Ten years after the Internet starting ramping up, online dating is still one of the most popular Internet ventures. Millions of attractive, well-adjusted, successful people visit such sites daily. From students to office workers to successful high profile professionals, online dating has something for everyone. It is designed to address a certain set of problems and it does fairly well.

It allows individuals who may otherwise never meet to get introduced. It makes it possible to find out a little about one another with a lower commitment of time and risk. People who use Internet dating are busy, have often tried the local scene and found it wanting, or just haven't found that right someone yet. Internet dating takes place in a safe, fairly anonymous setting, while providing a much wider variety of people to meet than 'real life' usually allows for.

The first step is to find a site that suits your goals.
That means deciding whether you want a general service or one that caters for individual preferences like ethnicity, or different types of partners. You may not think paying money is worth the introductions, since there are now other venues like MySpace where you can meet people. That means you need to decide on a free versus a paid site.

You can get a rough idea about those options by just looking around, perusing sites that differ along those lines. Many won't allow you to get in-depth information and some won't even show you a photo. But most will provide enough information before you sign up that you can decide whether you want to explore that site further.

Research has shown that paid sites often provide better matches and service and are more popular for those who are serious about finding the right person.

To make it easier for you, we have reviewed many internet dating websites and selected the best for service and quality match-ups and provide them for you on this website.

Once that initial research is done and you've plunged ahead, you'll need to create a profile that accurately says who you are and what you want. It's true that many people are less than fully honest in their profiles. The immediate result may be more initial contacts, but the final outcome is fewer successful matches. We encourage you to be open and honest with your profile and this will increase the likelihood of a match.

On most sites, you will be required to fill out personal information about age, weight, height and some basic likes and dislikes. Photos are usually optional, however if you do not provide a photo, the odds of being contacted are much lower. At many sites, a video is the preferred way to get a much better view of the real person.

Numerous studies show that most people are initially attracted to a person's looks. Though it takes a while to get to know someone well, most people will project a lot about who they are by their appearance. You can't judge the whole book by its cover, but it does help you discover whether you want to start reading.

Providing contact information is necessary for the site, but many will provide a relay, so you don't have to invent a new email address solely for online dating sites. It might not be a bad idea, though, just in case.

Once you've provided enough information about yourself, with a photo, to make it possible for others to be interested, you can start looking too. Sooner or later, someone is going to come across your profile. From there, things get interesting...