Match.com Overview

If you were to ask someone what dating sites they know about, chances are they’ll have heard of Match.com . Match.com is the granddaddy of all dating sites, having basically pioneered the concept of online dating in 1995, when the Internet was still in its infancy. Since then, Match.com has grown to become the largest and most popular online dating site, currently serving millions of singles worldwide. According to Match.com’ statistics, over 500,000 singles found relationships and connections through Match’s online personals and singles ads.

Match.com Features

Match.com is very easy to get up and going. As soon as you make an account (email and password), you can browse through a lot of members near your location and in your age range. You can look at photos and even filter by basic information (height, body type, martial status, faith, ethnicity). You can even add more criteria (interests, interest in kids, salary, pets) if you want. Right off the bad, you can get a taste of the huge number of members using Match.com. As the original online dating site, Match.com pretty much has the base features seen on most other dating sites.

Before you can see more detailed information about people you’re interested in, or even contact them, you will need to fill out your member profile. Obviously, this is an important step and the basis for the match finding functionality of the site. You’ve got the pretty standard appearance, background, lifestyle, interests questions. One useful feature I found is that you can choose how big a geographic radius to search for prospective matches around your location. After all, where you two live can make a difference in the practicality of building a relationship. There are some situational questions (“what would you do in this situation?”) as well to help gauge your personality.

One thing that Match.com asks for that other sites don’t is a lot of pictures of you (not just the basic mugshot, but if you and with friends, family, indoors, traveling, with pets.. etc). Of course these are optional, but you can give other members a better context of not just what you look like, but about your social life and lifestyle. You will also need to fill out what a so-called “headline”, which is just an open-ended blurb that will show up at the top of your profile.

Overall the questionnaire process is fairly quick, straightforward and painless. I particularly like that you can pretty much skip most of the questions if you want (although it is better if you can fill as many of them out). Unlike some of the other sites, Match.com doesn’t put as huge emphasis on automated personality matching (hence a relatively short profiling process), as you have powerful search tools to find singles. However, you can allow Match.com to send your profile over to Chemistry.com (their sister site, based primarily on matching), so you can get even more exposure. This is definitely something you’ll want to opt into.

After signing up, your profile to be “reviewed”, but it is generally very fast and automated. Once you do, you can access your homepage and start browsing full profiles of other singles, complete with the photos they’ve uploaded. Match.com will send you about a dozen matches automatically daily, based on your profile. You can go through each one and mark if you’re interested or not, saving your picks in a separate list.

Search/Matching System

The real strength I found was in the search system, which as mentioned before, is very comprehensive and lets you add as many criteria as you want. In addition, there are two automated search options which use your profile data. Mutual Match finds singles where “you are looking for someone like them and they are looking for someone like you”. Reverse Match finds people who seek a person similar to you (what you described yourself in the profile). Match.com also has a newer feature called DateSpark, which takes the focus away from propfile matching and to the actual date itself. Basically, members can submit ideas for dates, and others can browse and respond to the ones they are interested in.

Once you’ve found someone you might be interested in, you can send them a “wink” for free, which is just a way to tell them you have some interest. You can also send them an email message or “like” their photos (Facebook-style) here, although these options require a paying subscription. Within the “Connections” section, you can conveniently keep track of all your communication (winks, emails, likes) with other singles in one place. You can also get an idea of how much interest your profile is getting from other people (for example, who has viewed or favorited your profile).

Users

As the largest dating site, Match.com is all-inclusive and does not cater to any specific groups of people. Its userbase consists of all ethnicities, nationalities, ages, sexual orientation, etc. This makes using Match.com a good bet for pretty much anyone. The advantages of a large database are self-explanatory – the more people you have to choose from, the better your odds are at landing the perfect match.

Safety/Privacy

Online dating is really one of the safer ways to date. Match screens and reviews every member profile as soon as it’s created to check for scammers and suspicious activity. In addition, Match.com fully maintains your privacy from other users by witholding contact details and email addresses. Match gives you full control over what other people can see when they browse your profile. For example, you can choose to only show your profile picture after you’ve made contact with someone you’re interested in. Still, the best way to avoid any problems is to be smart. Always meet in a public place for the first date. Don’t give away your contact or personal info too quickly. Trust your instincts!

Pricing

Even though you need to pay a monthly fee to use all of the features of a dating site, the fee is actually quite reasonable, especially if you choose a 3 month or 6 month subscription. The best bang for your buck comes with a 3 month package at 19.99 per month, which saves you 45% off the price of a month by month subscription.

Subscription Plan	Total Cost	Cost Per Month	Savings
Month by Month	$34.99	$34.99	None
3 Months	$59.97	$19.99	45% Off
6 Months	$101.94	$16.99	50% Off

Match is so certain that you’ll meet someone that they offer a 6 month guarantee. In order to qualify, you must first sigh up for a 6 month subscription. Basically, if you don’t find someone within the first 6 months of using Match.com, Match will give you an additional 6 months to use the site, free of charge. There are some conditions to qualify for the guarantee though – you must create a truthful Match.com profile with a primary photo and keep it visible, respond to or initiate contact with at least 5 unique Match.com members each month, and comply with the program rules and terms of service. This is a nice feature that helps ensure you get the most value for your money.

Bottom Line

Overall, Match.com has all the core features you’ll want for a dating site, and a lot of nice extra features as well. The huge database of singles gives you a great chance at finding the special someone. With tons of profiles to browse and an advanced search and communication tools, you can easily spend plenty of time on this site. The overall site interface is functional and easy to navigate. It is also one of the easier dating sites to get up and started, and will appeal to those who don’t like to fill out overly long profile questionnaires.

Match’s ease of use, extensive userbase, many useful features, high safety rating, and 6 month guarantee makes it our top choice. Visit Match.com and begin your quest to find love today!