What Match.com is and How to Find Love Online

Let’s start with the basics: What is Match.com?

Match.com is the world’s most popular Internet dating service. Millions of people use Match, so you’ll find someone who is right for you. They focus on building relationships between people who are compatible with one another. It is available in over 245 countries worldwide, and in 8 languages.

How does Match.com work?

Match works by matching you with other users based on the information you provide in your profile. The service will give you new, personalized matches every day, and you can use the search tools to find people you’re interested in. After finding someone who interests you, you can send a message and get to know them.

Why Use Match for Online Dating?

The main reason to use Match as a dating service is its massive popularity. The sheer number of users on the website means that you’ll almost never run out of interesting people to meet! They also perform background checks on people who sign up for the site, so many potentially dangerous people are weeded out.

So, what if you find someone on Match who interests you, and you want to hang out with them in real life? It has a service known as “Stir” that can give you some ideas for date activities in your local area. Or, if you don’t have a date and just want to meet some people who are into the same types of pastimes that you are, that’s fine, too. You can even bring your friends!

Match is so confident that you’ll meet someone whom you really click with on their website that they offer the Match.com Guarantee. If you sign up for a 6-month membership and don’t find a special someone within that time, you can use the website for another 6 months for free!

5 steps to using Match to find love

1. Create an account and fill in your profile.

Your first step will be to create an account and profile. Your account information will help keep you secure on the website, as well as help Match find people of the gender, age range, and geographical area that you’re looking for.

Your profile information, on the other hand, helps the service determine in detail who you are and what you’re looking for in a date, from physical features to hobbies to political/religious beliefs.

2. Sign up for a Match subscription to get more features.

A free membership only allows you to look around for people whom you might be interested in. If you want to see who’s interested in you, or communicate with them in any way, you’ll have to purchase a paid subscription. Match offers different subscription packages that vary in terms of the features that you get, the amount of time that they last, and how much they cost.

For more information about subscriptions on Match, see our article on how much Match.com costs.

3. Browse your matches and search for people that interest you.

Once you have all of the administrative stuff out of the way, it’s time to find out whom you might be interested in, or who might be interested in you. There are a few different ways to do this.

1. Based on the info about both yourself and what you’re looking for in a date (as well as what’s in other people’s profiles), you will be sent a certain number of potential matches per day. You can review them and decide who strikes your fancy and who just doesn’t seem like a good fit.

2. If your recommendations aren’t giving you what you want, you can also search for matches manually. You can pick all of the search criteria yourself, or you can let Match make things easy by showing the people within your basic search criteria who have the most traits that you’re looking for, and/or are looking for most of the traits that you have. You can even search for matches based on what brands or organizations you both like.

3. Finally, you can also look for matches by directly using the service’s matching program, Synapse. Synapse allows you to input previous matches that it has found for you based on what’s in your profile (both information and preferences), whom you’ve interacted with (like sending Winks or likes, or saying you are or aren’t interested), and how you generally use the tools on to communicate or match yourself with people. Select up to three matches, and then click Match Me to see who else you can find! 

4. Communicate with your matches to get to know them and see if you’re compatible.

Why just look when you can connect? The service offers three convenient ways to get in touch with people who interest you, or who are interested in you.

You can send them a “wink” if you’re shy and need an easy way to break the ice.

Or you can send an email if you have your thoughts together, and want to start a personalized conversation about something specific.

Or if you’re not afraid of a little spontaneity, you can start a private chat with someone, and see where the conversation goes!

5. Sign up for real-life dating events.

If you’re looking for an idea as to what would be a great date to take one of your matches out on, or just want to get out from behind the computer and into the real world to have some fun and meet people who are into what you like, give Match’s “Stir” feature a try.

Every so often, Stir puts on dating events, which it then recommends to you based on where you live and what your interests are. You can sign up for these events even if you only have a free membership, and you can even bring your friends along, too!

Is the dating service safe to use?

Yes, Match is safe to use. It runs background checks on users so that potentially harmful people are removed from the site for the safety of others. However, you should still be cautious when dating online. Be careful how much personal information you reveal, and never meet someone in person unless you’re ready.

When is Match free?

Match is free to sign up for, but to get the full experience you’ll need to purchase a paid subscription. With a free Match membership, you will have limited to no options for viewing and searching for matches, as well as communication. Paying for a premium membership is worth it if you really want to meet someone.

The history of Match

Since its founding in 1993, Match has expanded its availability to over 245 different countries and 8 different languages, with regional offices in the U.S., Brazil, Japan, and China. When it was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2004, Match had over 15 million users with active profiles.

Now, Match is the number one most popular online dating service, with more than 25 million monthly users. It has been around for over 20 years, and is one of the most well-established websites of its kind.

Pros and cons of Match

Some great things about Match are that it has a huge number of active users so you’ll be sure to find some great matches you could potentially have a connection with. Also, it will send you a new set of matches every day, so you’re sure to eventually find someone who interests you. On top of that, with the Match guarantee, if you don’t find someone within 6 months of getting a paid subscription, you’ll be able to use the service for another 6 months for free.

On the negative side, Match is not entirely free to use. You have to pay for a subscription if you want to access additional features, and be able to get in touch with your matches. Also, some people might prefer to determine compatibility for themselves, but the service recommends users who they think you’ll be interested in.

Match competitors

If Match isn’t right for you, there are lots of other online dating websites and apps you can try out instead. One of Match’s biggest competitors is eHarmony.com – another well-established dating site with a focus on serious relationships. Another great dating site is OkCupid, which is a good option if you’re looking for a free dating site to try out. If you’re looking for a more casual relationship or want to determine compatibility yourself, you can give Tinder a try – it’s free to use as well!

To learn about these Match competitors and more, check out this article.

That’s it for our introduction to Match and their service. To learn more details, have a look at the other articles in our free Match.com course. We’ll teach you about the safety of Match, how much it costs, and tell you our thoughts on the service to help you decide if it will work for you. If you’re ready to get started finding love with Match, check out our tutorial on how to sign up for Match.