Nowadays, with the internet at our disposal, we don’t have to go to much effort for anything. We can have our dinner delivered, our grocery shopping can all be done for us, we don’t even really have to go to the bank any more! So it’s no surprise that more and more people are turning to the web to find love.

Why should you go out and spend hours, days, weeks even discovering enough to know whether your date is viable long-term? You can cruise through hundreds of profiles and find everything you need to know without leaving the comfort of your own home.

You can enjoy a spot of harmless flirting, exchanging information, ideals and future dreams with a handful of different people before you even decide whether you want to date one of them. Online dating can offer a world of fun that you can tap into easily – and often for free.

A lot of websites will offer initial free registration and even allow you to start browsing profiles and making initial contact with people who catch your eye. After a little while, you may well find yourself paying a membership fee to access all of the features the site has to offer (such as more personal messaging), but a lot of sites even offer a money-back guarantee if you don’t find love within a certain amount of time.

The choice of sites is positively mind-boggling. Are you a devout Christian? There are sites aimed specifically at you which will help you seek out a like-minded person who shares your beliefs. Or perhaps you’ve got a thing about policemen or firemen. There are sites containing the details of thousands of uniform workers who are all looking for love. Recently divorced? Have a look online, there are plenty of sites waiting to hold your hand as you make the move into a new life.

There are even sites aimed at people who are looking for a more comfortable life. People who earn over a certain amount of money can register on sites and find someone whose ambition in life is to be supremely comfortable. And who can blame them? One particularly successful site invites people to sign up a friend. If they have a close pal who is single, but who has plenty to offer, they can upload the details of said friend and write a personal recommendation. So if you are single but too shy to make the move and set up your own profile, why not ask a good friend to be your personal advocate?

So when it comes to online dating, there really is something for every single person out there. As for whether it’s for you, that’s something only you can decide. But surely there is no harm in having a look through some sites and seeing which take your fancy? You might find you really enjoy it and you could even soon find yourself falling in love just like thousands have done before you.

You’d be excused for thinking the online dating market was available only to the young, but you’d be very wrong. The market these days really does cater for everyone. Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of dating websites for the over 50s. And why not? After all, plenty of people do find their relationships breaking down as they get older.

An increasing number of ‘silver surfers’ are turning to the internet to seek out a partner. So it’s extremely useful to be able to visit sites aimed specifically at more mature singles. Recent statistics show that 49% of people over 50 are single and the vast majority of them are looking for that special someone. So it’s no surprise that they are all flocking to the senior dating websites to try and find happiness.

New people are registering every minute so there’s an ever-changing supply to potential mates. And you aren’t limited by area; you can search as far and wide as you like to find the one for you. There’s no shame in using these sites. A lot of people shy away from them for fear of being labelled as ‘desperate’ but really nothing could be farther from the truth. It’s a very sensible (and often fruitful) decision to log on and meet new people. After all, is it really that different from going to a bar or a club and attempting to find a mate? At least with online dating, you can do it from the comfort of your own home.

If you are feeling nervous about setting up a profile, why not use the internet to do your research? There are plenty of sites out there offering advice to singles who are thinking about entering the world of online dating. Setting up a profile can be daunting but there are plenty of places that will give you tips and advice on how best to go about it.

One thing they will all agree upon is that honesty is by far the best policy. If you want to stand the best chance of finding someone who is genuinely perfect for you, do be as honest as you can in your profile. Obviously you don’t have to tell people absolutely everything, but when it comes to height, weight, reasons for joining etc. then just be straightforward and frank. Also be honest when it comes to describing your ideal mate. And realistic: You may well want a 20-year-old Tom Cruise lookalike but be practical!

Finally, when it comes to meeting up, please exercise caution. It’s wise to exchange quite a few messages before meeting up with anyone so you can be sure you won’t be wasting one another’s time. And if you do decide to meet, make sure you do it in a busy public place.

So don’t be nervous. There is plenty of help out there and you’d be surprised how many of your peers are already enjoying success with online dating for seniors.

So, you have taken the plunge into online dating. You have chosen a site, created a profile that advertises you really well, and a few potential partners have taken an interest. You’ve got talking to one or more of them, and you are wondering how soon you should take the next step and arrange to meet up.

Meeting up with someone from an online dating site can be quite daunting, you might be worried that the chemistry you had online isn’t going to be there when you meet, that you will somehow look different to each other’s expectations, or that it might be awkward or embarrassing at first. It is best to just accept that the nerves are part and parcel of the online dating experience, and know that your date is going to be feeling them too, but essentially, for anything to grow out of your online dating, you are actually going to have to go on some real life dates with the people you’ve met.

So what is a good amount of time to leave between initial contact and arranging a meet up? Some people are of the school of thought that you should use online dating as a way to simply line up and screen potential dates, effectively making a shortlist to go out on real dates with and see how they work out. By doing this, there is less danger of you building your hopes up too much based on a long period of deep e-mail and instant messenger chats only to find that in person it just isn’t the same. You can start chatting to a few different people and go out with a different one every night if that’s the approach you want to use.

Alternatively, people who are perhaps less confident in a real life dating scenario may prefer to get to know somebody online quite well before arranging the meet up. People who prefer this approach tend to start of emailing and chatting online, move on to the phone or video calling, and then eventually meet up. This is a bit more romantic, you invest a lot of time in finding out about just that one person, and in some cases both parties feel like they are already a couple before they even meet. There is a better chance of success on the actual date, as you know each other quite well already, but there is more to lose if the date goes badly as no matter how level headed you are, you have probably built up high hopes for this person.

Really, how long you leave it should be based on your own style and what the people you are talking to seem to be looking for. If you are using online dating as an extension of an already busy social life and a way to meet new people and have fun,why not line up a few dates with likely looking candidates? If you are less of a social butterfly and want to really know what someone is like before taking that step, then use the security and comfort of the online communications until you feel ready.