The average female online dater spends 3.19 seconds before swiping right or left on profiles they find attractive.
Women don’t need to spend a round 4 seconds before deciding on which direction to swipe. Men far outnumber the number of female users on dating apps, in fact a recent Tinder study found that 78.1% of users are male.
With gobs of dudes to swipe past women don’t have to waste time carefully weighing the pros and cons before swiping.
It’s this competition and swiftness in which a woman makes her decision that places great importance on the quality of dating profile photos. I mean, let’s be serious, she isn’t spending those 3.19 seconds reading your written bio, she’s looking at the first two photos before deciding your destiny.
To persuade her to swipe in the right direction we’ll dive into the 9 most attractive dating profile photos for guys.
There was an OkCupid study that came out a while back that made some headlines. It found that men that looked away from the camera and didn’t smile were viewed as more attractive than smiling men that looked directly at the camera. Their findings are, well, wrong.
Photofeeler replicated the same exact study yet found there was no statistically significant difference between eye contact and no eye contact.
The study did, however, find that females deemed those that looked directly at the camera and smiled to be more attractive than males that looked at the camera and refused to smile. This is because smiling signals warmth and trust. Looking directly into the camera and glowering signals that you’re a creep.
To a female Tinder or Bumble user, you’re just some random stranger. With a few photos and a brief written bio you’re supposed to convince her that you’re a safe bet.
Women will not, I repeat, will not go out with you if you haven’t made them feel comfortable. Looking away from the camera appears as though you’re hiding something or are not interested in her. Refusing to smile will make you come off as an oddball.
With your first or second photo be sure that you’re looking into the camera.
No matter what you think about your smile -as long as your teeth are straight and white- you should be smiling with a big old grin. This tells women that you’re safe, which is their biggest underlying concern when determining whether to swipe right or left.
Smiling also provides subconscious information about a person’s health. Women are hardwired to look for a mate with strong genetics to provide strong offspring (whether she wants kids or not), being able to see your teeth will give her that information, albeit subconsciously.
Still think smiling’s not all that important?
How would you feel if you were scrolling through Hinge and saw that a female user who piqued your interest didn’t smile in a single one of her photos? 5 photos, 0 smiles.
Undoubtedly you’d think there’s something wrong with the user. Granted, men and women have different interpretations when they see a member of the opposite sex smile.
Men may see happiness and sexual attraction whereas women see safety and confidence. Despite the differences, both sexes undoubtedly find it odd when a profile is full of neutral photos.
Do yourself a favor, smile.
She can’t grasp the complexity of who you are by observing your online dating profile.
She has no idea that you’re the life of the party, that you’re freaking hilarious, and that you’re sexually adroit. Being that these are all traits difficult to portray via the medium of dating apps, you’ll have to rely on other aspects of your profile to sell yourself.
Posting high-resolution photos with decent lighting is one way to do this. Look, maybe you’re saying, meh, I’m good looking why do I need to go out of my way to make sure the lighting’s good?
While you may look good IRL, she’ll never know that if your dating profile photos all have poor lighting.
To make sure that your photos come out well, take them outside either at dusk or dawn and face the sun. If you’re taking them inside use this handy light that attaches to your phone.
When possible use natural light, which this Photofeeler study says is the best. Don’t believe that lighting is important? -just ask Seinfeld.
Dating profile photos aren’t all about you.
That’s why the best profile aren’t comprised solely of close up selfie headshots, ick!
Being that you only have so much space and time to provide the viewer with information about yourself, you’ll need to maximize the space you have. This means using backgrounds to your advantage.
Tell me, which picture do you think you should post. The one with a white background or the one with Yankee Stadium’s infield in the back? The latter tells her you’re outgoing, have friends, and like sports. The former just informs her that you have access to a white background… whoopee.
Each photo should do two things.
One is address her fears that you’re physically hiding something. This is why your first photo should be a headshot followed by a full-body picture. Make it obvious what you look like.
The second is to convey who you are with your background. If you like soccer, post a picture of you on the pitch, if you’re a painter, post a photo that captures you in the act.
That means no wearing baggy jeans and an Ed-Hardy shirt (the exception being if you’re vacationing at the Jersey Shore).
What you’re wearing indicates your personality, status, and how self-aware you are. No one wears Ed-Hardy, Fubu, or American Eagle anymore, and certainly not if you’re a 30-year-old man.
Wear clothes that are en vogue, fit well, and most importantly make you look worthy of a swipe right.
