 |
|
| |
Our Favorite Dating Sites |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Top Dating Categories |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Soul Match: Full Review |
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
Pro Rating :
|
 
|
|
User Ratings :
|
|
|
Avg. Rating :
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
About Soul Match |
| |
|
URL
|
: |
|
|
Year Started
|
: |
2004
|
|
Location
|
: |
United States of America
|
|
Languages
|
: |
English
|
|
Short Description
|
: |
The new online dating website from multi-faith spiritual web community Beliefnet.com, provides a happy medium between religioun-based dating sites, like and profile-based matching sites like . Billing itself as "where good people meet," appears to be the only site where gays and straights, liberals and conservatives, Christians, Jews and even practicing Pagans can look for love and companionship on the basis of compatible spiritual values. Extensive profiling ensures that people of all religions - even some you may never have heard of before - and levels of spiritual commitment have a good chance of connecting with someone at who shares their core values.
|
|
Overall Rating
|
: |
is a multi-religious dating community aiming to match people with shared values looking for love, companionship and possibly marriage.
|
|
| |
Soul Match Categories & Features |
| |
|
Lifestyles
|
: |
All
|
|
Relationships
|
: |
Alternative
Friendship
Three-some
|
|
Religions
|
: |
All
|
|
Ethnicities
|
: |
All
|
|
Finding Your Match
|
: |
Photo Gallery
Search (Advanced)
Search by location
Search (Quick)
Smart Matching
|
|
Contacting Members
|
: |
E-mail
Virtual kiss (Icebreakers)
|
|
| |
Soul Match Dating Service Review |
| |
|
The Company
|
: |
Beliefnet.com expands its mission to bring non-denominational spirituality to the web with , their entry into the online dating arena. Their combination of extensive, detailed profiling broken down by religion, feelings about spirituality and level of commitment is sure to help anyone desiring to find a values-based match meet plenty of like-minded people. Unfortunately, the newness of and lack of readily-available customer service might make meeting that special someone a lot more difficult than it needs to be.
|
|
Site Navigation
|
: |
Simple design, easy navigation, but does not offer much in the line of help if you run into problems.
|
|
Site Response Speed
|
: |
Fast
|
|
Sign-Up Process
|
: |
Immediately sign up to with no credit card required, at least not for the free membership. You can search for potential matches with the Quick Search feature before you even sign up or complete a profile. profiles are extremely detailed, with several pages of multiple-choice, short-answer and essay questions centering on feelings about religion and spirituality. The problem is getting that profile posted so members can actually see and respond to it. My profile was initially rejected, because of a reference to "getting loaded" that Gods claimed encouraged "illegal activity." Okay, so maybe blue-staters need to be a little careful. But even after I corrected my profile and was informed via email that is was accepted, my account was not activated. Repeated visits to the site instructed me to check my email to learn how to activate my account, but no email provided this information. I emailed customer service for help and have so far not heard back and there is no phone number listed on the site. However, my account was eventually activated...I think.
|
|
Breadth of Services
|
: |
Currently, provides two search options: The Quick Search, which matches by Age, Location, Faith and Character Type (i.e. Smart, Funny and Candid or Conservative, Confident and Traditional), and the Search, which uses the information in your profile to match you with like-minded people. Not yet available is the Soul-to-Soul search, in which both parties' profiles will be utilized to provide the closest possible match.
|
|
User Base
|
: |
Heterosexual, homosexual, young and old, male and female - all who place a premium on values. The emphasis at seems to be on people looking for some sort of romantic relationship, but simply connecting with people with similar religions and spiritual values, especially if those values are a little off-kilter (say, a gay conservative Pagan who is politically liberal) is also a possibility. Since I was unable to make contact with Customer Service at , I have no specific demographic information about male/female ratios, number of users or anything else of that nature.
