When Helping Others Find Online Love Becomes a Labor of Love
Ever heard of PakistaniLounge.com? How about FarmersOnly.com? Emory and Suzana Rowland have. When they met online nearly a decade ago she lived in the heart of Jakarta while he was quietly residing in Atlanta. Though they’d never have met in a traditional way, at church, through friends, at the grocery store, they hit it off on a Christian singles site and are now happily married. Pointing single friends in any one single direction became a tough chore. Why not create a site featuring our own collection of dating sites?
The site he’s talking about is DatingSitesXO.com, a collaborative effort spurred on by years of navigating the online dating world on the part of both the Rowlands. Dating Sites XO, in a nutshell, attempts to make sense of the oft confusing and overwhelming network of online dating sites which now numbers in the thousands. Some of its most popular features include a vast catalog of over 100 online dating properties, a dating buzz blog with an honest and humorous tone, and user reviews of the dating sites themselves. “Visitors seem to appreciate what we’re putting out there,” says Emory, who suspects users welcome the break from the all-too-common promotional dating directories.
With an estimated 20 million people a month visiting online dating sites, the field can be a bit cluttered. Many singles struggle with determining which of the thousands of online dating sites available best suit their dating needs as well as their budget. Niche dating sites for singles of certain professions, ethnicities and religions have taken off and one of the more common online dating complaints is that there are now too many sites to choose from. Dating Sites XO regularly adds to its database of all the most popular (and most eccentric) dating sites to give singles a taste of what to expect if they decide to sign up. DatingSitesXO.com is developing a reputation as the place to go before starting a search for love online.
“We’re not selling anything. We just want to give people options we didn’t have when we were dating online,” explains Emory, so it comes as no surprise that all the site’s features are 100% free. “We’ve got all these great features but really they’re just a reflection of what people have been asking for.” Besides a directory that includes such facts about each site as number of members, geographic focus, and collective online ratings DatingSitesXO.com offers members information on available coupons for specific sites as well which can drastically lower the cost of signing up for multiple sites.
Interactivity is a huge component of Dating Sites XO and members are encouraged to talk with each other and the Rowlands at any point. Feedback is most commonly found on the blog and review sections of the site since both strike a sarcastic, blunt tone not too commonly found in the online dating sphere. After all, there’s something inherently funny about singles who consistently post bad profile pictures and sites so niche they only appeal to fans of mustaches and that’s the attitude the site aims to exploit. The way the Rowlands see it, singles take online dating too seriously, and finding love is the most important endeavor in the lives of many, they don’t think the experience needs to feel so… professional.
“Visitors here will hopefully find the site both informative and funny and hopefully they’ll have some fun, too, with the way we talk about online dating sites,” says Emory. He’s speaking in part about the site’s own blog which addresses common web dating issues and also about the reviews specifically aimed at his young, tech savvy audience. And since online dating is quickly becoming the norm for efficient, time-pressed singles, Dating Sites XO is actively trying to make the steps that come before setting up an online dating account simpler. The Rowlands agree that part of finding a great love match online means first making a match with the right dating site, a facet often overlooked by eager singles.
Like many of its dating site peers, Dating Sites XO frequently posts updates on both Twitter and Facebook aimed at connecting to an increasingly social audience. The Rowlands are constantly making updates to the site and hope to have dozens of new dating sites cataloged in the immediate future for members to reference as well as new blog posts, coupon offers and info direct from the dating sites themselves. Explains Emory, “Online dating added so much value to both of our lives because we found each other and now we’re thrilled to find a way to give back.”
Suzana and Emory say they have big plans to continue adding to the site and possibly to create some additional offerings with Leverable, the parent company of Dating Sites XO that has a long history in web publishing. If you’d like more information about what’s new at Dating Sites XO, visit www.datingsitesxo.com or sign up for social media updates from the founders.
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