you start making a website, you need to have a good
understanding of what a domain name is. In the URL below the underlined
portion is the domain name:
http://www.dating.com
As far as the Internet is concerned, your domain name is your site’s“address”.
Instead, the name is
registered for a period of time, usually for one to five years. You can also
name is a lot like renting. You can ‘use’ it for a time and then have the option
to ‘use’ it again.
domain names are already taken, especially those using the .com suffix.
Chances are you’ll have to try several variations of the name you have in
mind before finding one that is available. Keep in mind that unusual spellings
or extra dashes may help you register the name you want, but it may also
make it difficult for visitors to find your site. It is important to choose a name
that is catchy and easy to remember, but (hopefully) has not been taken yet!
allow you to search for your desired name’s availability before completing any
form. If you have your heart set on a particular name, this is definitely the
way for you to go if you want to check your domain name’s availability.
Here’s the top 2 places where you can get a great deal on domain names:
1. At GoDaddy.com you can register a domain name for one year for as little
as $8.95. Furthermore, if you purchase another qualifying service at the
same time (such as web hosting), you can get a domain name for only
$1.99.
2. At Moniker.com their prices vary depending on the name you want, but
you can order a .info name for as little as $4.49 and a .net name for as little
as $5.49. You can also appraise or sell a current domain name.
Even if you decide not to register it right away, you should at least make sure
your desired domain name is available before you move on to the second
step – but do not delay for too long. It would be terrible to spend a lot of time
got around to signing up for it. If you are serious about your own dating web
site, you should first register your domain name so that it is one less thing for
you to do in the long run.
Ideally, your domain name should be the same name as your website. For example,
our website is named Dr. Dating.
Naturally, this makes our domain name
www.dating.com If the domain name you want is no longer available, either you
change your site’s name or add some modifiers that will make it different. Adding
numbers at the beginning or end of your URL is also an option.
with either a hyphen (-) or an underscore (_). However, the problem with the
underscore is that only Yahoo and MSN can read it as a separator. For
Google to read your domain name keywords, you have to separate them with
hyphens.
accuracy, and it’s usually easier to remember.
If you can’t find a short
domain name that ends in .com, try other domain name extensions such as .net or .org.
simpler than what most people expect. While understanding HTML and Java
can help you design your site, it is not necessary. Here are a couple of alternatives when it comes to designing your site:
Use WYSIWYG Software
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) design software, such as
Microsoft’s FrontPage, eliminates your need to know the complex language of
web design. Instead, you create the site through templates and by entering
text just as you would in a word processing program.
The program
automatically converts your design into HTML.
can be ideal for a starter site.
Although these online WYSIWYG programs have a lot of limitations, they are easy to work with for simple designs.
Hire a Designer
crafted site can be more appealing and can integrate a wider variety of
applications into your site, such as chat rooms, message boards, and custom
graphics.
firms, which typically aim their services towards medium-sized or larger
businesses. Instead, hire a freelance web designer. The work is still high
quality, but is generally more affordable.
If you decide to hire a freelance designer, several websites allow you to easily
find skilled designers that will meet your needs. One of the sites I usually
recommend is www.elance.com.
Among all of freelance marketplaces,
Elance offers the widest selection of programmers.
3000 web designers are available through the site.
Currently, more than
You can also hire
professionals to write your site’s content, develop your logo, or test your site’s
usability. However, always be careful in hiring freelancers to be sure you get
someone who knows what they are doing – ask for references and use an
escrow service for payments. The escrow service acts as an impartial ‘middle
man’ (for a small fee), and your money is only transferred to the programmer
when you are happy with their work.
Another quality site to find a web designer is at rentacoder.com. They
currently have over 34,600 web designers to choose from, 3,700 with a rating
of 8 or more (10 is a perfect rating). 990 of their web designers qualify as a
“Top Coder” (which carries special requirements) and 300 are Expert Rating
Certified.
begin the design process with an idea of what the finished product will look
like. Keep in mind that web users value easy navigation and a quick load
time (time required for the browser to display the page) over flashy graphics
Making Cash With Your Own Dating Website
by showing them a couple of sites you like (ideally, choose sites that have the same topic as yours).
you need to begin shopping around for a hosting service. A hosting service’s
job is to keep your site 100% available on the Internet for visitors to see.
back pages of any computer magazine, you will see dozens of them. In order
to pick the best one for your site, it is important to look at four factors:
1. Reliability
your site is not accessible and you are losing money.
