One of the top internet dating sites is eHarmony. eHarmony is one of the few internet dating sites that focuses on quality over quantity. There are only a few people you meet in your lifetime that you can truly be compatible with, eHarmony recognizes this and does their best to match you with individuals you are truly compatible with. eHarmony specializes in making long-term relationships work.

Dr. Neil Clark Warren founded eHarmony using 35 years of marriage counseling research and studies of married couples. Dr. Warren did several studies to determine what makes a marriage succeed and why marriages sometimes fail. He discovered that almost all marriages begin with excellent chemistry, yet 3 out of 4 couples wind up unhappy or divorced. Dr. Warren and his team of researchers discovered "29 Dimensions" that help predict a great relationship. The "29 Dimensions" uncover core traits about relationships such as temperament, curiosity, intellect, adaptability, values and beliefs, spirituality, relationship skills, conflict resolution, intimacy, and feelings about children. The "29 Dimensions" go to work with the compatibility matching system to help find you the perfect mate. The "29 Dimensions" will also predict the potential of your relationship success. The process will take longer than other dating sites, but the success rate is much higher on eHarmony than other dating sites. The goal of eHarmony is to help you find a soul mate, not just a "fling". When you sign up for eHarmony, you will probably learn more about yourself that you imagined. There are 436 questions you need to fill out when you join eHarmony.

When you join, you will only see matches that are selected for you by the service. You are not allowed to browse for potential matches. The amount of matches you receive will be about 9 at a time. The nice part about eHarmony is that you can receive matches before you pay the membership fee, but you will not be able to see photographs of the other member until you pay your membership fee.

The success rate on eHarmony is quite high. eHarmony has reported that about 90 members get married every day as a result of their online dating site. eHarmony has the highest proportion of female members, about 71 per 100. The average age of the members on eHarmony is 35.

 What sets eHarmony apart from other internet dating sites is their profile matching system. The eHarmony profile system has 436 questions and 29 dimensions of measuring compatibility tests. The initial profile set-up will take at least 40 minutes to establish. The "29 Dimensions" matching system will match you with others based on the answers you give in profile so you need to do your best to answer the thoroughly and honestly. The best responses are short answers that provide in-depth information about yourself. If you write long paragraphs for each answer, your potential matches will not be able to see the responses in your online dating profile. The profile questions also include deal breaker questions about your "must haves" and "can't stands". Since you do not have the ability to search for potential matches on your own, eHarmony relies solely on your responses.

There are two different types of communication on eHarmony. There is a "standard" communication system or a "fast track" communication system. The standard model is a guided system and is what eHarmony was founded on. The fast track system was developed for individuals who do not have a problem answering and writing initial emails with other singles. The guided system will allow you to show interest in a single and then select 5 multiple choice questions for that person to answer. Once your match answers the questions, they will send you 5 multiple choice questions to answer. The multiple choice questions allow you to select a pre-determined answer or you can write an answer in your own words. After 2 rounds of multiple choice questions, you will be able to move to open communication with the other member. You also have the choice to select a secure telephone call at any time, you also have the option to end contact with another member if you aren't interested.

Using eHarmony is quite simple compared to other dating sites. The largest downside to eHarmony is the price. The cost to be a member on eHarmony for one month is $49.95. The longer you subscribe, the lower your rate. You can sign up for 3 months and pay $99.95, 6 months will cost $159.95, and a one-year membership is $299.95. The largest downside to eHarmony is that once you are a paying member, you can only receive communication from other paying members. What this means is, you could potentially have 10 people you would like to communicate with and only one can talk to you because the other 9 aren't paying members.

The largest benefit to eHarmony is that you get what you pay for. The series of algorithms are designed to match you with only compatible matches. This matching system may take some time to send you the potential matches, but it will be worth the investment. Since you are required to fill out a lengthy profile questionnaire in the beginning, a lot of people are weeded out. Those individuals looking for casual dating are weeded out and only those wanting long-term relationships are sent through. eHarmony is the only dating web site where there are more female members than male members. The ratio of women to men makes eHarmony the best dating site for individuals looking for a long-term relationship.

eHarmony offers verification of name, city, and age for an additional fee. If you pay the additional cost, the verification of other members will be posted in your profile. The verification process has helped several individuals weed out those people that make them uncomfortable. eHarmony has several "deceptive" processes to get you to pay more money. Once you pay for the verification process, you will be charged more money to see all the pages of the reports. The additional costs of eHarmony are what most members complain about. If you join for a 7 day free trial, you need to call and cancel your request at the end of the free trial or else eHarmony will begin billing your credit card for the monthly fee.

 Most members find that using eHarmony is simple, there is even a help section you can click on to guide you through the dating site. In order to see photos of other members, you need to click on that person's profile. Compared to other dating sites like Match.com, eHarmony provides a drastically different result. Instead of "one-night stands" like you may get on other dating sites, eHarmony really focuses on matching you with your soul mate. The slogan of eHarmony is "fall in love for all the right reasons" and their matching system truly means it. Some former members of eHarmony have been offended by the matching system because it flat out tells them if they are compatible with anyone. While this ego blast may be painful, it has helped other members find ways to change and find someone they can be compatible with. Here are some reviews by actual members of eHarmony:

"I had a wonderful experience with eHarmony. A little less than 3 years ago I signed up for a one month subscription and extended it for one more. I would receive several matches every day. Yes, there were many matches that did not respond to, there were quite a few that did. I ended up meeting 5 of those matches and one of them became a very special person in my life. Our relationship was as close to perfect as one could be. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with cancer about 10 months into our relationship and passed away a few days short of 2 years from the day we met. I would never trade those 2 years for anything in this world. That was 9 months ago and I am again thinking of using eHarmony. You do have to weed through a lot of matches but in my case it was well worth it and if I do decide to use the service again, it is because I had such a good experience the last time." - Judy, Michigan

"I had a 6-month subscription from January-July 2008. Before I signed up, I made a note in my appointment book to contact them in late June. It was clear to me that renewal was automatic unless I shut it down, which I did. I joined after breaking up with my girlfriend. I tried it for two months before getting back together with her. The EHarmony questionnaire was too much work for not enough reward. My biggest frustration was the amount of time it took to organize a date. I had email exchanges with quite a few women who seemed very nice. A few of these progressed to phone conversations. But several weeks passed and I still had not physically "met" anybody. About five years ago I was on Match.com. Match may have changed, but my memory is that things went a lot faster. I reviewed the profiles and decided who I wanted to contact. After a quick exchange of emails, a request for her cell phone number was usually granted. If the conversation went well, a date was planned. Although it didn't result in marriage, I met and dated some very attractive - looks and otherwise - women. Most single people dislike blind dates because they don't like trusting the matchmaking to their fiends, relatives, co-workers. Why do we think people trying to make money doing it with computers will do a better job?" - Dave, New Jersey