When you’re trying to attract viewers on an online dating site, you have precious few seconds. That’s why it’s so important to write a winning dating profile headline.

The headline above your dating profile is every bit as important as is your photo and profile text itself. The headline is what grabs the attention of visitors scrolling quickly through your online dating site. A well-written headline stops visitors in their tracks.

Make sure your headline says something about your likes or dislikes. A good headline might be something like: “Let’s watch the sun go down together.” This headline instantly tells viewers that you’re a real romantic at heart.  A headline such as, “I love my Harley!” tells everyone that you’re a real of great bikes. Every headline should tell a story!

By including a bit of your own personality in your headline, you’re more likely to attract potential dates who already share some of your interests. This can save a lot of wasted dating time.

Be sure, too, to keep your dating profile headline short. Don’t go longer than 10 words. Wordy headlines tend to turn people off. Also, avoid using clichéd headlines. Something like “Looking for a soul-mate,” is a far too common sight on most online dating sites. What’s to make someone stop at your profile if you’re using such a generic headline?

Spend some time crafting a winning dating profile headline. If you do, you’ll be rewarded.

You’ll attract a far greater number of viewers, and potential dates, than you ever will with a headline that is boring, generic or clichéd.

Before you take a photo for your online dating profile picture, listen to these tips…

We’re all a little self-conscious about the way we look. That’s why so many of us hesitate before adding photos to our online dating profiles. Unfortunately, ads without photos perform far worse than do others. Here are some tips for your online dating profile picture.

First, don’t rely on just one photo. Add several pictures of yourself. Include one professional headshot to anchor your profile. Then includes several other shots of you, whether they be posed or candid. The key is to add enough photos to provide an accurate picture of yourself.

Make sure all of the photos you submit are well lit and centered. You don’t want to cut off the top of your head or have shadows covering your face. Try to avoid such photo mistakes as red eyes or glare, too.

Make sure, too, that all of the photos show yourself off to your best ability. We’ve all seen photos in which we look either heavier or thinner than we actually are. Don’t choose those photos that make you look heavier, grumpier or more disheveled than you normally are.

Smile in your photos, too. Nothing lights up a face like a nice smile. It also shows off your inner warmth. A frowning photo will do nothing but repel viewers of your online dating portfolio. And that, certainly, isn’t your goal.

Avoid group photos, too. The fact that you have friends and family members who like you is a positive. But when viewers come to your online dating portfolio, they want to know what you look like. They also don’t want to spend time squinting at photos to decipher who in them is actually you.

Make sure that you’re dressed properly in all of your photos. Don’t submit any photos that are too risqué. And don’t submit photos that show you in dumpy or frumpy clothing. Remember, the goal of your photos is to showcase you in your best light, not your worst!

Don’t fear photos. It’s best to be honest and show the world exactly who you are and what you look like. It’s best to weed out those people who don’t like your looks, anyway. Remember, if they don’t like what you look like in your photos, they probably won’t like what you look like in person.

With the right photos – professional, well-lit and friendly – you can help set your online dating profile apart from the rest. You’ll be competing with hundreds of other online profiles on most dating sites. Use these tips for your online dating profile picture and you’ll be happy with the results.

Here are a few useful tips for on writing your online dating profile..

The first tip might be the most important: Don’t rush this job! Set aside enough time to properly sell yourself. Give yourself enough free hours to list your strengths, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies and your hopes. Remember, you’ll be competing with many other online profiles. You need one that stands out.

Before writing, take a close look at yourself. What are your strengths? Are you honest? Are you hard-working? Are you funny?

Write out all your positive qualities. Then devise a way to incorporate these in your profile. For instance, don’t just say you have a good sense of humor.

Include a joke or two – not rude or bawdy, of course – in your profile. Are you a romantic? Instead of saying that, write out an example of your perfect first date.

Whatever you do, though, don’t lie. If you’re short, don’t write that you’re semi-pro basketball player. If you’re not exactly buff, don’t brag about your love for working out. If you’ve been divorced, spell it out.

And if you have children, don’t leave that out. It’s best to weed out those possible respondents who won’t want to date either someone who’s been married before or has children.

The key is not to trick people into liking you. Writing an online dating profile is all about emphasizing your truthful positive traits. It’s not about creating a false version of yourself.

Before submitting your online dating profile, make sure to proofread it. If you post a profile filled with typos and punctuation mistakes, readers will instantly form a negative impression of you. Remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. This holds true whether you’re “meeting” someone online or in person.

Finally, always post a picture. You may not be thrilled with your looks, but the folks reading your profile more than likely won’t take a chance on one that doesn’t come with a photo. It’s human nature:

If someone skips the photo, readers will wonder just how hideous the profile writer is. Besides, most of us look better than we give ourselves credit for.

You’re certain you’ve found your soul-mate through your online dating service. There’s only one problem: This soul-mate lives 300 miles away. It’s the big question of online dating: How far is too far?

Most of us are willing to go great distances to find true love. But you have to be realistic, even in matters of the heart. There are times when a potential online dating match simply lives too far away.

