How to Write a Good Dating Profile - Qualities of a Good Profile

If you want to know how to write a good dating profile, you’re set for success with online dating services. Many online daters don’t appreciate the importance of writing a good dating profile and blame dating services, not themselves, for a poor response.

You can find specific advice on how to write a good dating profile, from how to describe yourself to choosing a username. But first, it helps to have a clear idea of the overall qualities to aim for, some pitfalls and how to avoid them.

A good dating profile is informative

A good dating profile provides lots of information about your lifestyle, looks, personality, likes and dislikes, and so on. It should also give potential dates some idea of the type of relationship and person you are interested in – specific enough to screen out people you won’t like. This may sound obvious but there are a couple of points to bear in mind.

First of all, it’s up to you to provide the information, and provide it in full. Many online daters don’t, leaving key questions unanswered. People can only wonder if they’re lazy or have something to hide. If nothing else, an incomplete profile suggests little commitment to or real interest in online dating and understandably generates a poor response. Make sure you set aside sufficient time to write your profile and complete it in full.

Secondly, while dating profiles are designed to capture key information, some are better at this than others. If you feel vital information is missing – information which may be important to your ideal date – most dating service profiles have “in your words” sections where you can provide additional details. Make the most of these ensure your profile contains all the information people need to get an accurate picture of who you are.

A good dating profile is honest

One of the biggest advantages of online dating is that you can be 100% yourself from the outset and start a relationship confident that your date is attracted to the “real you.” This stems from the fact that dating profiles provide a lot of information upfront – but it can only be enjoyed if the information is true.

With this in mind, a good dating profile is an honest profile. Anything less and you will set yourself up for failure, attracting the wrong sort of people to someone that isn’t really you.

Honesty does not involve dragging every skeleton out of the closet to expose a catalogue of sins, weaknesses and faults. It simply means that everything you say is true. As we all know, there are degrees of honesty! When you write your dating profile, don’t bend the truth or “forget” to mention less attractive but important details.

What you should end up with is a profile of the someone who, like everyone else, has a range of strengths and weaknesses, faults and perfections. In other words, a profile that attracts people who like the real you, warts and all. Anyone else simply shouldn’t matter.

A good dating profile is interesting

For an excellent guide on how to write a good dating profile, browse around some of the millions of profiles live online already. It is quite clear that many online daters write their dating profile with blinkers on, as if it theirs will be the only profile, not one of thousands. The end result is a lot of profiles that are much the same.

While online dating is not a competition – the only people who matter are people who will like the real you – your profile needs to get noticed. It needs to stand out from the crowd. The best way to achieve this is by writing a dating profile that is more interesting than most.

Think creatively, use your imagination and use fresh, original phrases rather than tired clichés. Stretch the boundaries of fill-in-the-blanks dating service profiles by providing information above and beyond what is expected. Ask yourself, how many people have said the same thing?

In short, write a dating profile that has depth, colour and bags of personality – that is a pleasure to read: engaging, memorable and captivating.

More help on how to write a good dating profile

If you’re not shy about the fact that you are trying online dating – and there’s no need to be – friends are a great source of ideas to help you write a good dating profile. They have enough distance to see aspects of ourselves that we take for granted and often have a more positive take on what we see as faults. Ask them to draw up a top ten of your strengths and weaknesses, your most interesting characteristics, and so on.

Before you write your profile, jot down some notes yourself, on your most interesting experiences, your goals and dreams, key characteristics of your ideal match, pet peeves and passions – anything that is important to you. If you do this before you write your profile, you can make sure nothing gets missed.

Finally, for specific tips on how to write a good dating profile, see Tips for Writing Your Personal Online Dating Profile, How to Describe Yourself and get help with Choosing a Good Online Dating Nickname.

You can also check out Dating Profile Ideas which has over 1,250 pre-written fully-customizable “snippets,” for a fast and easy way to write a great dating profile, as well as actual dating profile examples, ideas for great usernames, headlines and more.