If you’re starting your journey with online dating, you know all too well that one of the most challenging parts of your online dating journey is setting up your online dating profile. Creating and curating a flawless online dating profile can simultaneously be the most difficult and trajectory-changing aspect of your entire online dating experience.
The biggest downside of online dating is the sheer amount of pressure put on your profile. Everyone wants to present themselves as best as possible online, and their profile is usually the only option they have to craft that perfect first impression. When you think about it, your profile is really the only thing people will see before deciding whether to take a chance on you and swipe right or left.
We don’t want you to worry or have any unneeded stress about something that, in theory, should take about 10-15 minutes to craft. But we also don’t want to throw you into the online dating game without help on how to create your profile. And yes, while there is a lot of pressure, it’s all about you, and just like with online dating in general, it should be fun!
Why Your Dating Profile Matters So Much
If you’re wondering why online dating profiles are so difficult to curate but also so imperative to curate an excellent and easy dating app experience, we’re here to help. In the end, dating apps are all about split-second decisions.
But we don’t want you to have a ton of anxiety or worry about what could be when you’re making your dating app profile. We just want you to have the correct tools and guidance so that it’s not overwhelming for you and you can find success once you’re on the apps.
Now that we’ve talked about all the power a great profile can hold over the future of your love life, I’m sure you’re trying to think about what kinds of things you should add to your dating profile to make you stand out and make everyone who sees you swipe right immediately.
Don’t worry; we have some amazing ideas for you to incorporate into your profile.
But all that being said, if you don’t like some of these ideas or if some of them don’t apply to you, this isn’t a ride-or-die online dating guide (though the website does come in handy more often than not); ice just wants to provide you with some of our favorite suggestions we’ve seen on the apps. This comes from a gal who has been online dating for longer than she’d like to admit. And no matter how shallow it sounds, I have seen some dating apps that lacked enough in these elements that I went ahead and swiped right.
I understand that it might sound silly, but what you put on your profile matters more than you think. It not only dictates how you present yourself on the app, but it also modifies how people see you and think of you. And in the end, if you’re not going to put any effort into creating a good dating profile online, which is arguably the easiest step of the entire online dating process, what does that say about how little effort they’ll put into you and your possible relationship?
Also, first impressions matter the most on these apps.
Women
On average, women will only look at dating profiles, even the ones they find the most attractive, for 3.19 seconds before deciding whether they will swipe right on them. But if they see someone on the app they’re unsure about, they’ll spend 6.91 seconds debating whether or not to reject them.
Men
On the other end of the spectrum, men spend an average of 5.7 seconds looking at people’s profiles they found attractive and 6.26 seconds on those they had doubts about.
So the main key to finding success on dating apps and websites is to wow the people you’re matching within six seconds or less. But don’t worry; this isn’t an impossible task, especially when you have our help. Here are ten things you need to add to your dating profile to stand out and make people swipe right on you immediately.
1. Add Wonderful and Full-Body Pictures That Showcase Who You Are
While this can sometimes not be the easiest thing to do, especially if you struggle with any kind of body dysmorphia or you just don’t want to add a bunch of pictures of yourself online, you must share the real you when you’re choosing your pictures that you’ll want to add to your dating app profile.
People who don’t add good-quality pictures to their profiles are often labeled as bots or just seen as lazy, so they get skipped over pretty quickly. You don’t want an opportunity like that to pass you by. Also, when you post real photos of yourself, you’re allowed to add in a lot of your personality that people might not get to see if they are just reading your profile. It almost gives you an added section to show the people on the app who you really are.
Also, more likely than not, you’ll want the people who match with you to actually be attracted to you. If you don’t provide them with good or enough photos of yourself that show the real you, you’ll never know about the opportunities you missed.
People will love your honesty and confidence when you share these photos online, which is usually a win-win situation.
You want the photos you choose to be an expression of who you are. You want people to easily pick out who you are in their five seconds of scrolling on your profile, and you want your photos to make an impression. Also, don’t worry about getting professional or pose photos; the photo that made me swipe right on my fiancé was one of him in a coconut bra onstage. Personality pictures and more candid photos sometimes do the trick online.
2. Show Off Your Personality
The biggest thing you’ll want to do when presenting yourself on a dating app is let people know who you are. Add a joke to your profile if you pride yourself on being funny. If you are a hard worker, talk about your passions. If you are an athlete, share some photos of you in action and talk about what you play, where you play, and why you love it.
No matter who you are or what aspect of yourself you want to showcase, do it with pride and have fun. This should be where you meet your true love, and that is a much better story than meeting a slew of people who like the false pretense you put online about yourself. Be as true to yourself as you can when crafting your dating app bio, and we promise you’ll find someone who loves that vulnerability and loves you for you.
