Online Dating – Getting Started

Instead of pledging to run a marathon, or learn Japanese this year, why not try online dating instead? It’s now the most popular way to find a partner and allows you to look at thousands of single people from the comfort of your own sofa. Here is our quick guide to getting started.

Choosing a dating website

When choosing a dating website, you should think about what sort of people you would like to meet. For example, Muddy Matches is designed for country-minded people, whereas our sister website Maverick Matches was established for extreme sports enthusiasts.

It is also a good idea to ask your friends about their experiences and to check online reviews to see what each dating website is like.

Joining up

Joining up to a dating website is pretty easy, you just need to enter some basic details to get started, or on some websites you can sign in using Facebook.

You will then be encouraged to fill in additional details such as the type of work that you do, or what your favourite hobbies are.

Writing your online dating profile

Once you have signed up you will need to write your profile text to tell people about who you are and what you enjoy doing. You ideally need to write about 200 words, which is only a few short paragraphs. If you are struggling to work out what to write, you could start by writing down some of your favourite things and then you can fill in the gaps afterwards. Also, it can be helpful to ask a friend to write something down for you and work from there.

Choosing your photos

Your Main Photo is the one that people will see when they are scrolling through the listings online, so it should be a nice, clear (and modern) photo of your face. Aim for something that looks like a passport photo, but with a smile.

When choosing your additional photos, you will have more flexibility, so you can add photographs that include your friends, family, or pets. You can also include action shots and holiday photos if you like.

Once you have completed the set-up process you can search for potential matches and start to send messages to people!