Carrying on a long-distance relationship is difficult for people who’ve dated for years. It’s even more of a challenge for people who barely know each other. Even in today’s world of cheap long distance and high-speed Internet service, talking on the phone or sending e-mail messages is no substitute for face-to-face time.

The simple truth is, you shouldn’t waste your online dating time courting someone who lives more than 100 miles away from you. You will not be able to get to know this person well enough to determine if you are match.

You may start your long-distance relationship with a few weekend trips. But that gets both tiring and expensive quickly. Sooner or later, the relationship will end. It doesn’t matter how perfect you are for each other, a 300-mile divide is too wide of one to overcome.

It’s best when joining an online dating site to make sure that there are plenty of potential matches who live within a quick drive of your city.

This will spare you the difficult decision of determining just how far is too far or how close is to close!

The world of online dating is dotted with rules both said and unsaid. One of the most difficult gray areas to navigate, though, concerns e-mail responses to your fellow dating site members. What is online dating etiquette for e-mail responses?

It’s important to remember that success with online dating sites usually comes from communicating with as many interested members as possible. Not every conversation will lead to much, of course. But you do increase your odds of finding a soul-mate by contacting as many people as possible.

When someone sends you an e-mail message, then, expressing interest in your profile, online dating etiquette calls for a prompt response. It’s not always possible, of course, to respond immediately.

You might want to take some time to think of your response. You might be busy with other matters. But it’s considered rude to wait several weeks before responding.

You should also respond to every e-mail sent to you, as long as the initial e-mail was polite. Even if you’re not interested, it’s best to respond quickly. This way you won’t be leading anyone on.

If you are interested in someone who e-mails you, write back a polite message indicating this. Then set up some way to begin a conversation.

This will often include private messages, a personal online chat room or a series of e-mail messages back and forth. Always try and select an option with which you think both of you will feel most comfortable .

This way it will make it much easier for things to progress quickly and in a positive manner.

In the world of online dating, most initial contact is made through the Internet. It’s a perk of the online dating game: You get to know potential dates before you actually take the big step of talking to them by phone.

This does leave one decision for you, though: Is it proper online dating etiquette to e-mail or wink when you’re interested in someone’s online dating portfolio?

Fortunately, there’s no one right way to go on this. It’s perfectly acceptable to either wink at someone or send them an e-mail message when their online portfolio has caught your attention.

A wink, of course, simply means a quick, pre-set message that online dating sites allow you to send to people whose profiles interest you. They’re a good option when you’re pressed for time and don’t have enough time to write a full and compelling e-mail message.

You should know, though, that many people simply ignore any winks that come their way. This is especially true for women, who tend to get far more winks than do men.

You should go with a simple e-mail message when you do have more time.

An appropriate message would be something like this: “Hi, there. Really liked what I read about you on your online dating profile. You can visit my profile here if you like (insert web address here). Then if you like what you see we could start up a conversation”.

Either approach is appropriate. You’re more likely, though, to get results from an e-mail message than you are from a wink. So, if you have the time, go that route first.

And remember, never pester a member for a response as that would definitely be bad online dating etiquette.

What is Best – a free or paid online dating service?

Gone are the days when we had to rely on our friends or family members to set us up on blind dates. Today, we can rely on the Internet.

Online dating services are more popular than ever.

You do face a choice, though, when deciding to work with one of these: Should you choose a free or paid online dating service?

The answer isn’t quite as simple as you might think. There are pros and cons to each type of online dating service. Once you’ve weighed these positives and negatives, only you can then decide which type of service is right for you.

Free online dating services have one very big positive: The price is right.

Because they cost no money, you can join as many free online dating services as you’d like. It’s a great way to experiment with online dating. You may not find the mate of your dreams, but at least you won’t go broke in your search.

With free online dating sites, you can also experiment with creating several different profiles. In one profile, you can highlight your career experience. In another, you can focus on your hobbies or passion for sports. You can then see, at no charge, which profile brings the best results.

Of course, there are plenty of negatives associated with free online dating sites, too.

For one thing, because they are free, they are a haven for spammers. Many profiles on these sites are far from legitimate; instead they are thinly disguised ads for mail-order brides, get-rich-quick scams or pornography sites.

Free online dating sites get their revenue from the ads that run on them. Because of this, the owners behind these sites are more interested in seeing visitors click on these ads than they are in seeing them hook up with the right romantic matches.

Paid online dating sites eliminate these problems.

Spammers won’t spend the money to post misleading profiles on these sites. And the people who do post profiles, because they are paying good money, are serious about finding a relationship.

At the same time, paid online dating sites usually boast real staff who can help out when needed.

These staff members help their clients find the right matches. Paid sites also require that people fill out sometimes detailed questionnaires before posting profiles. This helps people more easily find their appropriate matches.

The biggest con with a paid online dating site is an obvious one: It can be expensive to join these sites.

If you want to experiment with more than one site, it can truly put a dent in your wallet, but the service you get is going to be much better!

You’re browsing your online dating site when you see a profile that catches your attention. You want to contact the writer of this profile, and you hope it leads to future conversation. This can be stressful.

Fortunately, it is possible to write e-mails guaranteed to attract other singles.

