Top Tips to Get Into Online Dating
Feel like you’re ready to start seeing new people again? Whether it’s after a breakup, divorce or a fling, dipping your toe into the waters of online dating sites may seem an unnatural way to meet new singles. However, a quick Google search will prove that’s far from true. Online dating is one of the most popular and successful ways for singles to meet partners these days. Used by millions of singles every day, dating sites are a great way to find other singles you might never otherwise meet, and we have some helpful online dating tips.
Online Dating Tips
More than ever before online dating sites are very much alive and thriving, with older users forming a big part of the online dating population just as much as younger users. Whether looking for friendship, fun or the one, it can be an enjoyable way of taking your dating life to a whole new level.
As someone new to online dating, where exactly do you start and what’s the best way to go about it? What do you say about yourself? What’s the best photo to use? How do you introduce yourself and what’s the etiquette?
To help you along the way, here are our top online dating tips to get you on your way and into online dating:
- Ask a Friend
Putting yourself out there online with a dating profile can fill you with the quibbles – it can hard to describe yourself, never mind intimidating at the thought of unknown people checking you out. The trick is to keep it natural, keep it real and don’t overfill your profile with over-the-top phrases.
Ask a friend to name your top strengths and qualities – they know you better than anyone and can tell you what your top traits are.
- Choose an Appropriate User Name and Tagline
Names like ‘Lovely Lady’ or’ Mr Hot’ may be the types of user names you might want to avoid. They are subjective and don’t bring across the type of person you are.
Go with a name that says something about you (rather than how hot you might be), like a hobby you have or the work that you do. If your main interest is playing guitar, you might consider a name like ‘Musical Sarah’. Along with this, you can choose an appropriate tagline like ‘Guitar playing lady available for companionship’.
- Don’t Pressure Yourself
Too many people go into online dating with expectations about what a person will be like and what they want to gain out of it within a certain amount of time. Why would you want to do that to yourself? Doesn’t it take all the fun out of meeting new people and going on dates?
Focus on enjoying each date and see it as getting to know somebody new – their mannerisms, their interests, their quirks. Don’t expect that you will simply find somebody who ticks all the boxes – even if they did seem like they did in your email exchanges.
- Practice Flirting
Online dating can seem strange because you don’t get to meet the person until you’re on an actual date. Meeting somewhere ‘date-like’ can be quite intense if you’ve never really met the person before in everyday surroundings. Use the first few dates as a chance to practice getting to know new people – and why not practice a little flirting, too!
I’m not saying you should do the whole bat the eyelids, pucker the lips thing (not straightaway, anyway), but a light touch on the arm or a warm smile will get you right into the swing of how much fun flirting can be.
- Sign up to No More Than 2 or 3 Sites
There’s a lot of online dating sites out there and it can be interesting to flick through different profiles to see which will be best for you. Some offer a free trial or the chance to set up a basic account – it’s worth looking around. It can be tempting to sign up to lots of different sites, but this will be hard to keep track of in the long run and to start with, choose no more than 2 or 3.
This will give you just enough choice but will still be manageable with all those emails you’ll be getting through!
- Have Fun But Be Cautious
Where online dating is fun, with the unknowing can also some crafty scammers who set up ’fake’ dating profiles to lure in potential new dates. Be wary that these are out there and always arrange to meet a new person at a public place, such as at a coffee shop or café.
People who move very fast and claim to be falling in love early on or those who cancel at the last minute may occasionally be signs as people to be wary of.
That’s not to say genuine people can’t cancel at the last minute, but if it becomes a regular occurrence, be wary.
- Share With A Friend
Not only can your friend help with writing your online dating profile, but why not offer to write theirs and, to give you a little confidence, you share the whole experience as you go along? Having someone to go through the online dating process will be a fun experience and you can share the responses you are getting (but don’t go after the same person!)
With all the online dating sites there are to offer, there’s a boundless amount of choice out there with something for everyone. Life’s too short not to give it a go – so what are you waiting for? Remember our online dating tips and happy searching!
