Create a Successful Online Dating Profile
Creating an online profile can be daunting. How do you avoid clichés such as “likes to take long walks on the beach?” With one small profile, how can you entice others to message you? What are the magic words that will get you that perfect date?
Create a successful profile by following our tips. (Photo: Ace Nutrients)
Talk to your friends
There are a variety of ways that you can put together a great profile that will bring you dating success. As someone who actually found a long-term boyfriend through online dating, I can tell you it can definitely work out. My first tip is to ask multiple friends for adjectives that describe you. Your friends can be very helpful in this. As the group of people aside from your family that love you the most, they will have wonderful words to describe your personality and style. Be sure to write these down and inject them throughout your profile. Once you have your profile up, send it to your friends so they can help you assess the profile. They may even have some tweaks and edits.
Keep it positive
When writing your profile, make sure you keep it positive. It sounds odd that I may have to say that, but throughout my time on internet dating sites I saw many profiles that sounded sad. The other person just didn’t seem happy and wasn’t excited to be meeting potential matches. If you cannot find a way to write an upbeat profile, then you may consider not dating right now and just working on yourself for a little while. It’s hard to date others when you are not happy with yourself.
Pick a photo
Aside from the actual content of the profile, make sure that you have a good photo of yourself. Don’t do a group photo as someone may be confused and think they are messaging back and forth with one of your friends. That may make for an awkward first date should you meet face to face. The photo I had on my profiles was very simple. It was a headshot with a light background, and I wasn’t wearing too much or too little makeup. I was also dressed how I would normally dress in a casual setting. This seemed to work very well for me as it garnered a lot of interest.
This is not the kind of photo you want to be posting. (Photo: PassionSearch.com)
Another method that I have seen when it comes to profile photos is posting action photos. Many people like to post a photo of themselves hiking, kayaking or doing some other outdoor sport. If you are into an active lifestyle and would prefer your partner to have an active lifestyle, I recommend doing this as it will ensure that those who are not interested in any outdoor activities are not messaging you and wasting anyone’s time.
Write a catchy headline
Once you have your photo and content put together, you have to come up with a headline. For me, this was the most challenging portion of every single profile. If you are serious about finding a relationship, don’t put something like “sexy man seeking sexy woman” or anything involving the word sexy. It leads women to think that you are seeking one thing and one thing only. Check out other headlines to see what grabs your attention and try using something that is structured similarly, but that shows who you are without giving too much away at once.
Keep it real
And last, but certainly not least, be honest in your profile. If you lie about your personality and tastes, the only person you are going to be harming is yourself. The more you lie in your profile, the less likely it is that you will find someone who is compatible with you. Make sure that you take a good look at your profile before posting it to ensure that you are being 100 percent authentic. You are who you are and that’s all you need to be to find a good match.
Although it can be a lot of pressure to create that perfect online profile, I hope that you will find success with these tips. Be sure to continue editing your profile as your dating needs change to keep everything up to date. Good luck!
Dating and Relationship blogger, Sara Maldonado is a writer and social media guru currently navigating the sea of men while having an affair with the city of Washington, DC. She enjoys coffee, laughter, and a good hair day.