Some amount of
downtime is expected for routine maintenance, but if a site does not promise at least 99% reliability, go somewhere else.
2. Space Provided
expect it. You need to select a hosting provider that can accommodate future
growth, and have relatively inexpensive fees if you go beyond your allotted
amount of space and bandwidth. The amount of space also varies depending
on price - the more you pay, the more room you get. Avoid any plan that
offers less than 100 Megabytes. You may never use that much, but it’s good
to have the extra space as your site expands.
3. Extras
Almost all hosting plans include some extra features, such as Pop3 Email
accounts, email forwarding, secured servers (for online transactions) and
more. In the case of extras, the general rule is to get as much as you can for
the price you can afford.
4. Price
Probably the most important factor in your hosting decision will be price. Just
as there is an enormous number of hosting companies, there is also a widearray of pricing packages. Some basic plans cost as little as $5 a month or
as much as $250.
You’ll need to shop around for the best deal.
Just
remember that the cheapest host isn’t necessarily the best host – if you can
find user reviews of the web hosts you’re looking at, go ahead and do some
research.
Make sure to also look at set-up fees, which range from $25 to $40; many
companies also offer specials for free set-up. Also keep in mind that if you
pay for a full year of hosting, instead of choosing a monthly option, you will
usually pay a lower rate.
You can visit a site such as webhostingtalk.com to obtain a great deal of
information on how to find the most suitable host. Most of the information on this
site is from experienced webmasters who have “seen it all” in terms of web hosting.
You may also find offers from individual web hosting resellers who can offer you a
low cost option for the exact amount of space that you need, rather than paying for
a ton of space each month that will go to waste.
resources you can go to for information. Take a look at findmyhosting.com or
domain-name-center.com. They offer a wide-selection of articles that are written
by knowledgeable professionals. These articles can help you find the best hosting
plan. They also provide easy-to-understand answers that will make the process of
web hosting selection much, much easier. While these sites offer a variety of
hosting offers, you want to take in all of the information that you can before deciding on a hosting company.
Chapter 2: Creating Your Site’s Content
Your site’s content is going to be the foundation of your website’s revenue.
Without it, you won’t be able to get users to click on your advertisers and affiliate
links (to be discussed in detail later). If you have an adult site that mostly houses
pictures or a directory/portal site, then you will not need much written content.
However, the little written content that you do have will need to be convincing
enough to get visitors to your affiliate sites.
essential part of your site’s success.
You need to entertain and engage your
visitors enough to encourage regular return visits, as well as free advertising via
word-of-mouth. Whatever type of dating site you want to set up, your website
content is the key to its success.
Without it, you won’t be able to get users to click on your advertisers and affiliate
links (to be discussed in detail later). If you have an adult site that mostly houses
pictures or a directory/portal site, then you will not need much written content.
However, the little written content that you do have will need to be convincing
enough to get visitors to your affiliate sites.
If you plan on creating an advice site, whether you have reviews of available dating
sites or featured advice articles, then good written content is going to be anessential part of your site’s success.
You need to entertain and engage your
visitors enough to encourage regular return visits, as well as free advertising via
word-of-mouth. Whatever type of dating site you want to set up, your website
content is the key to its success.
1 . Choos ing the R ight Ke ywor ds
Aside from entertaining your visitors and convincing them to click on your
affiliate links, your content will also play a major role in where you site ends
up in search engine results.
phrases that people type in when they are looking for a site like yours) that
are both searched for by an adequate number of people and are not highly
competitive. These keywords will give you the best shot at achieving a good
possible.
1. Do It Yourself - Using Free Online Resources
resources, such as The Overture Keyword Suggestion tool (which can be
found at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ ).
All you have to do is enter your potential keywords into the search box, and
Overture comes up with the number of searches that those keywords get per
month, as well as a list of related keywords.
