One of the most important (and daunting) things about dating these days is writing an online dating profile. Your online dating profile, along with your photo, will be the first impression you leave on potential matches, so it’s extremely important to craft a striking statement. A good profile could lead to tons of great matches, but a bad one could leave you without any. To help guide you through this tricky terrain, we’ve compiled some of the best tips for writing your online dating profile:
- Don’t leave it blank. This might seem obvious, but a lot of people tend to leave parts of their profile entirely blank. Whether it’s from laziness or shyness, the result is the same. Having a blank profile significantly compromises your chances of getting matches. And isn’t getting matches the whole point of an online dating profile? You’ve signed up for this because you’re looking to date and you think you’re worth dating. Show everyone why you’re worth dating on your online dating profile.
- Choose a knock-out photo. Not having a photo is the worst thing you could do when creating an online dating profile — even worse than leaving your profile blank. If your profile is a showcase for your personality, leaving out a photo is sort of like flirting with someone at a bar while hiding behind a wall. They might love your spunky personality, but your chances are better if you made eye contact and smiled at them instead of hiding. Use a recent photo where you’re smiling and looking at the camera. While it’s great to include your dog or your hobby in the photo, try to use one that’s not blurry or a group shot.
- Be confident. There’s nothing more attractive than someone who knows who they are. Find out what your best qualities are and make sure to showcase them. If you saw someone you liked at a bar, you’d be your most confident, flirty self to catch their attention. The same is true for when you’re trying to write an online dating profile! Don’t put yourself down, either. A little self-deprecating humor can be great, but this isn’t the place for it because it might just sound like you hate yourself.
- “What do I put here?” Anything you want, but don’t write about how hard it is to write! We’re all struggling to describe ourselves, so it’s not specific to you. Start by focusing on your personality — you can describe it, or showcase it in the way you write — and then get into your hobbies, interests, and ambitions. Hobbies and ambitions don’t need to be impressive for you to include them, but you should avoid things that everyone enjoys. Instead of describing a night spent watching a movie on the couch, explain what you enjoy about your hobbies.
- Avoid clichés. “I’m looking for my soulmate” is a lot of pressure for an introduction. Even worse, a lot of people have the same phrase in their online dating profile. Remember, the goal is to stand out from everyone else and focus on what makes you unique.
- Don’t make demands. Focus instead on highlighting what makes you special and interesting. If you’re looking for a specific type of person, you don’t need to state that on your profile — you can control that by filtering and controlling who you match with. This is your dating profile, so don’t waste valuable space on a hypothetical partner you’ve yet to meet. It is okay to include something like “I have kids, and need a partner who is okay with that,” because that’s about you.
- Be inviting. End your profile with something that will encourage potential matches to reach out. Write something like “if you also love hiking and wind-surfing, let me know!” Anyone who’s already interested in you and shares the same hobbies will act accordingly.
