With so many online dating services to choose from, it is difficult to know which way to turn! Don’t worry, because the purpose of this article is to help you decide which ones are worth trying. First, you need to know a few things, and hopefully this article will help you to figure out which singles web site you should visit, and perhaps give your money to.

Most of these services allow you to list online personals for free; you have to pay if you want to contact somebody, and this is how they make their money. You need to be aware that many services have a lot of people on them who have set up free profiles, and a lot of these people will not reply to you unless they see you as their dream guy or girl! They might sign up with good intentions but when it comes to paying to contact someone, they think twice. You could argue that people will pay if they are serious about finding somebody, and certainly it goes towards showing their sincere intentions, but even if they have not paid they are still likely to be serious as they went through the process of registering in the first place. It takes a good deal of time to come up with a good profile. Do you want to waste your time sending messages to people who will not be sufficiently motivated to pay the fee to reply?

“Match.com”
Match.com allows you to reply to anybody who has sent you a message for free, so you’re already over that first hurdle. The profile that you post is very detailed, and you can post a photograph. All profiles are manually approved before they go live. They have millions of profiles, so they are worth checking out.

Yahoo! Personals
Yahoo! Personals are next on the list. If you’ve not heard of Yahoo, you must be living in the dark ages! Yahoo is one of the largest web sites on the net. As a result, they must have millions of profiles on their online dating site, although they do not reveal the exact number. In addition to pictures, you can also add video and voice messages to your profile, so make sure you look and sound sexy! You get to send your first message to anybody for free; further communication requires subscription.

Friendfinder.com
FriendFinder have an interesting twist, in that you can contact members in the first instance for free; then they have different tiers of membership, one of which allows anybody to reply to you when you have contacted them. If you are going for this service then that option might be worth considering. Note that as the name suggests, this service is not just about singles and dating, but also friendship.

www.great-expectations.com
Great Expectations are a serious matchmaking service for USA residents whose methods are mainly concentrated offline. Having started out in 1976, they have a lot of experience. It’s helpful if you can visit one of their offices, and they are just starting to expand into the online business. You do not fill in a profile, but you are asked to provide contact details; your application is then personally reviewed. The number of clients is small, but well-targeted, and only includes professional people who meet specific minimum income and age criteria. This service could be excellent for you if you do not have time to write a good profile for yourself!

LoopyLove
LoopyLove are a UK-only site that is paid for by advertising; you do not have to pay to communicate with people on this site! Featurewise it’s pretty basic compared to other sites, but you can add photos, a voice message, and a 30-second video clip to your profile. You can opt to subscribe to the service, or have adverts sent to you and be rewarded with “credits” for receiving an emailed advert and visiting the corresponding site. If you wish to do this then I recommend that you set up a free account with Hotmail or similar, to stop your inbox getting clogged up with adverts. [Note: There is a full review of LoopyLove elsewhere on this site, posted recently.]

www.eharmony.com
eHarmony is different. They are generally more expensive than other online matchmaking services, but they have put a lot of research efforts into their matchmaking and it is a lot more accurate than the run-of-the-mill selection. Questions are very detailed, seeking to determine the “real you.” You can set up a profile for free, and there are optional resources available that guide you through the process of making initial contact in ways that are proven. The quality of service is really good. You have to pay if you want to contact a potential match, even if you were contacted first, but you can have a 7-day free trial, and given the quality of this site it merits a listing here.