While they are good for
brainstorming, these free tools often have a lot of limitations. For example,
the Overture Keyword Suggestion tool only comes up with the number of
searches from the previous month. Also, it doesn’t take any plural words or
misspellings into account. But if you’re simply looking to build your keyword
list, then it’s a great tool because it gives you an idea of how popular certain
keywords are. This process will take a fair amount of time, but it’s a good way to start if you don’t have any keyword research experience.
2. Do It Yourself - Using Paid Software
compile more data than the free tools, and their results can go a long way.
Here are among the top keyword research tools currently used by
professional webmasters:
WordTracker
The most popular paid keyword research tool is WordTracker
an annual subscription fee of $250 (US). Despite its price, WordTracker is
one of the most effective keyword research tools out there. It compiles 2
months of search term data from the major search engines, and it’s the most
accurate keyword research tool used by SEO professionals today.
amount of competition your site is facing, as well as how effective a keyword
is for search engine placement.
Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) that most SEO professionals rely on. It
basically compares how effective a keyword is based on popularity, as well as
the amount of available competition. If your KEI is below 10%, then it would
be very difficult to rank high in search engines using that keyword. But if your
keyword’s KEI is above 10%, then you have a greater chance of ranking well
for that term.
website. Although the data provided in the free trial is limited, it can give you a good idea of what the paid service has to offer.
Priority Submit
Priority Submit has a lot of advantages as a paid keyword research tool.
Unlike WordTracker.com, it gives you access to a year’s worth of search
engine data. It also allows you access to search terms in other languages
such as German, French, and Spanish. This is especially useful if you are
also targeting a European market.
density analyzer that lists how often certain search terms appear on a page.
of the major search engines. Their website claims that it takes only within 48
hours for your site to be accepted. Like WordTracker.com, they also have a
free trial version that allows you to look around. The subscription fee for their
Keyword Discovery service is $32.50 per month. You can register here.
3. Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Software
than just keyword placement – they set up the foundation for the search
engine optimization techniques applied to your site.
Since most SEO Also, when you
purchase an SEO tool, you’ll rarely need other tools to add to the information
and accuracy delivered by your paid software.
Web CEO
of their most important features analyzed how well optimized a certain
webpage is. After completing the analysis of a webpage, Web CEO also
gives you a list of things you can do to improve how your website is
optimized. They also include a keyword research tool, although it is not as
comprehensive as WordTracker and Priority Submit. Fortunately, the added
features such as site traffic analyzer and search engine submission make up
for this.
You can get a free trial version of this program from Web CEO’s Official site.
SEO Elite
also gives you detailed reports about the sites that link back to you. It’s also a
good tool for analyzing your competitor’s website – you get to find out their
keyword density, link density, and whether they’re using the right tags or not.
Also, if you require reciprocal links from your partners, you can actually use
SEO Elite to find out if they are maintaining a link back to you. You can also
find out how many pages in your website are indexed by search engines.
4. Hiring a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Firm
techniques to your website.
Make sure that you hire professional “best
practices” SEO firms or consultants. These types of SEO firms only perform
legitimate SEO techniques that have long term effects on your website.Some SEO firms even offer to train you or your staff on how to maintain and
implement SEO techniques on your own. The key to hiring the best SEO firm
is to ask for a portfolio or a list of references and qualifications. Do your
research when selecting potential SEO firms. After all, you are a making a
huge investment and it will only become worth it if you hire the best people for
the job.
You can find reliable SEO professionals at the following websites:
· SEO Pros Directory
· SEO Consultants
· You can also post an “SEO Consultant Wanted” ad at places like
GetAFreelancer, Scriptlance, and eLance. These services allowSEO consultants to “bid” on your project. When taking this route, it’s
best to ask for a list of references and a portfolio to ensure that you
are working with a true SEO professional. Also, try not to pick the
cheapest bidder – no matter how tight your budget is. The cheapest
bidder often provides the worst service, and unless they can give you
a strong list of credentials, you have every reason to go for the more
expensive bidders.
2 . Keyword Placement
Keyword placement is a very important aspect of any website. It’s not only the
keywords per se that are important, but also how they are used throughout
your website. Search engine spiders have a particular way of scanning a
website to determine where the website should be placed in the search
results for each keyword phrase. If your keyword placement is not SEO
friendly, the spiders may not recognize which words are your intended
keywords.