When in doubt keep things simple. Don’t overpower her with color and flair, a single-colored slim fit Henley shirt would do just fine.
Photofeeler has popped up quite a bit throughout the course of this article. No, they haven’t paid us to be name-dropped dozens of times, rather Photofeeler’s name has been broached because it’s an effective tool in determining which photos you should include in your online dating roster. Here’s how it works.
Photofeeler is a website whose sole goal is to optimize users’ profile photos. Don’t know which photos to post on LinkedIn, Whatsapp, Facebook, or Tinder? No worries, Photofeeler can help you with that. Instead of using an algorithm to rate your photos it calls upon the sage judgement of real humans.
To use the website, post 7-10 of photos you’re thinking about posting on your online dating accounts. Then select in which categories you’d like to be rated -most users choose smart, trustworthy and attractive.
Only post photos to your online dating accounts that have been voted on at least 20 times and have scored above 80% in at least one of the three previously listed categories.
If you live in a city like Miami or LA, where pretty people are a dime a dozen, aim for 90%. Photos that don’t test well should not be used.
She needs to be able to tell what you look like from a thumbnail image.
Remember that in every photo she must be able to see your face. Each photo should provide her with new information about how you look. However, new information can’t be communicated if you’re a mile away from the camera.
And don’t even think about conning her into thinking you’re better looking than you are. There’s only one thing worse than going out with an ugly dude and that’s going out with a liar. Being honest about your appearance will ultimately save you the awkwardness of going on a bad date because the woman you’re seeing isn’t having her expectations met.
It’s okay if every photo differs a bit in its distance from the camera. Just be sure that your first photo is visible even in the form of a thumbnail. If she can’t make out quite what you look like in your first photo she isn’t going to stick around for the second.
This advice comes to us by way of the theater.
A cardinal acting sin is to have your back to the audience. The face is what the audience relies on for information the same way Match.com singles look to the face for information about how good looking a user is.
Faceless photos can be thrown out right away. They’re not helping you in the least. It’s better to leave a profile photo slot open than include a photo where your back is to the camera.
It doesn’t matter how awesome the background is, when she’s looking at a stranger for the first time trying to decide whether he’s first date material or not all she cares about is your face, not if you’ve ever been to the Sahara.
It’s your dating profile, not your art portfolio. She doesn’t care to look at your paintings or photos if you’re not in them. In this context you’re the only subject matter that she cares about. Feel free to show off your painting skills IRL, not over a dating application.
Never post a photo where you’re overshadowed by someone or something else. For example, group pictures can demonstrate that you’re friendly, outgoing, and are the life of the party.
However, group photos can work against you when they’re taken with a significant other, when there are too many people in the photo, if you’re too far back, or if other men in the picture are better looking than you are.
In every photo, you are the only subject that really matters.
Ask any photographer, and they’ll tell you that to get that one good shot, they need to take 50 or so photos.
Don’t get discouraged if you don’t look like a rock star in the first photo you take. Keep snapping photos until you find those 4-5 photos that would be perfect for your profile.
It’s never been easier to misrepresent yourself online.
Whether you’re using filters, AI, old photos, or someone else’s photos entirely.
With fake profiles and fake people everywhere, women are becoming more turned off by profiles that even vaguely suggest fakeness.
Ditch the filters, take clear photos, and accurately represent yourself.
Gaming a woman into going out with you will only ever backfire once she realizes the man in front of her is not the man she agreed to go out with.
I hope these dating profile photo examples have helped. But once you’ve got your profile put together, it’s time to get to swiping, conversing with women, and ultimately going on dates.
Once your profile has been revamped, it’s time to date.
We teach our students the shortcut to finding their ideal match by MegaDating. MegaDating is our dating philosophy and it shapes everything we teach here at emlovz. Simply put MegaDating is dating prolifically with the specific goal of going on 20 dates in 90 days. This will give you ample women to compare and contrast so you can refine not only your dating skills but also who your ideal partner is.
To teach you how to quickly find highly compatible women in just weeks and become the most eligible bachelor in town you’ll team up with romantic experts, each skilled in their own unique area to support you.
We realize the single life can be difficult. If accepted into our coaching program, Dating Decoded, you’ll join a community of supportive men and coaches who are there to listen, support, and encourage you as you navigate the single life.
Our program offers every student a lifetime membership (as if you’ll need it) so the support won’t stop until you’ve found your ideal partner.
Book a Zoom session with our team today if you’re ready to find your forever partner. Together we’ll talk about your dating history, your goals and show you how our program, Dating Decoded, can help you find your ideal partner.
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