| Choosing the right dating site can be daunting. For one, | | | | 5. Which is best, specialty (aka niche) or popular dating |
| there are thousands of dating and matchmaking sites | | | | site? One more reason you should know what you |
| on the web. Two, each including popular dating sites, is | | | | want. Is religion important to you? Or is ethnicity? What |
| tailored to meet specific needs or objectives. Three, | | | | about age? Do you have kids or do you want |
| what's good for one person is not necessarily good (or | | | | someone with kids? What about your hobbies |
| right) for another. | | | | passions? There are specialty and community-based |
| So, how do you find the best dating site for you? Here | | | | dating sites to cater for almost every need, interest, |
| are some pointers to help narrow the field and make it | | | | value or passion (examples: single parents, Asian, |
| easier for you to make the right choice. | | | | catholic, bicycle lovers, military etc). |
| 1. Know what you are looking for. Are you seeking a | | | | 6. How long has the site been existent? Obviously, a |
| serious or casual relationship? If seeking a serious | | | | new site will not have that many enough members, or |
| relationship, go to a site that caters to that. If seeking | | | | most members will be on trial. Conversely, an older site |
| encounters or casual relationships, you'll be wasting | | | | will have established a large database. Also, that a site |
| time if you sign up with serious relationship sites. | | | | has been around for a couple of years or more |
| 2. Know yourself. This is related to point No.1 above. | | | | means it probably is doing something right. |
| What things are meaningful to you? What are your | | | | 7. Features: Look for sites which offer onsite instant |
| passions or hobbies? Know these could help in | | | | messaging, anonymous email, photo profiles, chat/video |
| deciding the type of site best suited for your particular | | | | chat and other handy features. How do you tell what |
| needs (see point No.5). | | | | features are offered without first becoming a paid |
| 3. Ask a friend who has done it: This option may not | | | | member? See No.10 below. |
| be the best simply because a friend will likely | | | | 8. Sign up with more than one site. The very first site |
| recommend what is right for her/him, which may not | | | | you sign up with may not be best suited for you. |
| be necessarily so for you. But a friend may tell about | | | | Therefore it is important to sign up with three or more |
| good or bad experiences with certain website(s). | | | | to get a feel (see No.10 below on how to do this |
| Caution: if the friend had a bad personal online dating | | | | without first having to pay). |
| experience or for any reason never succeeded she | | | | 9. Establish a budget. Decide how much you are willing |
| he might take the chance to vent, and tell you just | | | | to spend, but be realistic. Free or cheap websites may |
| how it won't work. Personal experiences are exactly | | | | not provide you with quality service or features. Some |
| that, personal. | | | | websites charge a recurring fee, others a one-time |
| 4. Do some good old research: Do a search on your | | | | fee, while still others charge by services used. |
| favorite search engine using keywords such as "dating | | | | 10. Sign up for free trials: Almost all the popular dating |
| sites", "internet dating sites", "dating site reviews", "online | | | | sites offer a free trial period. A free trial allows you to |
| dating websites", "online personals" etc. Not the best | | | | test-drive the site without committing. Never sign up |
| way if you are short of time as you may have to | | | | with a site that has no free trial. Free trials differ from |
| weed through hundreds of sites one by one. Reading | | | | site to site. Some sites offer full-featured free trials for |
| objective reviews about various dating sites will help | | | | a limited time, others offer limited features for a longer |
| farther narrow the field. | | | | or indefinite period and others something in-between. |