Online Dating Services - How to Pick the Right One For You!

Why Use Online Dating Services

Online dating is one of the greatest innovations that the Internet has made possible. Easy access and the means to store millions of profiles from people around the world make online dating services an exciting resource.

This relatively new capability advances matchmaking light-years ahead! Unlike any other time in human history, we can now easily find a truly compatible partner. Anyone who doesn't take advantage of this incredible resource simply does not understand what they are missing.

According to studies conducted by universities in several different counties, compatibility is the most important factor in producing a successful relationship. If a person relies solely on fate or his or her own means to find a highly compatible partner, their chances of finding one are very low.

Online dating services have the huge advantage of comparing your compatibility criteria with those of millions of other members in order to select the best possible matches for you. Compare that to the obsolete methods used by pre-Internet generations. Look at the results they got - 50% divorce rate. And many of those who remained married were miserable!

The matching technology used by leading online dating services could change everything! Our society could be transformed because its building blocks - couples and parents - would be more compatible, fulfilled, and stable. This would in turn lead to more harmonious, productive, and secure families, communities, cities, states, and countries.

Considering how much joy or sadness a love relationship can bring, buying one or more online dating service memberships would be a very worthwhile investment that could last a lifetime! The key is to find reputable services that align with your principles, tastes, and needs.

How to Pick the Right Online Dating Services for You!

Selecting an online dating service is similar to picking someone who you want to date. You look them over to see if you find them attractive, you learn as much as can about them, and then you make a decision on whether to give them a try based on your intuition (or gut feelings).

With online dating services, you evaluate the appearance of their website to see if you find it attractive, you learn as much as you can about them by reading their online material, and then you make a decision on whether to give them a try based on your intuition (or gut feelings).

You can determine more than you might think by the appearance of a website. Its look, feel, and headings reflect an organization's philosophy, approach, and professionalism. If it's filled with a lot of marketing hype and flashy ads on a poorly designed site, than you should beware. If on the other hand, it contains a reasonable mix between marketing language and sincere discussions about their service on a well designed site, then you might consider them further.

To get a true understanding about an online dating service, dive deeper into their site than just reading their "home," "how it works," and "menu of services" pages. Although these pages are important, and they often provide a summary of their matching methods, they don't reveal much about the true nature of the organization. To learn what really drives an online dating service, read their "about" and "management bios" pages. To dive even deeper, scan their "press," "career," and "affiliate" pages. These pages will give you hints about their "behind-the-scenes" business philosophies.

If a particular online dating service's website appearance, matching method, services, and philosophy align with your principles, tastes, and needs, then go for it! If they fall short, keep looking! If you're not sure, then give them a try by registering for their free offers.

Many online dating services offer the opportunity to look at your matches for free after you have registered and completed their matching questionnaire or profile. The catch is that you won't be able to communicate with any of the matches that interest you until you pay their membership fee. This is a great way to evaluate an online matchmaking service for several reasons. First, you get to see the criteria and methods they use for matching you with your perfect partner. Secondly, you get to see how successful their system performs by evaluating the resulting matches. Thirdly, you get to see if you are comfortable with the functionality (user-friendliness) of their system. If you've never used an online dating service or you've had poor results in the pass, I recommend that you do take advantage of these free offers.

What's the Surest Way to Find the Best Online Dating Services?

This method requires that you organize this project a bit. The four (4) steps shown below will help to do this to whatever degree you wish.

Step 1: Get yourself motivated! Visualize how your life would be right now (present tense) if you were sharing it with the love of your life! Imagine how you would feel. Picture every detail. Visualize your perfect partner's appearance, your interactions, and the activities you would do together - including the intimate ones. Now consider the fact that there has never been a better time to connect with a highly compatible partner than RIGHT NOW! (That statement will never become outdated because matching technology will only improve with time.) Finally, think about what compatibility means to you. It might help if you think about what incompatibility means to you as well.

Step 2: Quickly evaluate several online dating services based solely on the appearance (and headlines) of their website. In other words, do it based on your first impression. First impressions are powerful because they are created using the vast storage of information in our subconscious mind. Our subconscious mind reflects our true essence because it contains a record on every moment of our lives. This is where our intuition comes from.

Make notes as you visit various online dating services using some kind of scoring system like A, B, C... or 1-10. Then pick out the top three (3) based on whatever scoring method you used. I am suggesting three (3) because it has been found that this is the ideal minimum number of proposals (or estimates) needed to make a solid decision on a new product or service. I like to call it "The Rule of Three."

Step 3: Sign up to use as many of the free offers as you can with the three (3) online dating services you selected. This will be particularly valuable with those online dating services that allow you to complete their matching questionnaire or profile. This instrument is the key to producing matches that align with your needs, values, and aspirations. For example, if a matching questionnaire (or profile) instrument does not include criteria about appearance, occupation, or religion, and these issues are important to you, then that service probably would not be a good match for you.

If an online dating service has a small number matching criteria and you want to get the most precise match possible, then you should look for a service that has an extensive number of criteria.

If you are looking for an online dating service that uses sophisticated scientific methods in their matching, I suggest that you look for information about this on their site and carefully examine their matching questionnaire (or profile).

Make notes on the strengths and weaknesses of each of the three (3) online dating services you picked as you go along. Create a list of key issues that are important to you and score them as you proceed. These issues might include the matching method, ease-of-use, member services, and cost. I don't know about you, but if I don't keep notes while I am evaluating several unfamiliar service providers, I usually get mixed up at the end.

Step 4: Based on your evaluation and, most importantly, your intuition (or gut feelings) make a decision, become a member, and then give it a 100% effort! Don't be in a hurry though! You'll get much higher quality matches if you carefully work through each step of the process. This is particularly true when it comes to filling out the matching questionnaire or profile. Everything that follows depends on what you put in this questionnaire (or profile). And anything less than total honesty is a waste of your time!

Finally, keep your thoughts on your target and your reasons for using an online dating service.

I don't want to give you the impression that this needs to be an elaborate scientific process, but it should be something that you put your full efforts into. The rewards and costs are too high to do anything less. Like everything else in life, you get want you put into it and what you expect, desire, and think about on the deepest levels. This is a bit heavy, but so is being in love. And so is divorce!

It is my hope that you find an online dating service that connects you with the love of your life!

By Brad Paul
Solotopia.com