When you are trying to choose an online dating site for the first time, one thing you should pay close attention to is whether or not the site displays the “last login” for each profile.

While this may seem an insignificant stat to look at, let me spell out the reason I find it to be important.

On almost all major dating sites, profiles are sorted according to their last login. What I mean by that is that when you pull up your desired search preferences, the site will return the results in the order of their most recent log in. What this does is it filters the active accounts from the inactive ones.

If you really think about it, this is pretty much common sense. If a profile’s last login in is 3 months old, it’s safe to assume that it is not an active profile.

How long is too long? I think anyone who hasn’t logged in within two weeks should be considered a dormant profile. We all have reasons why we can’t login, including business travel and vacations. If someone has paid to use a dating service, it’s safe to assume that if they’re serious, they would be logging in regularly.

Why wouldn’t a member log in? There are only two reasons: 1. they aren’t seriously looking to meet other quality singles, or 2. they may have met already met one.

Anyone who’s been involved with online dating will tell you that the most important thing with online dating is getting your profile in front of as many people as possible. What makes online dating such an attractive alternative for many people is the ability to meet a ton of quality singles in one area.

When choosing an online dating site, it’s imperative to find out whether or not a site will work for you based on the amount of singles in your local area. Search options will give you different parameters to choose from, including sorting profiles by zip code.

This is done based on what you feel to be an acceptable distance to drive (i.e. 5, 10, or 25 miles) because remember the goal of dating online is to actually go out and meet the person face to face. It does you no good to find that dream date online, only to find out they live three hours away from you.

If you perform this search, and the results come back and 5 of the first 10 results are profiles with no activity within the last two months, than odds are that the pool of available candidates at the site is not going to fit your needs. Conversely, if you pull this search and it returns pages of profiles that are active, sign up right away.

Why would a site not display the last login for each of their profiles? My guess would be because they want possible customers to think the site is a lot more active than it really is.

One note of caution, not all sites will operate in this style. A handful of sites give their members the option of purchasing a “premium” membership for an additional fee. The perk of this type of membership is that “premium” members will have their profile listed at the top each time a search is requested.

One last suggestion if you are planning to use an online dating service, make sure to log on regularly. You want to keep your profile in front of as many people as possible. The more you login, the higher your profile will show. It’s that simple!

jim mcmenamin is the webmaster and creator of macsdatingsite.com, a blog dedicated to the various issues of online dating. for a limited time, jim is giving away two free ebooks, 10 tips to writing your online dating profile as well as 101 steps to a happy relationship, when you sign up for his newsletter.

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