Guide to Online Dating - Dating Sites

Online dating sites...

There are hundreds of dating sites to choose from in making the choice of which site on which to post your profile. I can only personally recommend to you the ones that I found to be good based on the few I have tried.

Online dating sites I have joined either as a paying member or a guest include: Match.com (paying member), Yahoo!Personals (paying member), eHarmony (paying member), Singlesnet (guest), Love Happens (guest), Love and Seek (guest), True (guest), Big Church (guest), Christian Singles (guest), American Singles (guest) , Cupid Junction (guest), and Plenty of Fish. Plenty of Fish is a completely free site so it falls into a category all its own.

Of the paying sites I joined I can personally recommend Match and Yahoo. Yahoo was the first site I started on and it was very user-friendly for a beginning online dater. I had no problem in developing my profile and their step by step process was very easy to follow. Navigation is easy within the site and the profiles and pictures are of good quality text and graphics. The profiles are also large enough to see well which is a plus when you get to be my age. Yahoo has a very large member base which makes them a very popular choice in an online dating site.

Ø Note: Match.com places 1st on my personal list of Favorite Online Dating sites.

Match is also very user-friendly. Like Yahoo, they are very easy to navigate within the site and the profiles and pictures are also of good quality text and graphics. Profiles are large enough to see with quality photos as well. They seem to have a larger member base in my area which is a plus for me.

Although eHarmony is a very popular dating site, I cannot personally recommend them. For me, the disadvantages were that they picked the matches for me that they thought would be right. You cannot search profiles on their site and are basically at their mercy in determining who will be a good match. At one time I was a paying member and then later went back again and tried them during a 3 day trail membership. During the trial they sent me a match who was 5 inches shorter than I am even though I indicated that height was important to me. At that time, I determined not to update my membership. Many people have had success on eHarmony as they continue to be amongst the leading top dating site.

Of the sites I joined as a guest, Singlesnet is my personal recommendation. Its option of contacting any paying member as a guest affords you much more advantage than any other guest membership that I tried. I have met many people on this site without having to pay out any money. I would recommend this site if you are getting your feet wet in the online dating world and don't want to expend any money upfront.

Plenty of Fish bears mentions as it is a completely free online dating site. No one pays for membership on this site. The disadvantages are that there is not a lot of information required on a profile; therefore, you cannot find out much about a person upfront. There are many more provocative photos posted and the types of encounters people are looking for can range from dating to intimate ones. Also, some people on Plenty of Fish are not really interested in truly getting out there and dating. I find that people who are willing to pay for a dating site are more likely to actually date. On the plus side, they do have an Instant Messaging system which enables you talk to people online without paying a fee.

Many different factors can determine which site you choose such as demographics, cost, user friendliness, availability, etc. I encourage you to research and visit numerous sites until you find the one that best fits your needs. There are sites that offer free trial memberships and some sites have some free options you can utilize. If you can't pick which one to start with just try a free one until you become more knowledgeable.

Other Online Dating Guides:
Creating Your Username
Creating Your Headline
Creating Your Profile
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