How to Rate Online Dating Sites - Part 2 of 2
In Part 1 of our series on rating online dating sites we talked about the importance of going through the process and started reviewing some key factors. We looked at the online dating service population and features, going into a good level of detail on each. In the second part of this article on rating online dating sites we will look at perhaps the most important evaluation factors in your hunt for the perfect online dating service.
The most important features when evaluating a dating service are searching capability, communications and price. Searching capability will define how easy or difficult it might be to find matches for yourself. The higher the number of members, the more difficult it will be and the higher the importance of good searching functionality. Once you find your matches however, communication becomes the priority. The third and sometimes the limiting factor in using an online service is the price. No need to explain the importance of this one.
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Evaluating Factors Continued:
Search Capability:
Search by profile criteria: Most profiles have specific fields that you fill out. Some physical like the color of your hair, some behavioral like if you smoke or not. I believe that these types of filters are very important and will help you get more accurate results.
Search by keyword: Another powerful way to search is by keyword. If for example you want to review the profiles of all the water skiing enthusiasts in your selected service, you would just type in water skiing and voila, there come the results. It's like Googling within the service.
Search photos only: In previous articles we talk about how important photos are to your profile. Well it is so important that some services have enabled a filter so that it will not even show matches that do not have pictures. You might find this helpful too in looking for matches.
Communication:
Winks and Flirts: Some services provide the capability to communicate in very short text messages or just graphically. It is the equivalent of "the look". It is a way of signaling interest without a full-fledged message being sent. Some services use this feature as a hook to prospective members by offering it for free. Open vs.
Controlled Communication: Here we get interesting again. Some online dating services have heavy control of how their members communicate with each other. Some members view this favorably as a way to ensure safety. Others find it annoying. There are pros and cons to each system; you will be the ultimate judge when rating online dating sites around this factor.
Online Chat: There are a few top services that not only freely allow communication among members, but they actually foment real time communication in the form of instant messaging or chat. This is also a way of keeping members online and talking to each other in a forum that lends itself to romantic encounters. It feels safer than engaging in IM communications with "whomever" that I don't know, versus a paid member on a trusted online dating site.
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Price:
Ranges: So here we get to another hot topic. Price ranges are varied when rating online dating sites. You can go from a service that charges absolutely zero, to a service that charges $59 a month. There are some different services that are even more expensive. So this is a line item that you need to explore. I have left it for last because you need to understand the other factors before you can actually make a call. You won't know the value of what you will be paying for until you have done your due diligence and know exactly what each site offers.
Free vs. Paid: I am going to try and be objective here. Normally you should stick to the old adage: You get what you pay for. But depending on your needs, you might be able to find some free sites that do it for you. It all depends on your level of tolerance to risk. The biggest factor that drives me toward paid sites is that the people that are there, in the paid sites, are serious enough about finding a relationship that they are shelling out up to $60 bucks a month! You can believe that most people who do this are legitimate. I can't say the same for the free sites.
I think we have now gone through the most important aspects of rating online dating sites. Thanks for reading through this two part series and we wish you the best of luck in finding the romantic connection you are looking for.