• Best Dating App For Professionals
• Dating Apps For Successful People

If you're an avid online dater who's yet to find a lasting relationship, you've no doubt wondered if there's some sort ofsecret to finding love on a dating app that you're as-yet-unaware of. While there might not be a magic formula that will guarantee you immediate online dating success, there are still plenty of things you can do to improve your chances of success on dating apps — it's just a matter of learning the difference between good and bad dating app behaviors.

What was once merely a dating app that lets you play matchmaker for your friends has become the go-to platform for ‘humble brags.' Jeremy Scott is Making Pinot Grigio a Little More Punk The Raffia Inspired Accessories We Need For Summer. Match is one of the most promising paid dating sites for middle-aged professionals in terms of sheer volume of members. According to the site’s internal data, almost half of their users are between 30 and 49, and 26.5% are over 50.That makes it one of the dating sites for professionals over 40 to meet someone special. Plus, the monthly fee weeds out people who aren’t all that serious.

To give some much-needed insight into what dating app success stories have in common, selective dating app The League recently launched LeagueLove: a place for engaged or newlywed couples who met on the app to share their stories and give insight into what their online interactions really looked like.

'There is data behind finding love on dating apps and sharing this data with our community brings us one step closer to our mission on moving the needle of society towards creating stronger more equal partnerships,' Meredith Davis, Head of Communications at The League, tells Bustle. 'People like to complain about dating apps. We all realize there are frustrating parts but if sharing these success stories encourages users to log in daily, be more active, engaged and open-minded it may lead them to say yes to more dates. We believe in investing in your dating life.'

The League analyzed user data from 100 success stories — aka users who met on The League who have been dating for one year or more — to figure out what behaviors they had in common, and how their online dating activity compared to unsuccessful matches. Here are six things The League's success stories had in common... and who knows, maybe this info can help you find your own online love story.

On average, LeagueLove couples exchanged 34 messages back and forth — about 15-17 messages per person — before trading phone numbers. Compared to other matches (who sent an average of 10 messages), successful LeagueLove couples took some more time to really get to know each other before taking the next step towards planning a date.

If you want to win over a match, keeping your convo fun, lighthearted, and personal is the way to go: over 70 percent of LeagueLove couples' conversations used each others' first names, and ended at least one sentence with 'haha' or an emoji.

Patiently waiting for the right person can be difficult, but the LeagueLove couples are proof that the payoff is well worth the wait. Unsurprisingly, successful couples didn't get lucky enough to meet one another right off the bat: they had an average of 84 matches prior to finally 'hearting' ~the one~.

You don't have to share an alma mater to have a successful relationship with someone, couples who found love on the app tended to have similareducational backgrounds. Over 50 percent of LeagueLove couples went to colleges that were ranked similarly in terms of cost and acceptance rate — and over 80 percent had obtained the same level of degree.

For plenty of people, age really is just a number when it comes to finding a partner. But for the successful couples of The League, the average age difference between them was a modest three years, compared to an average of six years between non-success stories.

Who run the world (of online dating)? Girls! One out of every three relationships between straight League couples started with the woman messaging first. Now there's no excuse to sit around waiting for someone you're interested in to message first — if you want it, don't be afraid to go after it.

Ultimately, the best way to improve your shot at finding love online is simple: be aware of and confident in who and what you're looking for, and make sure that you're always being your genuine, authentic self. Sure, you might have to wade through a small pond of duds before finding the right person, but when you do, it'll all have been worth it.

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With so many dating apps out there, it can be really difficult to choose which one is best. As a dating coach, I will often take on a client only to find that they have been dating on an outdated site or app for years. No wonder they aren’t getting any results! Dating apps are tools and in order to be the most effective, you need to be using the right one. Here is my recommended list for the best dating apps for relationships.

7 Best Online Dating Apps For Serious Relationships

#7 – OkCupid

Summary Of OkCupid:

OkCupid is best for users under the age of 35. It attracts this age group because of its progressive outlook on dating. For example, they offer the ability to select among multiple different genders as well as sexual orientations. Another reason it attracts a younger crowd is that you can use all it’s features 100% for free.

OkCupid is more of a traditional platform in the sense that you don’t swipe for matches, which limits your viewing to only one at a time. Instead, you can run a search using your filters (like height, religion, etc.) and see all the men that meet your criteria at once. This can really speed up the process filtering process.

How To Use OkCupid For Serious Relationships:

Better Filtering and Screening:

OkCupid is one of the best dating apps for relationships because it allows access to longer profiles. This gives you more information on potential matches without having to small talk text them as much, like you would on Bumble or Tinder. Since OKCupid also allows you to search for all matches at once, you can easily filter and message the men you are interested in the most.