The key is to not rely on generic e-mail messages when first contacting the writers of online profiles. You want to show in your e-mail message that you actually read the profile you are responding to. You also want to show a bit of your own personality, your likes and hobbies, in your e-mail.

The profile that attracted you may have mentioned that the writer loves French cuisine. Your e-mail response, then, might include a mention of a top French restaurant in the area, or maybe your own favorite French dish.

This is far more effective than a generic e-mail message that says nothing about you or the writer of the profile that attracted your attention.

Remember, the person who wrote that profile may receive several e-mail messages a day from other dating site members. Your job when writing that initial e-mail message is to initiate the beginnings of a conversation. You won’t do that with a bland e-mail message that says little.

It takes time to write an effective e-mail introduction. Unfortunately, too many dating site members rush through this in their haste to start a conversation.

If you take your time, acknowledge that you actually read a profile and include a tidbit or two about yourself, the odds are good that your e-mail message will stand out.

Most online dating sites require you to create a user name of some kind. Sometimes you have no choice, but usually on most of these sites, the username is visible to visitors, the same visitors who will decide whether they want to date you (or not!)

This means you want an online username for the site that, while descriptive, is not rude or off-putting. Creating your online dating site user-name, then, is in reality actually a bit of an art.

We’ve all seen user ids that don’t quite work. They’re either total gibberish or downright offensive. The key with a username is to make it memorable, descriptive but not overly cute and not obnoxious.

This isn’t always as easy as it sounds. The easiest way to create your online dating site user name is to take a careful look at yourself and what you represent. Determine what sets you apart, what makes you special, and then include it in your user-name.

For instance, if you are an mountain biker, perhaps your site name could be something like mikemtbbiker If you’re a hiker, you could go with joehiker. If you’re a big movie fan, a username such as a marymoviefan might be an appropriate choice. Just be imaginative and it could pay dividends!

By taking this approach, you’ll immediately grab the attention of viewers who share your same interests. A male lover of movies will be more likely to click on the online dating profile of a female with a site name that gives some indication of what they are about than he would of someone with a generic or nonsensical username.

You can also use other personal facts in your online dating site usernames. Perhaps you graduated from the Yale University. You might choose a login name of yaleguy. This would immediately attract the attention of other graduates form the same institution. If you date someone who attended the same school as you, you’ll certainly have plenty to talk about on those first few dates.

It’s also best to avoid using too many numbers. Sometimes we add numbers to the end of our chosen login names when those names are taken by someone else. This is fine for most sites. But it doesn’t always work on an online dating site.

Usernames with too many numbers are hard for people to remember. It might even be hard for you to remember your own username. You certainly don’t want that! It’s always better to go with personal attributes to spice up your user-name.

Too many users of online dating sites rush through the creation of their site user name. This is unfortunate.

The right online dating site username can immediately set you apart from your peers.

It can also help connect you quickly with potential dates whom already have something in common with you.

All dating sites, even the best ones, are different and will offer different services and at different prices. So which dating site is for you?

Making the initial  decision to use online dating sites to get a date isn’t always the easiest an individual can make. And actually choosing the right online dating site, which will give your what you want, can be an even more difficult decision.

But with a little research, and a close look at what you’re looking for from a dating site, you’ll be able to make the ideal choice for your own individual situation.

Choosing an online dating site can seem overwhelming at first. After all, there seem to be hundreds of them out there. And all of them promise to be the best value and provide the best matches. It’s easy enough, though, to cut through the clutter.

You just have to do your homework.

First, before joining any dating site, pay it an online visit. Start with the free sites. These, obviously won’t hurt your bank account.

Unfortunately, many online dating sites are little more than spam sites, where you’ll find scores of mail-order bride or adult services ads or even pretty girls and handsome men that don’t really exist!.

You can quickly eliminate any online dating site that is filled with this kind of spam. It shows that the powers behind the site are not interested in quality, but just to con you with some kind of scam offer.

You don’t want to put your dating future in the hands of these people who are more interested in making a quick buck than in connecting you to the man or woman of your dreams.

Next, check out the varying fees at pay online dating sites. Look at them closely, though.

Some are straightforward: You’ll pay a certain amount per month. Others are more complicated, and have fee structures tied to how often you use certain features.

It might be easier to work with an online dating site that relies on a relatively straightforward fee schedule. You don’t want to end up spending far more than you planned on a site.

Check, too, to see which online dating sites offer free trial memberships.

All reputable sites do this. If the site you are considering won’t let you explore it or try it without a free trial, move on to one that does.

See what you can find out about an online dating site’s Internet security.

You’ll be giving whatever site you work with personal information, including credit-card information. You don’t want this information to get into the wrong hands.

Make sure, then, that whatever online dating site you choose has safeguards in place to protect your information. Your privacy and protection of your identity should be major priorities!

Finally, when choosing an online dating site, look for one that boasts several members in your area.

You don’t want to find that all your matches live 600 miles away. If a site has very few members within 50 miles of you, you might want to continue your search elsewhere.

By following these rules, choosing an online dating site doesn’t have to be overly stressful or complicated. In fact it should be a lot of fun!

Just don’t rush into your final decision… But if you can’t wait then try a few different ones to see what you like most!