What Makes a Good Internet Dating Site?
http://www.relationadvice.com/articles/4276/1/What-Makes-a-Good-Internet-Dating-Site/Page1.html
Shawn Wilson
This article was written by Shawn Wilson, who is part of the customer support team at Datepad, an Internet Dating website. By Shawn Wilson
Published on 10/28/2008
Key things to look for when signing up for a internet dating site.
There are all of the obvious ones like a good look and feel a site that in general is pleasing to the eyes. Of course you want a large membership to choose from, this really is one of the most important aspects of a dating site. You need the usual features like forums, a good picture uploading and displaying tool. Other features like articles and tips related to dating are always a bonus.
Past all of the traditional things that most writers discuss what about safety and a reassurance the site you are using isn't malicious in anyway. Here are some really important things to think about.
First off the site needs to have an easy to read privacy policy, most of us don't read these things but if you plan on spending any time on a dating site please take the time to read it. Some sites have companies such as Truste review their policy and under their strict regulations will approve a site and allow them to stamp the Truste logo on their site.
The other boring legal piece a site needs to have is Terms of Use. Again this should be easy to understand you want to get a good idea as to what the site will tolerate and if they tolerate more or less than you would like don't sign up.
With the privacy policy it's important to understand exactly what they are going to do with your personal information. If the site is a free internet dating site they should only require a small amount of information. For a paid internet dating site they will require more information as you will need to give your credit card information. At this point you need to make sure they are running a secure server.
The other aspect of most web sites that are forgotten is how easy is it to access the controls of you profile. For example with a dating site you should be able to stop emails and remove your profile easily. Again if this is not easy to find I would suggest finding another site to register for. All of these questions should be marked and available before you are required to sign up for an account and should be located in the FAQ's.
The FAQ's there should be tons of them and they should be very easy to navigate. I am a huge proponent of FAQ's, they work if they are built properly. I always prefer when a site shows you everything upfront so there are no excuses. Nothing worse than becoming a member and then realizing you can stop emails or cancel your account.
Always be careful and do take the time and read some of this stuff before you join.
Past all of the traditional things that most writers discuss what about safety and a reassurance the site you are using isn't malicious in anyway. Here are some really important things to think about.
First off the site needs to have an easy to read privacy policy, most of us don't read these things but if you plan on spending any time on a dating site please take the time to read it. Some sites have companies such as Truste review their policy and under their strict regulations will approve a site and allow them to stamp the Truste logo on their site.
The other boring legal piece a site needs to have is Terms of Use. Again this should be easy to understand you want to get a good idea as to what the site will tolerate and if they tolerate more or less than you would like don't sign up.
With the privacy policy it's important to understand exactly what they are going to do with your personal information. If the site is a free internet dating site they should only require a small amount of information. For a paid internet dating site they will require more information as you will need to give your credit card information. At this point you need to make sure they are running a secure server.
The other aspect of most web sites that are forgotten is how easy is it to access the controls of you profile. For example with a dating site you should be able to stop emails and remove your profile easily. Again if this is not easy to find I would suggest finding another site to register for. All of these questions should be marked and available before you are required to sign up for an account and should be located in the FAQ's.
The FAQ's there should be tons of them and they should be very easy to navigate. I am a huge proponent of FAQ's, they work if they are built properly. I always prefer when a site shows you everything upfront so there are no excuses. Nothing worse than becoming a member and then realizing you can stop emails or cancel your account.
Always be careful and do take the time and read some of this stuff before you join.