3 Ways to Court Users With Your Relationship Site

Relationships matter — in dating and in business. And if romance is your business? Then the right relationship between your site and its users is what makes your brand stand out and keeps users interested after the first exploratory clicks. As with dating, there are time-tested strategies for forming a lasting connection. Here are three tactics that can help.

1. Must Love Blogs

Whether you’re launching a new dating site, offering relationship advice, or a service such as couples counseling, a blog is an essential part of your courting repertoire. Blogs are a way to share what’s important to you, a way to show you understand what your users or clients want, that you get them! A regularly updated blog also establishes you as an authority in your field, instantly demonstrating that users are putting themselves in good hands, establishing trust and credibility. These folks are pinning their romantic hopes on your platform, so a belief that using your site will yield the results they’re seeking is key. 

Hook-ups with users aren’t the only connections you need to make. Search engines are another, and a blog can help serve as a foundation for that relationship as well. If you’re a big-name relationship site, or want to compete against them, a blog is an essential component of gaining traction on sites like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Blogging boosts your search engine optimization (SEO), increasing your online visibility and pointing users in your direction when they’re using search engines to find relationship advice or facilitate romantic encounters.

A successful relationship requires authenticity and honesty, and so does blogging. This means producing quality blogs with your take on dating trends, links to thought-provoking stories and tips for budding romantics. Quick fixes — like purchasing referral links, usually of questionable quality — are the blogging equivalent of a one-night stand. Yes, your search rankings and site visitors might see a temporary bump, but search engine algorithms are written to avoid tricks like this, and once they catch on, you’re likely to be relegated to the bottom of the results pile. Regular blogging, on the other hand, shows search engines (and users) that you’re in it for the long haul, and they’re more likely to reward you with better rankings and visibility. 

2. Get Out There and Socialize

Your site deals with people’s social lives, so it stands to reason that social networks should play a part in your marketing strategy. As with dating, you don’t need to go out with everyone who asks. Figure out which platforms resonate with your intended audience, and focus on the ones that offer the widest reach and most rewarding engagement for your site.

If you’ve only got the marketing budget for one platform, make it Facebook. It has the most active users of any social network — 1.49 billion monthly, as of June 30, 2015. And the average American spends 40 minutes on Facebook each day, behaving much as they would do on dating sites: looking and liking. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 44 percent of Facebook users like content posted by their friends at least once a day. And here’s some good news: Most of these frequent Facebookers fall into the prime demographic for dating sites. Eighteen- to 29-year-olds tend to have the largest Facebook networks, with a median of 300 friends, and they use Facebook more often than people outside that age cohort. So go where the action is: Meeting new users on familiar turf is the easiest way to start a new relationship.

3. Getting To Know You

Another reason Facebook is such a strong social site for relationship sites? Facebook profiles function the same way dating-site profiles do. Research has found that Facebook users see their presence on the site as part of their identities, and The New York Times found that defining themselves for others was a key reason web users shared content. People on Facebook want others to know who they are, and they are enthusiastically sharing their likes, dislikes, and activities.

The takeaway here is that Facebook users are likely to already be in a self-reflective mode, and that can encourage people who have an interest in your site’s offerings to click through. If you have interesting, like-worthy blog posts, then you’ve got the perfect enticement to turn Facebook users into site visitors.

Relationship-building with site users is just like relationship building in general. Make your site’s heart visible with shareable, interesting blogs, choose your social networks wisely, and put yourself out there. Make your site what others are looking for, and you’ll attract plenty of interest.

Need help getting your blog and social media outreach started or scaled up? That’s why we’re here. Prose Media can help you develop and publish content that’s right for your audience. Sign up today for free, no-obligation access to our platform. Let us help you build the right relationship with your audience.