They might even mistakenly conclude that your page is not
relevant enough for a particular keyword to receive a high ranking on the
results page.
But the worst thing that they can do is to penalize your
webpage if they suspect that you have “stuffed” keywords in inappropriate
places as a way of manipulating the spider. This is why proper keyword
placement is crucial when it comes to your search engine ranking.
But the worst thing that they can do is to penalize your
webpage if they suspect that you have “stuffed” keywords in inappropriate
places as a way of manipulating the spider. This is why proper keyword
placement is crucial when it comes to your search engine ranking.
Inserting Keywords into Website Elements
There are certain page elements in your website that should contain
some of your keywords. This is especially important if you need to
improve your website’s keyword density.
Here are some elements
where you can place your most important keywords:
Page Title
Your page title is what appears on the title bar of your web browser. In
terms of your website’s HTML code, your page title is the line of text
located between the <title> and </title> tags. When search engines are
looking at your webpage, they give more importance to the keywords in
However, you shouldn’t “stuff” your page title with all your keywords. A
fair amount of evidence shows that Google only reads the first 10 words
of a page title – putting too many keywords on your page title will then
be useless. It’s also a good idea to put your website’s name on the title,
especially if it contains an important keyword.
Heading Tags
the <h1> and </h1> tags.
The number after the letter “h” changes,
depending on how big or important you want your header to be. For
example, a heading of <h5> is smaller and less important than a <h1>
heading, but bigger and more important than a <h6> heading. Search
engines also view the importance of headings this way. Your keywords
in <h1> tags will be given more importance than the keywords in your
<h3> tags.
Image “alt” Tags
An alt tag is shown within your image tag. It is the highlighted portion
of the following code:
<img src=”http://imageexample.com/example.jpg” alt=”Your Alt Tag
Goes Here”>
The purpose of the alt tag is to show an alternative text where an image
would normally appear, in case the image cannot be made visible in a
web browser. This happens when the image file cannot be accessed for
some reason. It’s also a good place to insert a keyword or two – as long
as it is relevant to the image you are showing.
Text hyperlinks are very important – both for your website and the
site you are linking. By putting important keywords in hyperlinks, you
are telling the search engine spider that the keywords are related to both
your site and the site you are linking to. A great way to use this to your
advantage is to create several hyperlinks of subpages within your
website, and to put important keywords in those hyperlinks.
By
hyperlinking within your website, you are reinforcing your site’s theme,
as well as improving the page rank of your other pages.
Your website copy, articles, and advice will all play a part if your visitors find
your site useful enough to buy a membership or to click on your affiliate links.
There are two things that you will need to keep in mind: (1) how long each
page’s content is and (2) if your content is interesting enough to entertain
your readers.
offline material. They typically scan a webpage to find the information they are
looking for or to see if the content interests them enough for them to read it
thoroughly. For this reason, it is important to have short paragraphs that are
easily readable. Special formatting is also helpful tot he user, so try to include
text in titles, headings, and bullet points whenever possible. This makes the
page easy to scan for both readers and search engine spiders.
content: free, cheap, and generously priced. Each type has its own
advantages and disadvantages.
1. Free content is appealing because it doesn’t affect your budget. However,
there are usually stipulations on using this kind of content. For example,
most authors require you to use their byline, which often includes a link.
This will negatively affect your traffic because a reader may decide to click
on their link and never return to your website. This content will also be on
a number of other websites, which will make you rank lower in search
engine results because most search engines penalize sites for duplicate
content.
2. Cheap content is appealing because it does not cost too much. Most of
the available cheap content sites also allow you to own the copyright to
the articles. However, this content is often written quickly – lacking the
eloquence and finesse of professionally written content. What’s worse is
that some of these articles are written in poor English. This may lower
your credibility in the eyes of your website visitors.
3. Generously priced content is appealing because it can help make a sale or
interest your readers enough for them to regularly return to your website.
Usually, generously priced website content can give you more
opportunities for profit. However, although this kind of content will pay for
The best thing to do when looking for website content is to think of your needs
first. Also, you must have a long-term plan on how you will obtain website
content whenever you need it.
