4 Tips to Make Your Online Dating Profile Stand Out

— -- Navigating online dating can be tricky. Take Morgan Brady, for example. The 27-year-old Boston event planner has been online dating for the last two and a half years, yet only gone on seven or eight dates.

"There’s been a lot of that messaging back and forth that kind of gets exhausting after a while,” Brady said.

So we enlisted the help of digital dating expert Laurie Davis to help overhaul Brady’s dating life.

First, Davis analyzed Brady’s profile, inspecting it “the way a guy looks at your profile,” she said.

“Think about who you want to meet and what the intersection between you guys is so that those are the things you’re highlighting,” Brady advised.

Here are Brady’s top profile tips to improve your online dating life:

Tip 1: Your online dating profile should tell a story.

For example, Brady’s profile said she “loves exploring new places,” but Davis said she needs to get more specific.

“What is fun to you?” she asked Brady. “Because fun to you could be totally different than fun to someone else, so it’s better to actually show the type of lifestyle you live rather than tell about it.”

That includes your photos, leading to ...

Tip 2: The pictures you put on your profile should be you only, free of any Instagram filters and include a full body shot.

“The first thing I always look at is the first thing guys always look at in your profile, which is photos,” Davis said. “I would love to see a main photo … that’s a clear head and shoulders shot with a bright color shirt on.”

Make sure your pictures represent how you look most days, so don’t do fancy prom shots because that doesn’t represent you on an average day.

Tip 3: When messaging, instead of just saying, "Hey," ask them about something specific in their profile.

“In order to really get a conversation started, you need to ask a question and relate to them,” Davis advised.

For example, if poker is a mutual interest, you could say, “I’m a budding poker player, too. Right now I’m reading ‘Small Stakes Hold-Em’ to brush up on my game. Where do you play?,” Davis said.

She advised keeping it to three lines with a more conversational tone.

Tip 4: Hug your suitor upon first meet.

“When you first meet up with someone, you need to hug them right away, because you have had this physical barrier in between you,” Davis implored. “Even if the hug is awkward, it will make the whole rest of the night more comfortable."