Types of Online Dating Services: Online Matchmaking Sites

Perhaps the most popular in the online dating world, online matchmaking sites are the ones you’ve heard the most about. Match.com, eHarmony, Chemistry.com – they are all designed to make recommendations about other users who might be a good fit for you. While many of these sites allow you to search on your own, some take the reins and handle the matchmaking process for you 100%.

If you’re a hand-on type person, sites like eHarmony and Chemistry.com may not be the best option for you as they have the strongest control on the matchmaking process. They’ll send you members to review (sometimes only a certain number per week), and then you can choose whether or not to initiate contact with them. However, if you’re looking for a little more help in the online dating department, this type of site might be ideal since they minimize your search time and bring results directly to your inbox.

Sites like Match.com, Date.com and others allow you to take control of the search process and will email you updates of users you might like to review. However, they don’t control your access to other members’ profiles and let you pretty much look at whomever you’d like. If you’re that hands-on type of person, sites like these are ideal since they allow you to remain in control of the “seek and ye shall find” process. If you’re easily overwhelmed by reading profiles and filtering results, you may want to stick with one of the pure matchmaking sites we mentioned above.

One of the benefits of the online matchmaking sites are that you can set up customizable searches to make the process simpler. They will email you results from your searches and help draw attention to new members who have recently joined who meet your search criteria. The custom search features are an excellent way to focus your time and save yourself from wading through profiles that are not going to deliver the type of person you dream about spending time with.

For more information on the dating sites mentioned in this article, read our Match.com review and our eHarmony review.

For the first article in this series, read: Types of Online Dating Services: Overview