Cloning a Drupal website without content
Have a look at Config Installer. It allows you to the initial install already based on your exported configuration and so replaces step 2 and 3.

One problem is that you might notice that there is more "content" or non-configuration stuff than you'd think (unfortunately). Menu Links created in the UI are content, aliases are content, translations are stored in a separate table too, Taxonomies/Terms as well (Fine for something like a free-tagging field, but they are often used to define fixed structures as well, like sections on a news site).