I recently helped my running partner rewrite her personal ad. As someone who has rewritten about 1,000 personal ads, I kind of know what I’m talking about.
I gave my friend some general advice and suggestions. She’s very cute and I get a dinner out of it, ’nuff said. Profile writers, on the other hand, have been selling the same schtick for years. No A/B testing, no profile SEO research, just canned “I know whats best for you” with little to back it up. If you sell profile writing services, I want to see OKCupid-style research that proves what you are selling makes one bit of difference. Otherwise getting your friends to review your profile text and photos is probably a better offer than shelling out a lot of money for unproven results.
I’m bringing this up because I learned a very important lesson about blog post headlines last week. I’ve written about Optimizing Personal Ads For Better Dating Results, but the results of lightly editing the title of The 5 Male Names Who Have The Most Sex received the largest traffic spike this blog has ever had in eight years. More proof that you only have one chance at making a great first impression, whether it be blog posts or personal ads. Thank God I’m not on Media Temple anymore, that blog post would have cost me a lot in additional bandwidth fees.
