Choosing a Niche For Your Dating Website Business Idea

I'm a firm believer that they'll always be room for a new dating website. More and more people are trying online dating for the first time. And you'll always have folks finding their perfect match so they'll be telling their friends to give it a try.

The challenge with online dating sites is decided who your target dater is. It's extremely difficult to penetrate the big giant dating sites like Match.com and eHarmony. But where these sites lack lies your golden opportunity to create a profitable dating website that truly does help people find love...or whatever else their looking for.

To get your started I've compiled a list of a few niche dating site ideas. Most if not all of these have been done. But this doesn't mean you can't do better. Later we'll discuss some alternative niche markets that may interest you.

1. Local Singles: For examples start a dating website for singles just in one particular city or state
2. Race and Religion
3. Sexuality (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender)
4. Pet Lovers
5. Dog Lovers
6. Geeks
7. Parents
8. Senior Citizens
9. STD (HIV)
10. Couples seeking couples
11. Veterans
12. Active Duty Military
13. Travel Lovers
14. College Students
15. Sports Lovers
16. Creative Types

Here are a few dating niche site ideas that are not as obvious as the previous list. But could still be very active and profitable communities.

1. Pet Buddies - match making for pets to setup playdates
2. Find A New Best Friend
3. Bromance (guys seeking best guy friends non-sexual)
4. Girls seeking girl friends (non sexual)
5. Playdate Finder (moms seeking playdates for their kids)

Starting any website business should be fun, that's why I always stick to things that I like or at least know a few things about. When it gets tough, it helps to actually like what you're doing.

Consider these questions before choosing a Niche for your dating website.

1. Do you know anything about the niche?

Choosing to start a dating site in a niche that you are familiar with will work to your advantage. It helps to have a mind that would think like your target audience. For example if you love dogs and meeting someone that loves dogs as much as you do is important to you when choosing a mate you would be your ideal member. All of the passion and love that you have for dogs would go into how you build your website and your overall brand and message. In the end it's going to be easier to create content and decide what information is important for someone seeking a dog lover to date or marry.

2. Would you join your website if you were single?

Asking yourself this question will help you think like your ideal member. During the development of your website you want to take pride in your design and branding. Your finished product should be a site that you wouldn't hesitate to join. It should get people excited to join and start connecting with other members.

3. Is the Niche a topic that has been done over and over again

This question is important. If you are going with a niche site that may be over saturated you may have to dig even deeper in that niche. I'll use the dog lover site for example; instead of just a dog lover site; you may want to narrow it down to a particular city or state or even deeper specific type of dog. You would be surprised at how popular a small niche site could be. Small niche sites get noticed because they are so specific.

4. If you choose a popular niche, what can you do to make it different from the rest

If you are choosing a common member type you have to make your site different; some of the things you will definitely want to consider is make your site super mobile ready and having an app companion. Online dating is quickly becoming mobile dating and for any niche site being mobile friendly or having an app component will keep you in the game and give you an advantage over your competition. If you haven't considered mobile you may want to check out the #1 dating site platform that I recommend SkaDate they have a full mobile web and and app solution when you purchase the software.

5. Consider how you can take your online dating Niche offline or even local to gain new members.

Online dating will eventually turn into real life dating right? So mix it up; if you are launching a dating website in reality you are matchmaking and getting into the business of keeping people together. Consider hosting local events or becoming a sponsor to events that are currently going on in your city. If you live in a big city there are millions of singles that you could connect with by getting involve in local happenings around town.

6. Have you researched your Niche, are there enough singles out there that would enjoy your website.

There could be a such thing as not having a large enough market for your niche. So do some research to get an idea of what your potential membership base could look like. Start searching for blogs and online forums that would attract your ideal member. If it's difficult to find then you may want to reconsider your niche.

7. Will you be able to creatively advertise your Niche Dating Website

Advertising and marketing will make or break your online dating business. It's how you will grown your membership and help people find each other. In addition to your marketing budget for traditional marketing like Advertising on Google and Facebook. If you can get creative you could see your site grow virally. Learn as much as you can about social media or hire someone to help you come up with creative campaigns that will get people talking and sharing your content.

Purchasing your .com domain name and setting up a hosting account is one of the first things you'll do when you choose a niche. Once you have a name you want to register it immediately even if you aren't ready to start building your website. The last thing you want to happen if for someone else to get your .com before you do.

If you like any of the themes that i have showcased on this page then you may want to considering BlueHost. They offer a free domain name when you setup your dating website on WordPress and it's just $3.95 a month for the hosting (including the free .com domain name registration.)

Once you choose your niche for your online dating business and purchase your .com and hosting; it's time to get serious about branding and how your site will appeal to your members. After all the purpose of choosing a Niche is to speak directly to your Nich audience. So everthing from your logo design to your page graphics have to be on point, otherwise what's the point!

Here's my list of the best places to go to get everything you need to set your Niche dating site up the right way.

Professional Logo Design

Try out 99Designs - No matter what you think, you have to get an amazing logo. If you want to establish instant credibility, a great logo is a must. It's your signature and will help you establish your Niche dating site brand.

Don't undestimate the power of the logo. 99Designs prices start at around $200 but you'll get about 30 designs to choose from a ton of different designers that you can choose from, and if you don't see anything you like, you dont have to pay.

You can always go the cheaper route and do it yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you are serious about starting your dating website, spend some money and get a awesome logo. Search online for logo designers and find a company to work with.

Dating Website Designs + Templates

If you are starting out you'll either be planning to hire someone to build your site or get a template to get your started. If you're on a budget and want to save some cash getting started, hands down I would recommend using WordPress as your dating site platform.

Below are my two favorite Wordpress Dating Website Templates and they both only cost $55, you cannot beat that. They include all the features you need to be get your Niche Dating website business up and running and taking payments immediately.

Post your comments if you have any questions or need more insight to get your site started!

There is no perfect time to get started, just take the first step and do it!

Good Luck :)