We’ve all been there when dating these days! You scroll through profile after profile and nothing stands out, all the opening lines read the same and if you do still match you’re greeted with the same short messages of “Hi, how are you?” or “Hey, how are you finding this dating app?”.

It’s time for a change and what better way to start than by getting the maximum out of your own profile and getting your USP to speak for itself!

Here are our top tips to get the best out of your dating profile by @made_my_date:


1) Let’s face it whether we want to admit it or not, the first thing that draws us in to any profile is the photos! This is why it’s so important to ensure that you have the best possible photos on your profile: We recommend uploading a minimum of 3 photos to your profile to give your potential match an overall view of you rather than making a snap judgement on just 1 picture!

The next thing to consider is that all 3 photos should be different enough to show different sides of your personality but be easily recognisable as you. Think about the main points of your personality that you want to portray; Do you have a photo of you playing a favourite sport? Perhaps an interesting shot of you on an unusual holiday destination? Or maybe where you have dressed up for a family function or Christmas party? The main thing to remember is that the 3 photos should be unique to each other and have a good conversation point if your potential matches ask about them. In each photo it is important to ensure that you come across as happy, friendly and approachable.

The best way to do this is to “show off” your smile. Researchers at the Department of Psychology at University of York analyzed 1,000 images of faces in order to find the specific facial tics and features that help make a good first impression. From this the results showed that the more genuine the smile the more approachable one looks. It also highlighted that the size of the smile and whether to show teeth or not did not matter as much as how genuine the smile is perceived as. If you have trouble naturally smiling in your photos, a good tip is to get someone to make you laugh just before the photo is taken.

Ensure that the lighting of your photo is good, there should be no shadows on your face, if there is a slight shadow it should be under your jawline. Your face should be well-lit and clear. IF you wear glasses there should not be any reflections in your lenses.


2) The second thing to consider is the states for your profile. Every profile whether it’s on an app or a dating website will ask you for basic information about yourself such as your height, age, location, etc. It is important to ensure that your profile information is firstly correct and secondly up-to-date if anything changes such as location or job role.

We recommend to fill out as much as possible but to keep this information short and sweet. It’s a basic must for all dating profiles but you shouldn’t spend much time on this section as you want to focus on the areas that show off your personality.


3) For the next section, every website varies but there is usually at least one section where you can talk about your hobbies and passions and give a bit more of an insight into your personality.

This is by far the most important section of your dating profile. The key points to remember are to show off your passions, your humour and to leave the viewer with your USP in their mind. USP traditionally stands for “unique selling point” but in this context we mean the main thing that makes you unique. What makes you YOU? What is it that you have achieved that is unique? Is there something about the way you think about things that is different to everyone else?

One very big mistake that people tend to make in this section is by listing a list of characteristics or attributes about yourself. It’s the most popular answer to this section and it’s often the same characteristics on most profiles too! This can make your profile blend in with all the others.

We recommend starting with a funny opening question or remark that the viewer can ask you about after you have matched with each other. Another approach could be to drop in a few interesting facts about your life to date and highlight to the viewer that you want to add to that list with the right match.

It’s important to make your viewer laugh or at least smile whilst reading your profile but also to ensure that the profile does not read as a joke or fake profile. The right balance is to show humour at the start and the finish of the profile at a maximum, with this being at the end as more effective because you want to leave the viewer on a positive note.

It’s also important to reflect your likes and dislikes, your achievements and your goals for the future. The viewer should feel as though they have had a glimpse into your past and a taste of the future that you want with a potential match. When adding so much to this section, it is also important to keep each point short and sweet, everyone is time poor these days and your profile should not be a miniature novel.


4) Where possible (depending on the format of the dating app / website) try to leave your profile with an interesting and open ended question or remark. The idea is that it should be something about you, your photos, your profile body that the viewer will want to know more about. It could be something quirky like a humorous job application for a suitable future life partner where you ask the viewer to apply if applicable! Or it could be a goal on your bucket list that you want to achieve with your future partner and you could ask the viewer if they want to join you. Ultimately the aim is to leave the profile on a thought provoking point whereby the viewer wants to engage and ask more details.

* How to get the best out of your dating profile

By Shugi of @made_my_date

Coaching for Dating Service