One of the major advantages of online dating is the flexibility and exposure the former offers. Your profile can have hundreds of views from people from across the globe in a few hours. Your potential dating partners are simply limitless. However, the abundance of choice can also be overwhelming. With the rise in the number of adults signing up for online dating, making up your mind is bound to get more difficult.
By simply glancing through the profiles of potential dates, you can easily judge your compatibility. On the downside, a lot can go wrong with online dating—just like offline dating. The worst of them is probably no one checking your profile. This can be a depressing experience but the reason might just be from your choices. Sadly, you won’t find the Don’ts of an online dating boldly written in the banner. You are always left to figure this yourself. Following a few simple rules can boost your dating experience. Below are the rules CharmDate.com reveals.
#1. Your profile picture must be a good representation of yourself
There is a popular saying that the first impression matters a lot. In online dating, your choice of profile picture will ultimately determine what people will think about you. When a girl receives 30 to 50 messages every day from different men, she is bound to become picky. Having no profile picture or a bad picture will be a good reason to ignore your messages.
Using group pictures as your profile picture is almost like a taboo. First, it makes it difficult for potential dates to determine who they are dealing with. If it happens to be a picture where you are the only male surrounded by women, it sends the wrong message. A profile picture should be a cute selfie of you alone.
A study conducted on dating websites shows that profiles with the most rating or views are those with profile pictures portraying strong eye contact. Profiles with smiling facing and bared teeth gets more attention than those without smiling faces. Also, having supplemental pictures of you performing your favorite activities or hanging out with your pet can trigger interactions with your potential date.
#2. Have a well-defined goal
You profile description is like your online dating résumé. The moment your profile picture has caught the attention of your potential date, she will definitely want to know a bit more about you. Your profile description should convey your goal. Be honest in the way you introduce yourself as well as make your goals clear without ambiguity.
If there are qualities you admire or look forward to in a potential date, make it known. In other words, describe both yourself and what you are looking for. According to research, the ratio of description that works is 70:30. This means that 70% of the description should talk about yourself while the remaining 30% should be used to talk about what you are looking for.
Your profile description also provides you with an opportunity to show off your sense of humor. Everyone loves those that make them laugh—and this is more so among women. Humor has also been linked to intelligence. Lace your description with a little sense of humor. It works better than simply saying that you are funny.
#3. Keep your first message short and sweet
Even if you got it right with your profile picture and description, that first message can still be a huge letdown. Sending out random messages rarely works. Women love to feel special. For this reason, it is important to customize your messages. Avoid sending out a large body of the message.
The introductory message should be short and positive as well as highlight a few of her character or something about her picture that you really liked. However, research also found out that messages that are overly flattery can lead to the raising of eyebrows. This necessitates that you read their profile and try to find a subliminal message that others may have missed. Find an area where both of you share a common interest and use it to your favor.
#4. Protect yourself
Most dating websites have an anti-scam policy page. Before you send out your first message, make sure you read this page to learn how to stay safe. Most importantly, never give out any information which you consider sensitive. The sole aim of some users is not to find love, rather, to abuse the website.
Ready, Set, Date!
Nobody has it all figured out. However, following the above tips will certainly tilt the odds to your favor. When you eventually find your love, arrange to meet her in person. If you wait too long to transition to offline dating, you risk losing her.
