Everyone online has a profile somewhere. Whether it's on Facebook or a dating website, you have a profile picture plastered somewhere. Whether you realize it or not, your profile picture tells a story about you. A profile picture usually tells what or who is important to you. It can also tell what you enjoy doing or what your hobbies are. It can give a story about your personality or attitude. A lot of times it can tell what you think or what your views are. Take a look at your profile picture. What story does it tell?
Now it's not quite as important to be as selective when choosing your profile picture for Facebook as it is for a dating website. I have tried a couple different dating websites, and nothing is more important then your main profile picture. Now I understand that you as a person is a whole lot more important then a picture, I get that. But if you want people to actually get to know you, they have to first click on your profile. And if you're on a dating website, unless you're Jessica Alba and are going to attract a million people, you want to get as many people to click on your profile as possible. So here are a list of rules when choosing your profile picture. This list is not complete and I'm sure I will return to update it.
Put up current pictures - No I don't care to see what you look like 3 years and 30 lbs ago. If I'm looking at profile pictures, I want to see what you look like today. I've met girls off the internet who look NOTHING like their profile picture. And it wasn't because when I met them that they were hotter then their picture. It's always the opposite. Yes you may have a picture from a few years ago where you look way better then what you do now. Guess what? We all do. But unless we can go back in time, I can't date you 5 years ago. So get some current pictures, with your current hair style, current weight, and current everything else. If you don't like the way you look or how much you weigh, do something about it. But hiding it will not help you, and just anger people who could be interested in you.
Also if you have more then one picture, they should look like the same person. I can't tell you how many profiles I've seen where there are three pictures and all three look like a different person. If I'm going to meet you, which of the three people is going to show up?
SMILE!!! - Unless you're on an "emo" website, smile in your profile picture. No one wants to date "Debby Downer." I'm looking for someone who is happy, likes to have fun, and is a positive person. I'm not looking for a depressed, boring person. Look like you're actually a fun and nice person. If you're not smiling in your picture, no one is going to click on you.
Pick out your best pictures - Don't take a picture if you've been up for the last 40 hours straight with bags under your eyes. Run a brush through your hair. Make sure you have nice lighting. Make sure it's a close-up picture where people can get a good look at your face. I'm not photogenic at all. Cameras hate me. I'm one of the minority of people who look better in person then they do in pictures. Well at least I think so. I could be lying to myself and just look horrible in both. But it might take a few different pictures, angles, and whatever else to get a picture that you really like.
No artwork or drawing pictures of you- I've clicked on a ton of profiles where the girl has one regular picture, and the rest are photoshopped so they look like a chalk drawing or a colored pencil drawing. Really? I don't care how you'd look if you were in a Spiderman comic. I want more pictures of the real you. Self-explanatory.
No pictures of your kids - I'm not saying to hide your kids or hide the fact that you're a parent. That's not it at all. But the whole idea of a dating website is for the people to find out about YOU. And yes I know that your kids are part of you. But the whole point of profile pictures are for people to see what YOU look like. There should be multiple pictures of you. Not one picture of you and a bunch of your kids. Not to mention that in today's day and age, you can never be too careful with putting pictures up for anyone to see. It's better to lean to the safe side and only share pictures of your kids with someone you know and trust.
No pictures of pets - Yes, if you have an animal, we all know it's important to you. You don't need a picture to show that. It's common sense. But it's not necessary to show it with a photo. When I see someone with a picture with them and their pet, it just makes me think that they're probably leaning towards the wacky side and might be a little too dependent on an animal. Maybe it's just because I have and never will think of a pet as a kid. Maybe to you it is like having a child. But at the same time, let people get to know you, so they don't think you're weird right off the bat.
No pictures with you and a friend - If all of your pictures are you and your best friend, how am I going to know which one is which? Again, it's YOUR profile, so it should be a profile picture of YOU.
No cleavage shots - If your boobs are your best asset to attract guys, there is something wrong with you. There should be more to you then your boobs. And yes, I know it's all about the clicks, but at the same time, who are you trying to attract? Because if a guy clicks on your profile because your boobs are hanging out, what exactly is he looking for? You can still look sexy without showing a lot of skin. This also goes for bikini pictures as well. You don't need your half naked body up for whatever creepy people to look at.
When I'm clicking through 10 or 50 profiles at a time, I give just a quick glance. I look at the face pictures, and immediately make a snapshot decision whether I'm going to click on the person's profile or not. It's extremely important to put your best foot forward so that you get as many clicks as you can. That's the whole goal of online dating, right? To be able to search through a lot more people then you meet on a daily basis. Now obviously everyone's likes and tastes are different, so what I'm looking for isn't what the next person is looking for. But no matter what, you always want to have your best picture up so you can at least garner more attention. Like I said, as your main picture, you want a nice closeup of your face to where people can see what you look like. And in your other profile pictures, throw in a couple more face pictures, and then a couple with your full body, so people have a general idea of your body form as well. And no, not bikini pictures, just regular pictures. We all want as clear of a picture, figuratively speaking, of the person to know what we're getting. But I promise that if you put up better pictures, not only will your clicks increase, but so will the quality of people clicking on you.
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