May Attract More Serious Minded Young People

Many people in the younger age group are tired of swiping. They don’t want to go on dates with people who don’t match up with their lifestyles. This means that people who are tired of the quick dating scene that is Tinder and Bumble will look for an alternative, more “serious” minded site and likely turn to OKCupid.

If you’re ok with spending some extra time reading longer profiles, OKCupid can make it easier to filter for high-quality matches and increase your chance of finding a real relationship.

An interesting fact about OkCupid is that according to DatingSiteReviews,“In the wedding section of the New York Times, OkCupid is the most mentioned dating app.”

Word of Warning

One thing I will mention here (and this is the same for Match.com) is that you dont’ want to get too caught up in arbitrary filters. Giving people a chance even if they don’t meet your minimum height requirement or don’t eat the same ice cream as you can really boost your chances of meeting a high-quality man. So, don’t go too crazy on the filters!

Related: 10 Most Important Dating Tips for Women

#6 – Match Mobile

Summary Of Match:

Match Mobile is the dating app version of the traditional dating site, match.com. According to statistics, this dating app is best for users aged 24-38 (DatingSiteReviews). But, my personal experience with clients on this site has determined that you should be between 30-60 to get good results. I wouldn’t recommend this app if you’re under the age of 30. Instead, you should try OKCupid (above).

Match has been around for a really long time (since 1995) and some people might think this is a bad thing. I once suggested using this site to one of my clients and she freaked out saying that “no one has been on there since 2004!”

My client was dead wrong.

Millions of people use this dating site and it continues to be one of the most popular dating apps.

How To Use OkCupid For Serious Relationships:

Relationship-Minded Users:

Statistics from DatingSiteReviews show that “91% of Match members have attended college” and that “income and ‘wants kids’ are the most important criteria. This is great news for anyone looking to score a real relationship from a dating app.

Paid Subscription Leads To Higher Barrier of Entry

Match also requires a paid subscription in order to message other members. This is a great way to filter out spam, catfishers and people looking for casual flings. It also means that the average Match subscriber has a little extra money to spare, making them more likely to be financially stable.

Allows You To Search For All Suitable Matches At Once (No Swiping)

Just like OKCupid, Match allows you to search for all suitable matches upfront, and it has much longer profiles than Tinder or Bumble. This means you can do a much better job at filtering out potential matches and you don’t have to spend time swiping! The other great thing about match is that you can run a search for men in your criteria before you pay for a subscription. This allows you to take a look at the available pool of matches before jumping in with a paid subscriptions.

I highly recommend this as one of the best dating apps for relationships if you are within the age group stated above.

#5 – The League

Summary Of The League

The League is an excellent choice for highly educated professionals. As soon as you land on their website, the first thing you’ll read is:

“Are your standards too high? Keep them that way!”

Their whole schtick is that they only accept the best looking, best-educated, and highest quality matches. In order to make sure all their matches are meeting their strict criteria, all members are put on a waitlist to have their profile vetted. If you’re in, great! If not, tough luck because they don’t accept any payments to bypass the waitlist.

I find this app is best for users between the ages of 22 and 35. If you’re older than that, I’d just give it a try for a month to see if it’s worth it.

This app does not allow you to swipe freely like Tinder or Bumble and you cannot search for members openly. You are only given 5 matches a day that are selected by the League’s algorithm.

How To Use The League for Serious Relationships:

Great for Time Saving

The League chooses matches for you based on your criteria. If you’re a busy professional this is a good way to filter for high-quality matches without investing the time yourself.

The only downside of this system is that you have to wait for them to give you your 5 matches per day. If you don’t like any of them, you have to wait until the next day. Although you’re not doing any work to find these matches, it can extend the dating process by weeks or months if you are picky.

Much Higher-Quality Matches

The League is great if you’re highly educated or very successful and looking for a partner who shares the same qualities. The vetting process is not perfect, but it does weed out a lot of the fluff. Since it has a paid subscription model and the vetting process is so strict, it does attract people who are more relationship-minded and not just looking for a fling.

#4 – Facebook Dating

Summary Of Facebook Dating

Facebook Dating is a new addition to Facebook that just launched in 2019. It is still gaining in popularity but I would recommend it for all ages at this point. Especially since it’s free and easy to use if you already have Facebook.

You don’t have to download a new app to use it, you can simply access it via your Facebook app. All you have to do is hit the hamburger (three lines) menu button on your app and select “dating”. Here’s what it looks like:

Then, you will go through the process of creating your profile.

The dating app is completely independent of your Facebook profile. It will not show your dating activity to friends or family on Facebook.

How To Use Facebook Dating For Serious Relationships:

Filters Based On Preferences and Interest

Ok, I know its creepy that Facebook knows so much about us, but if it can get you a real relationship, that’s not so bad, right?

