As a woman who both works at an online dating site and who’s been an online dater for some time now, I’ve seen my share of men making dating profile mistakes that are easily fixed. Be it a profile photo with an ex-girlfriend peaking in from the side, an empty profile description, or a bad grammar mistake—a few simple tweaks and these guys could be solid. But that’s just my opinion. (And as much as I’d love to claim to be an online dating expert, the truth is I’m just someone with a lot of experience.) So to get a better idea of what the biggest dating profile mistakes really are, we looked into data from the online dating site Zoosk and found a few simple things to stay away from.
Here they are guys, the 5 online dating profile no-nos you should stay away from:
1. Don’t be unsure or aloof.
After looking into their profile data, Zoosk found that male profiles with words and phrases such as maybe, dunno, sort of, and kind of got 2–9% fewer incoming messages from women than those who left them out. And saying that you’re not sure decreased messages by up to 16%. Women are attracted to men who are clear and concise about who they are and what they want, so try to leave words that weaken what you’re saying out of your profile.
2. Don’t talk about how much money you make.
This should seem like a given but a lot of men mention money in their profiles. And, according to the data, it can really hurt their chances. Men who mentioned rich got 4% fewer messages, those who talked about their salary got 20% fewer messages, and saying that they were well off got them 59% fewer messages.
3. Don’t mention your love of video games.
I know it’s a reality that a lot of guys play video games, and it’s not like it’s a horrible thing. (We all have our own hobbies and ways of relaxing.) However, know that mentioning video games in your dating profile will get you 58% fewer messages. And if you mention that you’re a gamer, you’ll get 52% fewer messages. If gaming is a big part of your life, I say leave it in. The woman you’re with will need to love and appreciate that part of you anyway. But if video games are just something you do to unwind, you might want to wait and mention it later.
4. Don’t talk about work or how busy you are.
A lot of us are busy (hell, I’m busy) but talking about how busy you are in your dating profile can make it sound like you don’t have time for someone else in your life. Men who mention that they’re busy get 13% fewer messages. In addition, talking about your job or work can reduce your messages by up to 15%. Similar to talking about video games, if your job really is a huge part of your life, it’s good to mention it so the women who are reaching out to you know. However, if it’s something you can save to talk about later, leave it out.
5. Don’t call yourself an entrepreneur.
This is another tough one but, sorry guys, men who refer to themselves as an entrepreneur in their profiles get 16% fewer messages. It may be that the word is just a bit played out (these days everyone from the cute kids selling candy door-to-door to drug-dealers like call themselves entrepreneurs) and you may be better-served using a different term to describe what you do. On the bright side, if you’re a CEO or a founder you’re good to go. Mentioning that in your profile can get up to 31% more messages.
When it comes to writing a dating profile, I think a lot of us (both men and women) quickly write a down a few things about ourselves and end up putting whatever random thoughts come to mind. It’s easy to forget that our profile really is our first impression. With just a little extra thought and effort, you’d be surprised how much more successful you can be.
