EHarmony launched in 2000 following three years of research conducted by Dr. Neil Clark Warren and Dr. Galen Buckwalter. In 1997, Dr. Warren, then a clinical psychologist, saw various couples in successful and not-so –successful relationships. He found that as time went on, some couples found their differences harder to resolve and the relationship dissolved. Along with Dr. Buckwalter, he sought to discover the characteristics that produce consistent successful marriages.

 

 

 

 

Pros:

• Simple and easy to use interface
• Guided communication
• Provides dating advice and articles
• Provides a detailed personality profile that you can share with friends and matches

Cons:

• The initial questionnaire during sign up takes a long time to complete.
• Profiles are not considered 100% complete without RelyID ($5.95 per year)

 

 

Questionnaire 

Expect to spend at least an hour setting up your eHarmony account. After filling out basic information about yourself, you will be asked to fill out a lengthy questionnaire spanning over 15 pages and averaging about 16 questions per page. These questions go into how you describe yourself, your personal characteristics, qualities that are important to you, your interests and your communication style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this process is long, it is also a part of what makes eHarmony unique. These questions create your personality profile. Unlike other dating sites, you do not have the ability to view all profiles in a given area. Instead, based on these questions and your preferences, eHarmony only allows you to view those individuals with whom you have the highest compatibility. The focus on creating successful life long relationships is often blamed for eHarmony’s flipped gender ratio. The site is roughly 65% female and 35% male.

 

Once you have completed the initial sign up process, you will be asked more questions in order to fully complete your profile. These include a list of things ‘Must Haves’ and “Can’t Stands.” Out of a very extensive list, you choose 10 of each. This helps you understand the qualities of greatest importance to you and comes into play during Guided Communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like most mainstream dating sites, you have to pay a fee to view pictures and communicate with other members. If you have any doubts there is someone out there looking for you, go ahead and hold a free account for a few days and see what happens. With a free account, you will be able to see the number of people who have visited your profile and may even get some request for communication.

 

 Price and Plans

eHarmony offers basic plans and what are called total connect plans. While the total connect plans do cost more, they offer a deeper personality analysis, safe phone calls with members and a verified ID.

 

Total Connect Plans:

• 12 Months for $23.95 Per Month
• Six Months for $33.95 Per Month
• Three Months for $44.95 Per month

The basic plans are about four dollars cheaper than the Total Connect Plans and, of course; do not include the perks above. Included in basic plans is the ability to communicate with members and see their photos. You can also then see who has been viewing your profile. There is also an additional one month option.

 

Basic Plans:

• 12 Months for $19.95 Per Month
• Six Months for $29.95 Per Month
• Three Months for $39.95 Per Month
• One Month for $59.95 Per Month

 

 

Guided Communication

One of eHarmony’s greatest features is the Guided Communication. This process eases you into contact with other members through a series of questions. From a given list, you ask a potential match 5 questions that are important to you. The other person then answers and has the opportunity to send you questions as well. If you are satisfied with their answers, you then send each other your Must Haves and Can’t Stands. If you think you each fit the qualities you are looking for, you then have the options of sending three additional questions you create. Don’t fret if you draw a blank, you are provided with a list of questions to choose from as well. After this step, you have reached eHarmony Mail and can communicate freely with each other.

 

 

While this is somewhat of a drawn out process, it does solve a lot of common problems people have when dating online. There are fewer worries about how to instigate conversation or when to disclose deal-breakers because Guided Communication does that for you. It prevents you from spending time getting to know someone you would never date.

 

 eH Advice

Another great asset to eHarmony is the site’s eH Advice. eH Advice is extensive and includes specific sections for dating, relationship, eHarmony and personal advice. Constantly updated, this part of eHarmony helps people along with expert advice on how to find a relationship and how to make it last. Whatever question you have about relationships or eHarmony can be found here. You can even find city specific dating advice at the bottom of the advice pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eHarmony’s selling point is its specificity when finding matches. Never do they venture from their 29 Dimensions of Compatibility, insuring that you only see people who match with your wants and needs. The farthest eHarmony will venture from this are in what are called Flex Matches. These are people who meet those 29 dimensions, but who don’t meet all personal preferences like age or distance.

 

 

 Additional services

 

 

 

 

Additional services eHarmony provides are profile advisers ($99.95), secure calls ($5.95 per month), RelyID ($5.95 per year) and premium personality profiles ($9.99). These are all designed to give you the best possible outcome in your online dating experience.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, eHarmony does a great job of catering to their customers. Everything they do is aimed at providing long lasting relationships. While a little on the pricey side, the experience is well worth the money. The only people you will meet are those who you share compatibility.

 

 

 

 

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