MacsDatingSite.com

When you are trying to choose an online dating site for the first time, one thing you should pay close attention to is whether or not the site displays the “last login” for each profile.

While this may seem an insignificant stat to look at, let me spell out the reason I find it to be important.

On almost all major dating sites, profiles are sorted according to their last login. What I mean by that is that when you pull up your desired search preferences, the site will return the results in the order of their most recent log in. What this does is it filters the active accounts from the inactive ones.

If you really think about it, this is pretty much common sense. If a profile’s last login in is 3 months old, it’s safe to assume that it is not an active profile.

How long is too long? I think anyone who hasn’t logged in within two weeks should be considered a dormant profile. We all have reasons why we can’t login, including business travel and vacations. If someone has paid to use a dating service, it’s safe to assume that if they’re serious, they would be logging in regularly.

Why wouldn’t a member log in? There are only two reasons: 1. they aren’t seriously looking to meet other quality singles, or 2. they may have met already met one.

Anyone who’s been involved with online dating will tell you that the most important thing with online dating is getting your profile in front of as many people as possible. What makes online dating such an attractive alternative for many people is the ability to meet a ton of quality singles in one area.

When choosing an online dating site, it’s imperative to find out whether or not a site will work for you based on the amount of singles in your local area. Search options will give you different parameters to choose from, including sorting profiles by zip code.

This is done based on what you feel to be an acceptable distance to drive (i.e. 5, 10, or 25+ miles) because remember the goal of dating online is to actually go out and meet the person face to face. It does you no good to find that dream date online, only to find out they live three hours away from you.

If you perform this search, and the results come back and 5 of the first 10 results are profiles with no activity within the last two months, than odds are that the pool of available candidates at the site is not going to fit your needs. Conversely, if you pull this search and it returns pages of profiles that are active, sign up right away.

Why would a site not display the last login for each of their profiles? My guess would be because they want possible customers to think the site is a lot more active than it really is.

One note of caution, not all sites will operate in this style. A handful of sites give their members the option of purchasing a “premium” membership for an additional fee. The perk of this type of membership is that “premium” members will have their profile listed at the top each time a search is requested.

One last suggestion if you are planning to use an online dating service, make sure to log on regularly. You want to keep your profile in front of as many people as possible. The more you login, the higher your profile will show. It’s that simple!

Here’s a quick exercise you can use if you’re trying to figure out whether or not to get involved with online dating. Each of us has different ideas on what is important, but it sometimes helps to write things down on paper.

Here’s a quick list that applies to me.

Pros:

• If you’re shy, online dating is a lot easier than walking up to a complete stranger.

• The pool available online is pretty large. I’m able to chat with a lot of quality females from the privacy of my living room.

• What a savings of time. I can talk with many different singles all at once, at a time that’s convenient to me, whether it’s early in the morning before work or late at night.

• If using a paid service, you’re confident that the other person communicating is single and is interested in finding another single. That’s never the case in the real world.

• The cost is relatively cheap. The monthly cost of an online membership is way cheaper than buying a woman a couple of drinks or taking a date out to a movie.

• You actually know someone when you finally go out on a date in the real world. Getting to know them in the virtual world makes the first meeting a lot less stressful.

• You get something accomplished each time you log on. You will have a couple of constructive discussions and a couple of leads for future sessions. Lord knows how many times I used to come home from a night out all depressed because I didn’t meet anyone.

• If you start talking to someone and it just isn’t clicking, it’s much easier to terminate the relationship than it is face to face.

Cons:

• People are still somewhat embarrassed to tell friends and families they’re using a dating service, let alone an online one.

• People don’t always tell the truth online, although I guess that applies to the real world as well.

• I always feel like there are a lot more men than women on the site. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but that’s the perception I get.

• You get to know the personality of the person you’re talking to but you don’t get an idea if there’s any physical chemistry between the two of you. There are a lot of people that I love talking to, but a big part of a relationship is the physical aspect.

Once you put it all down on paper, I’m sure that you’ll notice the pluses far outnumber the minus. If you’re on the fence about this decision, take the time to write down the pros and cons and I’m sure you’ll come to a similar decision.

I was surfing the net today and I came across an item written by Andrew Johnstone which states: research shows that 97% of all men give up on online dating within 3 months of starting. That number really jumped out at me, and after giving it some thought, I have to dispute it.

As I’ve outlined before, internet dating involves a lot of work up front to make the entire process successful. Once you eliminate the pool of people who are only using free dating sites, I think the number of people that fail is significantly smaller than what Johnstone states.

People that reach into their wallet and make the decision to pay for a service are much more committed to making the process work. They are essentially prequalified leads (to use a sales term).  That’s a proven fact!

The article lists the many reasons why so many men feel they fail. The most common theme he kept coming back to was that most men weren’t properly prepared before joining a site. This immediate lack of results discourages both men and women alike.

Most of this goes back to a lot of the things I’ve addressed in previous blog articles on this site. The top five items Johnstone says that internet daters need to address are the following:

1. Use a good photo of yourself.
2. Compose a catchy headline
3. Write an informative profile that has the reader looking for more info
4. Personalize each email that you compose, make it unique
5. Be yourself and enjoy the process

Follow these steps as well as some others I’ve outlined previously in this blog and I can guarantee that your online dating experience will be a success.