|
|
User Experience
|
: |
Signing up at was simple and while filling out the questionnaire was definitely time-consuming, it also gave me the feeling the site would successfully match me with like-minded singles. However, having my account activated was another story entirely! I was, to put it mildly, shocked when my profile was rejected because of what I thought was an innocent reference to drinking. Hey, I figured on a website full of religious people, if you want to hang out with someone who likes to party you'd better make that clear! That and my aforementioned problems with 's Customer Service made my user experience less-than-perfect. However, I was easily able to view profiles from many, many men and women in my area whose political and religious values meshed with my own.
|
|
Customer Service
|
: |
What customer service? Okay, there is a long and comprehensive list of FAQ's. But if you need an actual person at to help you, forget it! Via email only.
|
|
Customer Service Hours
|
: |
FAQ help section
Email support
|
|
Additional Services
|
: |
Automatic renewal
Blocking options
Hide profile option
|
|
Long Description
|
: |
The new online dating website from multi-faith spiritual web community Beliefnet.com, provides a happy medium between religion-based dating sites, like , and profile-based matching sites like . Billing itself as "where good people meet," appears to be the only religious dating site where gays and straights, liberals and conservatives, Christians, Jews and even practicing Pagans can look for love and companionship on the basis of compatible spiritual values. In other words, is values-based dating for red-staters and blue-staters alike.
features a simple design with a simple dating concept
is simply designed in soothing shades of blue and white, with soft-focus photos of happy, spiritually-fulfilled looking couples who obviously DID NOT meet on this or any other religious dating website. has no pop-ups and only one not-at-all distracting banner ad along one side.
's QuickSearch can find you a soul mate for free
Without even signing up, visitors to can instantly launch a Quick Search to get an idea of what kind of men and women are available to meet. Extensive profiling, with questions ranging from views of God and religion to whether or not you think pets go to heaven, ensures that people of all religions - even some you may never have heard of before - and levels of spiritual commitment have a good chance of connecting with someone at who shares their core values.
Search for love via 's more detailed methods
In addition to 's Quick Search, both paying and non-paying members can search for love, friendship and romance with the more comprehensive Soulmatch Search, which seeks out potential dates who have the values and characteristics listed as important in the searcher's profile. Said to be upcoming (although no date has been provided) is 's Soul-to-Soul Search, a two-way match that will be the most comprehensive, similar to systems used on online dating sites like . Once members find someone they would like to meet, they can send a free "Spark" (icebreaker) to let them know they're interested. Paying customers can also communicate through email. Currently, has no chat feature, but users can interact with spiritual and relationship experts through four online advice columns.
is a fairly new addition to the religious dating niche
The information I was able to uncover indicates that was founded in 2004. While is friendly and easy-to-navigate, that newness definitely shows, especially if you happen to run into a problem and need an actual human being to help you. Customer Service never responded to my many inquiries, problems were never solved and I never exactly knew what was going on. Before I would invest my money in a membership, I would be sure to make contact with a Customer Service rep via email. However, for people serious about finding relationships online with people who care about religion, spirituality and values, still looks like the best option out there.
|
|
| |
Soul Match Pros & Cons |
| |
|
Pros
|
: |
is the only "values-based" dating site open to all
Many categories and sub-categories to choose from
Comprehensive profiling system
is easy to navigate
|
|
Cons
|
: |
Nearly non-existent customer service
Confusing activation process
Small member photos
No info on dating pool available
|
|
| |
Soul Match Plans Offered |
| |
|
Pricing
|
: |
$29.95 for 1 month
$59.95 for 3 months
$79.95 for 6 months
$119.95 for 12 months
Ability to send email to other members
|
|
Site Freebies
|
: |
membership for as long as you want
Access to complete profiles of other members, using both the Quick Match and searches
Your own complete profile, including photo
You can send and receive "sparks," icebreakers to let a member know you're interested
You can receive email from members but you cannot respond
Access to 's four dating and relationship advice columns, including the ability to ask questions
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
