There are many ways to meet singles out there. For a prospective dater, the choices may seem a little overwhelming. Nowadays, newspapers and newsletters aren't the only way to meet other singles in your local area. Many online dating services offer you the option of searching for profiles in a certain location, age range, or other criteria.

Along with dating sites that are "for everyone", there are some special "themed" dating sites. Some sites may be optimized for teenage dating, homosexual dating, elderly dating, or for individuals with a certain interest, such as video games or comic books. Some sites are exclusive to individuals living in a certain area, but many areas do not have the population to sustain a site like that. Many people are willing to meet matches outside their town, and so nation- and world-wide dating sites have flourished.

Most dating sites require a prospective user to sign up on their site before allowing them to browse profiles. Other sites will allow a potential user to view a profile, but not message the owner of the profile until they have signed up with the site. Different sites have different policies on the information that can be displayed on a profile (such as offensive language, nudity, etc.)

Once a user has signed up on a site, there are usually many things to do. Many sites include forums on which to meet people. Some allow users to play games against one another. Almost all sites allow for text chat between users, while some will allow users to "call" one another using VOIP. Certain sites have a "random webcam" feature which pairs random users from across the site in a one-on-one video chat.

While many dating sites are free and acquire revenue from advertising services, it is quite common for a site to have features available on a pay-as-you-go basis. For example, Dating Site X may offer free text chat between members, but video chat is "sold" at $0.05 per minute. There are also quite a few fully-subscription sites, but with the availability of free dating sites, many subscription sites are experiencing a slowly declining membership rate.

In conclusion, there are many different types of dating sites available at varying degrees of membership cost. The prospective dater should shop around, and find the site that offers them the most bang for their buck.