Where to start

Yours Dating is a great way to meet new people for fun and friendship - possibly even romance! We've done our best to make the site as easy to use as possible so you can find that special person without any difficulty.

Our getting started guide should help you every step of the way, but if you have any problems don’t forget you can call our customer service team 0800 987 5555 or email us support@globalpersonals.co.uk

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   Sign up to create a profile for free using the form to the right. The only details we will need are your name, date of birth and email address. We will only use your email address to keep you informed about members on the site that are interested in you or might be interested in you and the very occasional message from Yours Magazine. You will be asked for a postcode later – this is used so that you can be matched with members from your local area, but your exact address will never be shared with other members.

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   Complete your profile – If you want people to find you, or if you expect them to reply to your messages, you’re going to have to share a bit about yourself so other members can see that you’re a human with a personality.

   • Add a profile picture. This is probably the most important thing you can add to your profile. Many people do not even consider talking to someone who doesn’t have a profile picture. In fact, members who have photos are as much 15 times more likely to receive a message or a ‘wink’. Your photo should be a good, clear head-and-shoulders shot, with you looking relaxed, happy and gazing into the camera so there’s eye contact. If you like, add more photos to show some of your different interests. Avoid pictures with more than one person in them.
   • Add a personal description. A good profile doesn’t need to be lengthy, but it should contain a couple of paragraphs so other members can read about your interests and pastimes, what’s important to you and what you’re looking for in someone else. Start with a description of you, your personality and your values. Next write a couple of sentences about what you enjoy doing and how you like to spend your weekends. Then write a few lines about what you are looking for in someone else, and the sort of relationship you are after. It can be hard to write about yourself but bear in mind this will be everyone’s first impression of you – so it’s important to not be too shy with this.
   • Add some characteristics and interests. Other users will be able to search for you based on what you put here. You don’t need to complete every category but the more you do, the more likely you are to be found by someone who’s a good match for you. If you feel a bit stuck when creating a profile then you may find some inspiration by checking out other people’s profiles.
   • Browse the other members – Now you are set up with a profile on the site, it’s time to try to find someone to connect with. You can just browse the latest members or run a search based on age, location, or by characteristics or interests. You can also quickly browse through members’ pictures using our ‘Encounters’ feature. This allows you to say if a user interests you and vice versa. If another member says they’re interested in you when they use the encounters feature, you will be notified.
3. 3

   Browse the other members – Now you are set up with a profile on the site, it’s time to try to find someone to connect with. You can just browse the latest members or run a search based on age, location, or by characteristics or interests. You can also quickly browse through members’ pictures using our ‘Encounters’ feature. This allows you to say if a user interests you and vice versa. If another member says they’re interested in you when they use the encounters feature, you will be notified.

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   Break The Ice: After you’ve completed a search and you’re happy with your results, we would advise you to use our ‘Ice Breaker’ facility to introduce yourself to those members. An Ice Breaker is exactly what it sounds like – a message which allows you to break the ice. You can send an ice-breaker even before you’ve upgraded your account to become a full member and this is just a really great way to ‘test-the-waters’ so to speak, to see who comes back to you.

5. 5

   Upgrade – If you find someone that you would like to get in touch with then you will need to upgrade to a full membership. You can pay by Debit or Credit card, or by Paypal on our secure payment page. There are also four different payment plans available – we’ve done our best to make this one of the cheapest specialist dating sites around. Remember that we will automatically rebill when your membership expires unless you cancel. Once you have upgraded you will be able to:

   • Send messages to other members and read the messages you have received.
   • Write a ‘dating diary’ and read other peoples
   • Upload a video profile
   • Send virtual gifts to members you like
   • Chat online with other members
   • And much more!
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   Get Chatting – Although online dating sites are completely normal in this day and age, introducing yourself is a bit different to a real-world introduction, because things move at a different pace you will need to say more than ‘hello’ and wait for a reply – your first message needs to engage the person and give them a reason to reply. Ask a question about their lives or interests, describe yourself in a bit more detail than on your profile. Don’t be surprised if not everyone wants to meet up straight away. It is wise to get to know people a little bit before you decide to meet face-to-face.

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   Meet up - Once you have found someone that you have developed a rapport with then you may want to meet them face to face. We recommend that you meet in a public place and tell a friend where and how long you will be out for.

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   Let Us Know: The best part about our job is finding out that we’ve helped bring two people together and set them off on the path of love. So if you’ve had a great experience from the site or you’ve met someone really special, we’d love to know about it. Even if you haven’t found ‘the one’ through Yours Dating, we’d still be interested to hear from you if you’ve had fun and enjoyed meeting new people through the service. Email us, write to us or call us, we don’t mind. You can then appear in our Success Stories section and be an inspiration to other singles and first time online daters.

Once you've gone through these quick and easy steps you'll be on your way to an exciting new chapter in your life, and meeting some exciting new people - just like you! The most important thing of all is to approach it with an open mind and have fun.