New to the online dating scene? Well, believe it or not, online dating can be just as competitive, if not more so, than traditional dating. Don’t let that discourage you, however. Many people have found a date, and often marriage, through online dating services. There are tips and strategies that can help you get your profile noticed over your competition. Here are three strategic steps you can take that can give your profile the look and feel it needs to attract the kind of people you would love to meet.

Tip 1: Pick the Perfect Profile Photo
Your photo is one of the most important factors that will attract people to your profile. First and foremost, make sure you have a recent picture. Sure that picture of you in the bikini while on college spring break back in 1995 may be cute, but when your date meets you expecting you to look like you did in college, your date will be disappointed. This can create mistrust and cause your date to feel upset and deceived. This is never a good thing when trying to start a relationship.

Also, pick a photo that will show off your best features. Make sure you are wearing a friendly smile, it will be much more inviting than a serious pose or, obviously, a frown. Always avoid photos where you are with another person, or, worse yet, you have chopped the other person out of the photo, only to leave behind a mysterious arm. Your date may be confused by which person is actually you or wonder who the “mysterious arm” belongs to.

Tip 2: Use Your Username to Reveal Your Interests
You may think your username is just your way to log in to your online dating service, but this isn’t the case. Your username is one of the first things that someone will read about you and a good username can mean the difference between a profile view and a profile pass up. A common technique is to go with the traditional anonymous username like “Jenny321” but why miss out on a key opportunity to catch someone’s attention or reveal a bit about yourself?

Make your username original and make it say a little something about your personality. Pick “SweetSinger” as your username if your hobby is singing or “DodgersDude” if your an avid Dodgers fan looking for company. Your clever username will not only share a little bit about your personality or interests, but can also attract people with the same interests. But be careful not to give the wrong impression. Just because you interpret the username “FunLovin” to mean you love to have fun, the person viewing your profile may think “FunLovin” means you are looking for some fun lovin’, if you know what I mean.

Tip 3: Don’t Say It, Prove It! And Be Specific
When developing your profile description, you may be tempted to write something like “I’m funny and smart with a good sense of humor.” This is simply a boring list of adjectives… the same adjectives that are showing up on thousands of other profiles. If you want your profile to really stand out, you need to describe yourself through specifics.

Instead of saying you are "funny" or have a "good sense of humor", make your profile funny. Crack a couple of tasteful jokes or relate a funny incident. This will prove to your viewer what sort of sense of humor you have. If your sense of humor is attractive to that viewer, they will contact you. Rather than just stating that you are “smart”, list your favorite books or your interests that would prove to your viewer how smart you are. This will also give your viewer some specific examples that he or she will be able to relate to directly.

Remember, just because you have a profile up, doesn’t necessarily mean you will immediately get responses. These three tips will certainly help, but play around with the contents of your profile until you start getting the results you want. If no one is responding to your list of interests, put up some new ones. Switch your photos every once in a while to see what sort of response you receive. As you experiment with your online dating profile, you will hopefully begin to find the responses you have been looking for.

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Kim Lance is the Associate Publisher of Online Dating Magazine Online Dating Magazine, an Internet publication covering online dating through news, reviews, experiences, interviews, and articles.

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