Well, here’s some good news for online daters! According to research firm Pew, in 2020, 1 in 3 singles met and married via online dating. As a dating coach and dating counselor, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing my clients happy – and celebrating 4 new engagements in February!

Here is a short 2-minute video to watch to help increase your dating odds:

So, what are the three keys?

Your Dating Profile

You want this to be not too short, not too long. Aim for the equivalent of 3 paragraphs. Note: your profile does not need to be in paragraph format – in fact, many of my male clients prefer when it’s written in short phrases or bullet points. It can be hard to write about yourself – hopefully this will make it easier!

So, before you get started writing your profile, sit down, relax and do the following as a sort of outline/worksheet:

Ask a Friend

Text or email your two best friends and ask them for 5 descriptive words about you. (They can’t say nice, loyal or fun – too generic!)

Past and Future Travel Plans

Write down the top 3 favorite places you’ve traveled and why. For example, just saying Italy, London and Paris tells your potential date nothing about you! Where a phrase like “I have a well-thumbed passport that’s visited many places.

One of my favorites was Pompeii as at the gate we hired a woman to give us a tour who turned out to be on summer break from her day job as an archeologist which made this fascinating – then she recommended the best pizza ever in Naples”. A little more interesting that a list of places you’ve gone!

Hobbies and Interests

Write down your interests – it could look something like this:

• Golf 3x a week (trying to break 100!)
• Picked up a new sport – pickleball – and loving it!
• I’ve been on a swim team since I was 8 – now I do Master Swim 4x a week and try to keep up!

Much better than I swim, golf and play pickleball!

Your Expectations

Write out what you are looking for – always positive. Negative example: “No narcissistic men with baggage.”

Now you are ready to write your profile!

Photos

I am crazy about photo selection! Why? It’s the very first impression a potential date will have of you – so that first photo must be recent (last 1-2 years), and I recommend at least 6 photos of you engaged in activities that you enjoy.

One full body shot. One group photo – you can be hiking, on the beach, dinner with friends – it show you have a social life!

Use care with in-studio shots, they tend to look like… in-studio shots. Boring! I am very careful when selecting my clients’ photos and don’t be afraid to change them up online monthly to freshen your look.

The Right Dating Site/App for You

This can depend on many factors – there’s over 1400 dating sites in cyberspace. Consider your age, where you live, demographics, etc. For my clients, I use 50% gut (I’ve been doing this for 25 years!) and 50% paid research that I buy each month giving me vital statistics on the top 100 sites – are they trending up or down? Sweet spot for age. Where they are strong geographically. It helps me nail down the right site for each person.

For example, I had a West Coast client insisting on using Coffee Meets Bagel. When I asked her why, she replied that her friend in Boston had met someone on this site. The issue? CMB is very strong on the East Coast – but barely used in the area she lives in.

Ok, you are ready to go! My last tip would be to fill out everything the site/app asks for, such as religion, politics, age range, miles you are willing to travel, profession, height, etc. It helps the algorithms on the site work in your best interest, and you will be presented with potential dates that are more likely to have common ground with you.

Have fun, be adventurous and self-confident. Happy dating!

Which dating apps have you used to date? What have you found out about each of them? Have you noticed what type of profile works best for you? What have you listed on it?