3 Investments You Need to Make for Online Dating Success

With Tinder, Coffee Meets Bagel, Paktor, Hinge and plethora of other apps, online dating really has taken hold as one of the biggest ways singles meet their prospective partners. In fact, now over 30% of marriages start online. Whether you are a single person who is just getting started on Tinder or you want to improve your odds in online dating, we've rounded up the most important things you need to invest in to maximise your chance of finding someone you like online.

Invest in Your Looks and Physical Health

First and foremost, it's imperative that you invest in yourself first. According to psychological studies, there are 3 main aspects of attractiveness: physical, behavioral and psychological. While the last one (creating connections) is often up to fate, the first two are actually within one's control. If you invest in how you look, you can both increase your physical attractiveness but also boost your confidence, which is what people often associate with being "sexy." In fact, studies have shown that pictures are extremely important for increasing one's matches on dating apps. For example, one experiment found that having a photo increases one's likelihood of getting a match on Tinder quite dramatically for both men and women.

Source: A First Look at User Activity on Tinder

To get the best pictures of yourself, it would be wise to first invest in that gym membership, better hair cut and stylish clothing. In online dating, you have 1 chance to appeal to and get noticed by your audience, why not present the bests version of yourself first?

Before Paying for Online Dating, Craft a Profile That Is Genuine and Interesting

Most online dating apps now offer premium features for a fee. Some of these include unlimited swipe, knowing who already liked you and changing your locations. But, none of these will matter if you don't have an appealing profile. Therefore, once you've gotten pictures of yourself that you like, then it's time to invest more time to craft a profile and bio. Here, the key is to create genuine but interesting bios that are funny and somewhat creative. In fact, the same study from above study has found that having a bio in of itself can increase the odds of getting a match by almost a 100% in some cases.

Source: A First Look at User Activity on Tinder

Once you have a good bio that's catchy, then investing in a premium online dating account could actually be a fruitful exercise, depending on what you are looking for. Since premium accounts essentially offer a way to either increase or more closely target profiles you can see, they could be great investments for those with good bios that have good "conversion rate" from liking someone to getting a match.

Make Sure to Get a Good Rewards Credit Card

Last but not least, singles should definitely invest in a good credit card that provides a lot of rewards on their dining, entertainment or online purchases. Dating can be very expensive over time, with all the happy hour drinks, dinners, gifts and other purchases you have to make. Besides, a really good card could also help you save money on your other "dating investments" like gym membership, premium dating app account, haircuts and clothings by earning cash back on all of those expenses. If you go on enough dates, the 3% to 8% rebate you earn on all of these things could even pay for a whole another date on their own.