www.love2flirt.co.uk UK Dating Blog

Free Dating: The real cost of 'free dating'

Nearly every dating site on the internet claims to offer free dating. Running a quick search on Google for the phrase 'free dating' returns some one and half million results!

Yet is the consumer being mislead? What are the true costs of free dating?

The fact is there is rarely any such thing. Free dating often means the ability to post a profile and recieve messages from members but here the word 'free' stops. If a member wishes to contact other members, read messages and use additional features other than merely posting a profile they must 'upgrade' their account and this of course comes at a cost.

Is the consumer being mislead? In a way yes. These sites are not really offering free dating, rather the ability to post a profile - if you actually want to use the dating service, that is interact with other members, then you must pay an 'upgrade fee'.

At the same time however it is important to remember the old saying that nothing in life comes free. For the website owner running, maintaining and advertising a dating site costs money and often lots of it. Some of the top dating sites are paying nearly £0.70 per click to advertise their sites - these clicks can quickly add up and lead to spiraling costs. To cover these costs they must therefore introduce some sort of subscription fee. The alternative of course is to offer a free dating site supported by advertising. Unfortunatley the advertising revenue derived from these sites is often far below costs. The consumer ends up suffering in terms of obtrusive advertisng banners or from a sub standard dating system.

The answer then is that there is no such thing as 'free dating'. That is not to say however the consumer should not shop around. With a vast choice of online dating sites singles are in a good positon to seek out the best deal. Often they can benefit from trial free offers or some sites even offer completely free membership to a specific type of user. Remember you always get what you pay for in life and investing in a good quality dating service or a number of dating services is truely worth the small financial outlay if it leads to finding that special someone.

This article was written and produced by Love2flirt Dating

Make the First Move

Joining a dating site and then sitting back and waiting for the offers to flood in is a nice thought but for the majority of us it does not work like that particulary if you are male.  Remember it is a known statistic that women get more e-mails than men thus if you are a man waiting for thousands of women to e-mail you, you may come away dissappointed.

If you really want to get noticed you have to make the first move, browse a few profiles and e-mail any member that interests you.  When you do so make sure each message is individualised, show the person that you have at least taken the time to read their profile and read something about them.  For example do not e-mail somebody asking their age or location when it is clearly stated on their profile.  This merely shows you have not properly read their dating profile, the other person will notice this and discard your e-mail.

Finally always make sure you include an accuracte description of yourself, a photo or an external link to a photo if you have not yet posted one up - your response rate will be over five times higher if you do!

If you need some tips on creating your online dating profile click below

Dating profile tips

Have fun!

Love2flirt Dating Home

Why Date Online?

The online dating / personals industry is growing in popularity every day.  It is now more socially acceptable than ever to find love online and more and more singles are meeting their perfect partner via online dating and personals websites.  Click here to start dating and post your personal profile.

 

   A recent study showed that some 94% of persons using online dating facilities who met their online date met again after the first date (source BBC). In fact couples who meet online are far more likely have a long term future together.

   Online dating takes down the traditional barriers to that initial contact.  Using our in built mailing system or greetings feature it is a breeze to take that first step to initial contact.  Who knows that gorgeous guy or girl that you may have been too shy to approach in person may just reply to your e-mail!  If not what have you lost?

Online Dating - A Question of Quality over Quantity

**We are looking for our members comments on this one so please take a quick read and leave your comments**

The question of quality over quantity is a major issue facing both users of online dating services and owners like ourselves.  The problem many online dating services face is how to control the quality of their membership base whilst making sure at the same time it is of a significant size.

For example if you are a user of our service are you likely to want to contact someone without either a picture or a profile.  The answer is probably quite unlikely.

Since our launch date three weeks ago we have deleted a number of inappropriate profiles such as signups from non-uk users and those that have posted inappropriate content.

We have also plan to take a number of additional steps to make our dating membership is of a high quality. 

Firstly we only accept UK users and secondly we are planning on going through our database on a monthly basis to delete members who have not posted any form of description of photo.  Additionally we are thinking of implementing a miniumum sign in period similar to MSN hotmail whereby users who are no longer active members ie.they have not signed in for 60 days are subject to being deleted.

Before we implement these policies we are keen to hear what our members think.  Please post an opinion using the add comment button below so we can improve our service to our valued users.

Thank You

Love2flirt Admin

Dating Tips - Making that initial contact

Part of the success of online dating in the past few years has been just how easy it is to find that special someone.  Yet as in real life making that initial contact can often be a difficult task.  What should you write?  Here are some dating tips to help you out.

1. Before you do anything make sure your dating profile is up to date with a recent photo and a little bit about yourself

2. If you are unsure what to write use your "greetings feature" where you can send a smiles, hearts and flowers to someone you like.  They may reply back or even send a message.  This can be a good way of breaking an ice.

3. Send a brief message.  Include what you are looking for, a bit about yourself and maybe a flattering comment such as "I liked your photo" or "You seem interesting and I would like to know more about you" - remember don't go over the top :)

4. Finally (and this is one more for the men) do not start by asking for sex or start asking to see them on webcam.  Surveys have shown most women find this a big turn off and will simply delete your message.  Remember women often get far more messages than men so make yourself stand out a bit, show you are a nice person and you will have a greater success rate.

Thanks for reading and happy dating!

Love2flirt