Facebook uses the interests and preferences of each person to send you suggested matches for who they think might be a good fit. Other dating sites like eHarmony and EliteSingles claim to do this as well, but we all know that Facebook has the most accurate representation of who we are as people. So technically their algorithm for finding like-minded matches should be spot on.

Best Dating App For Professionals

Facebook dating is still very new to the dating world so time will tell how effective it is at matching people up. For now all of its features are free so it’s worth a shot.

#3- Coffee Meets Bagel

Summary Of Coffee Meets Bagel

Ever since Tinder took the dating world by storm, many people quickly grew tired of the swiping model. It often lead to casual hookups rather than more serious relationships. Both Hinge and Coffee Meets Bagel are marketed as dating apps for relationships, not hookups. This means they do not rely on the swiping method.

The Coffee Meets Bagel website specifically states:

Dating Apps For Successful People

“It’s the meaningful dating app for people who are sick of swiping.”

This is another app that uses an algorithm to match people based on similar criteria and preferences.

Coffee meets bagel works well for people under 35 who live in more populated cities. For some reason it is also very popular in the Asian community so if you are Asian yourself or looking for an Asian partner, this is the best app to be on.

How To Use Coffee Meets Bagel for Serious Relationships

Limited Number of Matches

Coffee Meets Bagel limits the amount of people you can like per day. This encourages you to really look at each match individually. You can see if you might have a connection rather than endless swiping to see “just one more.”

Encourages The Dating Process To Move Forward

Coffee meets bagel also has a countdown system that only allows you to chat back and forth on the app for 7 days. After the 7 days are up, the conversation will expire. This encourages people to actually meet up and go on dates rather than creating penpals.

#2 – Bumble

Summary Of Bumble

Now, Bumble is the only one that I have on this list that uses the traditional “endless swiping” method but it still has less of a hookup culture than Tinder. Bumble markets itself as being a place to have deeper connections, while Tinder markets itself for quick hookups.

The profiles on Bumble are short and you must swipe and match people before you can talk to them. Women initiate all conversations by being required to send the first icebreaker.

The reason I put Bumble on here as one of the best dating apps for relationships is because it is so popular. This app is the second most popular app (after Tinder) so the number of options for high-quality matches are endless.

Pretty much anyone that you’ll find on any of the other dating apps I mentioned will have tried Tinder and then also Bumble.

This makes it a great choice for people who live in less populated cities.

How To Use Bumble For Serious Relationships

Best For Lower Populated Cities

Since Bumble uses the endless swiping and the short profile method, it can be a little harder to filter out the fluff and find someone that is serious. This is why I only suggest using Bumble if you live in a smaller city (less populated) or have tried some of the other options on this list and had no luck.

Related: How To Write A Good Online Dating Profile: The Do’s And Don’ts

Best App For Endless Options

Bumble works in your favor in terms of numbers. There are many, many people on it and if you keep swiping and talking to people, you are bound to find someone.

The only problem with this is that it can get time-consuming really quickly, so use this one with some caution. As a dating coach, the biggest reason why people are single is that they get too tired of online dating and they give up. Pushing it aside year after year. Bumble has the potential to make you feel that “dating fatigue” much faster.

#1- Hinge

Summary Of Hinge

We made it to number one! Hinge is the absolute best dating app for relationships because it was specifically built with that in mind. The CEO and founder of Hinge has stated that he wanted Hinge to be like the serious relationship version of dating apps. Much like Match was for serious relationships and Plenty Of Fish was for casual relationships, he wanted it to be the opposite of apps like Tinder and Bumble.

Years later, Hinge has taken off and is becoming one of the most popular dating apps out there. It definitely tops the list for best dating apps for relationships.

Related: How To Delete Tinder Permanently And Get On With Your Life

How To Use Hinge For Serious Relationships

Doesn’t Rely on Swiping

Hinge doesn’t use the swiping model, and instead you can interact directly with people’s profiles. You can send them a like on their photo, or answer one of their many “prompts”. The prompts are conversation starters that encourage people to connect on a deeper level rather than just starting things with a “hey, what’s up” like you might get on Tinder or Bumble.

Gaining In Popularity

Although traditional sites like OkCupid and Match still have millions of users, the the growing trend for dating is gravitating towards phone apps. Since phone apps have had the culture of quick swiping/hookups, Hinge is actively trying to change that. They are trying to mesh the convenience of the phone app with more serious dating. Bcause of this, it has really taken off in the past few years and I can see it continue to gain popularity as the years go by.

How To Find Serious Relationships Using Dating Apps

The hardest part about dating online is that it is time consuming and emotionally draining.

The best way to increase your chances of success is to make sure you’re doing everything you can to attract high-quality matches. If you need help with this, check out my Free Guide: “How To Attract Higher-Quality Men” by clicking here.

Conclusion

Thanks for checking out my list on the best dating apps for relationships. If you need help with getting better at online dating, feel free to check out these related posts:

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