Dating Pool Potential:  

Start off knowing match.com has more active members than any other online dating service. According to Quantcast, an open  internet ratings service, there are three women for every two men who visit match.com, 50% earn over $60,000 annually and 65% are over the age of 35. Use our comparison chart to see how other sites vary. You’ll need to identify what demographics best match your needs, but bigger is always better, and match.com has the largest pool of potential dates.

Need convincing? Like most online dating sites, match.com allows you to test the waters before paying for a membership. You may browse for prospects as much as you’d like: keep your search broad or filter by an extensive list of physical criteria and lifestyle choices. Set up a profile and post a photograph to further measure the dating pool potential. Once you do this, you will receive notifications of interest from other members, commonly known as winks. See someone interesting? You’ll have to join to respond. 

Profiles:  

The profile process is straightforward and flexible. Your match.com profile is divided into seven parts. First up is you: check the boxes for the basics like relationship status and search parameters, your appearance, your lifestyle, your background/values, and then write brief comments about your interests like favorite local hot spots, and finish with an essay about yourself and your ideal match. The second part is another check-the-box questionnaire, but this time, the focus is on your potential partner. Finally, upload your photos and in 24 hours, you’ll be online. Notice you may show or hide your profile with one click under visibility options.

Match.com generates a list of keywords from your essay, called matchwords, which are searchable. Be sure to review your keywords and delete any that don’t describe you or add more that do. 

Matching/Searching:  

You may take the initiative and search for matches and match.com will search for you and provide matches based on your profile. You may search by keywords, profile criteria, and user name. You may save any of your searches to make searching easier in the future. And, you will receive periodic emails from match.com with your matches or simply select reverse match to receive the list in seconds. The match.com search and match functions are exceptionally flexible, designed to produce results. 

Communication & Additional Services:  

Match.com offers three ways to communicate: “wink” to express interest (an automated function often used to gauge interest), write an email through the site’s double blind email system, and instant messaging another member online. Match.com is one of the only sites to allow you to read your email in your personal email account; a copy is sent to your personal account and is stored in your match.com mailbox.

It’s easy to track your communication on match.com.’s My Connections photo gallery, the best communication tracking feature found on any online dating site. A convenient tab on the side of each good-sized photo indicates whose turn it is to make the next move. Color-coding is another indicator of who should make the next move. And when it’s time to make a date (you’ve exchanged emails), you’ll see “Make a Date” on the tab.

Match.com gives you useful additional services like a photo list to see who has viewed your profile, a place for favorites, a blocking mechanism, and the online magazine Happen with extensive dating advice and articles. Note the member status alert that appears on each profile; easily see when any user was last on line: within the hour or beyond several weeks. Match.com is one of the few online dating sites to incorporate testimonials into the profile. You may ask a friend, relative or ex to write a testimonial for you. These must be approved by match.com and are limited to three. 

Ease of Use:  

Navigate easily among the different areas on match.com. Once you’re up and running, visit My Gallery first to see any new communication from members. Click on a photo to read an email or go directly to the profile; from a profile, choose to communicate with a wink or an email. Integration is seamless. 

Help & Support:  

The match.com site is full of helpful tips and encouragement. Prepare to receive friendly emails prompting you to use the site and regular emails with matches. A conversational FAQs section is available and you may contact match.com staff by email. 

Match.com with its innovative features, multiple search and match functions and the most useful communication tracking device online, is as close to an online dating assistant as you’ll see without hiring a matchmaker.

Associated Sites:

• Match.com International (37 countries/sites, 18 languages)
• Chemistry.com