4 . Using a Blog
Placing a blog on your website can help you bring in new visitors and give
you another chance to improve your search engine rankings. Blogs are also
a great source for extra income. Blogging is best suited for those who want to
run an advice or article site, since your readers are interested in reading
regularly updated content. Portal sites can also use blogs to promote new
website features and affiliate products. There are several advantages to
placing a blog in your website:
Blogs are regularly updated. Both internet users and search engine bots
like regularly updated content. A regularly updated site has grater chances of
getting higher search engine placement than a site that rarely updates. Also,
your website visitors will be encouraged to return to your site frequently to
check for updates.
Blogs contain a lot of text. As long as your blog updates are filled with
content and keywords that are relevant to your site, they will have a positive
impact on your search engine placement.
Blogs are easy to update. For most blogs, all you have to do is log in to the
program and type your blog entries. You don’t even need programming and
designing skills to update them. Some blogs even feature notification lists for
readers to be notified by email when the blog is updated.
This makes
blogging a good alternative to email newsletters which are often mistakenly
blocked by spam filters.
The internet blogging
community is very active, and when other bloggers like your site, they post
links to it. This increases your traffic as well as your page’s ranking on search
engines. Blogs also allow you to syndicate your blog posts, letting you reach
a broader audience. Since most blogs also feature tools such as blogrolls
and trackbacks, it’s easier for
Blogs strengthen your communication with your website visitors.
Usually, internet users feel more comfortable purchasing products or
memberships from websites that they trust. Blogging increases your trust
level with the customers because they regularly see who you are through
your posts. Your strong communication ties with your website visitors also
increases your “brand” visibility –especially if you’re using a very interesting
voice when writing for your blog.
you another chance to improve your search engine rankings. Blogs are also
a great source for extra income. Blogging is best suited for those who want to
run an advice or article site, since your readers are interested in reading
regularly updated content. Portal sites can also use blogs to promote new
website features and affiliate products. There are several advantages to
placing a blog in your website:
Blogs are regularly updated. Both internet users and search engine bots
like regularly updated content. A regularly updated site has grater chances of
getting higher search engine placement than a site that rarely updates. Also,
your website visitors will be encouraged to return to your site frequently to
check for updates.
Blogs contain a lot of text. As long as your blog updates are filled with
content and keywords that are relevant to your site, they will have a positive
impact on your search engine placement.
Blogs are easy to update. For most blogs, all you have to do is log in to the
program and type your blog entries. You don’t even need programming and
designing skills to update them. Some blogs even feature notification lists for
readers to be notified by email when the blog is updated.
This makes
blogging a good alternative to email newsletters which are often mistakenly
blocked by spam filters.
Blogs are a great way of attracting incoming links.
The internet blogging
community is very active, and when other bloggers like your site, they post
links to it. This increases your traffic as well as your page’s ranking on search
engines. Blogs also allow you to syndicate your blog posts, letting you reach
a broader audience. Since most blogs also feature tools such as blogrolls
and trackbacks, it’s easier for
Usually, internet users feel more comfortable purchasing products or
memberships from websites that they trust. Blogging increases your trust
level with the customers because they regularly see who you are through
your posts. Your strong communication ties with your website visitors also
increases your “brand” visibility –especially if you’re using a very interesting
voice when writing for your blog.
Chapter 3: Promoting Your Site
Now that you’ve set up your website, what’s next?
Where do you get your
audience? Some webmasters say “build it and they will come”. Is that true? Let’s put it this way: if you’re looking for a date, how do you go about it? Well, you
certainly don’t sit by the phone and wait for it to ring. You go out to clubs, to
special events - you mingle, smile, and flirt. You sell yourself like crazy!
Why should your web site be any different? After all, you’ve put forth a lot of
money and effort to make your site exceptional. Now is the time for that effort to
pay off! But that will only happen if you attract a reasonable amount of traffic to
your site. Here are a few ways in which you can attract the traffic you want:
1 . Search Engines
submit it to all the major search engines. The top search engines are Yahoo,
MSN, Google, AskJeeves, etc. When you submit your site, it will appear in
the search results when interested individuals look for similar sites. Search
engines are one of the primary methods in which people can find your site –
without them your success will be limited.
Submission guidelines are generally available on the search engine’s main
page. Make sure that you follow these guidelines to the letter. Some web
design companies also offer web site submission services, but their expertise
comments