3. Be as Specific as Possible
Do you love water polo? Do coffee dates make you want to vomit? What was your favorite Victorian literature novel and why? If you have fun or interesting facts about yourself, add them in. Not only is this the only time to do that because you won’t look like a self-indulgent asshole, but it also helps narrow down your potential dating pool and get closer to finding your person.
The fun facts can be just that, fun facts, but they can also be disguises for weeding out people who might be turned off by your weird habits. Suppose you’re a gym junkie but can only go to a Planet Fitness that’s in a mall. In that case, that’s interesting enough to share, but also, if it weirds someone out enough, they will pass on you, and you’ve got a tough conversation out of the way first thing.
Adding specific things about yourself also gives the impression that the people you match with know you better than they actually do, so it will breed more familiarity and, out of that, more comfortability. Oddly enough, by writing in your bio that gas station sushi is your jam, you might make more matches than you ever thought possible.
4. Be to the Point
I know we’re telling you all of these wonderful things to add to your profile, but I also understand that there’s not only a time limit, but an attention limit. I don’t care about your entire life story when I’m swiping on you. I want to know the bare basics, the things usually covered when you build your profile, and then I want to know one or two interesting things about you that make you stand out.
Don’t go into too much detail or write down more than two sentences. No one will read them (five seconds or less), and you’ll miss out on the opportunity to match with someone who would get along great in your life. I’ve seen people do bullet point lists of some of their interests. Others do emojis. I might caution against the latter, but whatever works! Remember that every word counts; you don’t need to add any fluff to your profile.
5. Proofread Your Profile
This step takes five seconds (literally), and it will save you so much embarrassment in the long run. Don’t create a profile with grammatical mistakes. Put spellcheck on, capitalize your letters, and put some effort into your profile.
We’re not saying pull out the dictionary and add words that you don’t know; just don’t be sloppy or lazy.
6. Fill Out Your Entire Profile
We say it every time we talk about dating profiles. It doesn’t take long, and it’s all about you, a subject you ought to know enough about. Yes, you can leave some sections blank, like if you’re not confident about your height or don’t want to talk about religion or politics online. That’s okay, but don’t skip entire sections. Every part of your profile is a chance to show people who you are, and there’s no need to waste those opportunities.
We’re not telling you to write a novel every chance you get, but we are saying that putting in the effort at this stage of the game will ensure that effort is also given to you.
7. Add in Your Social Media
This isn’t a necessary step, especially if you don’t have any social media. Still, it will help the people scrolling on you to know who you are a little bit better than if they’d just seen the topics covered in your profile. Add your social media; I’ve even seen people add their Spotify profiles, which is really cool, especially if you like music and are proud of some of the playlists you’ve crafted.
This just makes people feel like they know you better, and it goes back to the thing we talked about with familiarity. The more familiar people feel with you, the more comfortable they’ll feel messaging you. Thus, the more success you’ll have overall.
8. Work on Your Profile When You’re in a Good Mood
I know this might sound silly, but give it a try. Some online dating websites have profiles that take ages to fill out, and you don’t want to approach them with a sour attitude. Instead, you want to put your best foot forward and positively present yourself.
If you’re not feeling up to snuff or you’re a little upset about making a dating profile in the first place, that will be reflected in your bio, and you might turn some people off.
No one wants to swipe right on someone who’s not excited or at least intrigued to be on the app, and you wouldn’t want to either.
Instead, wait until you’re excited to fill out some fun facts or until inspiration hits you for what you want to showcase and talk about in your profile. The people that are meant to find you will still find you if you give it a couple of hours between downloading the app and writing your profile, and that’s okay.
9. Look at Other Profiles for Inspiration
I have completely scrapped my dating app profile before because I saw someone’s that I wanted to copy. That’s completely fine and honestly encouraged. Steal their idea if you see a profile that makes you laugh or grabs your interest. You’re not getting paid for writing dating app profiles; copyright doesn’t extend to Tinder, so have fun with it!
Obviously, don’t actually copy and paste the person’s whole profile, but maybe take some key points from them. It’s okay to be original while also following some guidelines on these apps.
10. Get Other People’s Opinions
This is honestly how you can have the most fun on dating apps, by doing it with other people. I used to only download Bumble when I was at my friend’s apartment because I needed her advice, and I liked for it to be a group activity, kind of. It adds a special feeling of community, and you can get the opinion of some of the people you trust the most.
Your friends probably know you and can describe you better than you can describe yourself. If you’re stuck on what to say on your profile, ask them to give you tips, tell you what to add, or even write it for you! While it may be a bit of extra work on their end, it could be a fun twist, and you might even sound much more interesting than if you had written the profile all on your own.
