<< Back to Online Dating Tips & Guides

When you are single and looking for someone important to fill a void in your life, you really have to look at what features and value you want to expect from a reputable site. And when you are single and looking genuinely for that special someone, some dating sites try to prey on naive new members with attempts to get them to spend money straight away. Ask yourself a few questions:

1) Being able to browse member profiles is important as a visitor to the site. You want to know that the members displayed are in the correct location that you are and they have similar interests as you. Does this site have those options available to you?

2) Being able to send quick messages to someone to give a brief description of what you are interested in is important so you can indicate your interest in someone accurately before committing any money. Is there an option to send a quality range of free quick messages?

3) Do the profiles registered contain real people with personally detailed and tailored information or do they seem to appear mostly as model photographs? Are there some celebrity photos used or language that doesn't really make perfect sense? Is the language fluent in your home language or does a profile look scripted with a language translator? Many sites try to entice new members by baiting with fake profiles.

4) What are the paid member options? What are the prices? Do you have to pay by the month for membership? If so, do you have unlimited contact options? Sometimes pay by the month dating sites can encourage spammers to sign up and send spam emails to members and this has happened quite frequently with my experience talking to other dating site webmasters.

5) Is the website a professional looking one? I have seen dating sites out there that have placed advertising on the homepage right in the middle. As a visitor of a site you should expect to see good pictures and relevant page content. Be aware that excessive or misplaced advertising is not only annoying but can indicate a site may not be focusing on its members to maintain viability as perhaps it should.

It is always desirable to be part of a dating site that is user friendly. Using these points as a guide to your online dating ventures can help you avoid some of the problems faced with signing up to a non-genuine dating website.