Ways to spot a dating site dud: Is that site worth the money?

There are thousands of dating sites out there, but really only a small percentage that are worth your time and money. Here's how to tell if the dating site you're scoping out is a dud.

Poor design
If the site just plain looks bad, it's probably not worth your time. (I've heard people argue that despite it's appearance, Plenty of Fish is worth it, but I just can't get past the bad interface to make it work for me.) If the site is ugly or looks like it was thrown together in a weekend, chances are, it's somebody's "get rich quick" scheme.

It's all in the URL
Quality dating sites have catchy and unique names. Think about it - Match, Chemistry, eHarmony, JDate, ChristianCafe, SoulGeek, OkCupid, RewardingLove. Their owners took the time to create a name that was easy to remember and had the .com domain still available for purchase. If the dating site you're checking out is north-america-cute-singles.com, chances are you're looking at a dud.

Read the copy carefully
There's a lot you can learn about a site by reading the front page, about us, and FAQ. If it's riddled with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or just plain poor writing, you have a dud.

Check the footer
Most online daters are blissfully unaware of a phenomenon called white label dating. A white label dating company owns the software and the databases and wannabe dating site owners pay them to use these programs and databases to launch their own sites. What does this mean for you? It means that you could sign up for a Christian dating site and be looking at members who signed up for a dog lovers dating site. The membership bases are shared among the white label sites so they can boast huge subscriber numbers. Look in the footer for a link that says the site is powered by or courtesy of... click it and you'll be taken to the white label company.

Google is your friend
I came across a white label site claiming it was for geek dating. It had tons of success stories. On a hunch, I googled the first success story. Turns out, it's also listed on Norwegian dating, Australian dating, and many other niche dating sites. The same exact success story. Talk about a DUD! They have to post fake success stories that may or may not even originate from the geek dating site.

Ask around
Look around the web for reviews of the site. Remember that EVERY dating site, no matter how big, is going to have some bad reviews. Match and eHarmony are responsible for lots of marriages, but they also have their haters. What you should be worried about is if you find little to no GOOD reviews of a site. Then you know you have a fly-by-night, make-money-quick dud on your hands.

With the help of this list, a keen eye, and Google, you should be able to easily tell which dating sites are worth your time and money. Be a savvy dater!