The presence of online dating sites and personals has exploded in recent years. Offering surfers a new level of interaction and possibilities, including a chance to meet real people online, has attracted millions of new members to dating sites. Since dating sites of all types have affiliate program offerings and a billing model comparable to adult membership sites, most webmasters by now have tried out a dating or personals sponsor program regardless of niche or traffic type they have.

"It's not so much the type of site and traffic you have that converts dating traffic so much as it is how you are promoting your dating sponsor."

With programs always striving to develop new types of sites, sub niche dating sites have begun to surface. What began as an all inclusive concept, using search variables for users to find what they are looking for, then split between adult and mainstream – those looking for sex online and those looking for love and their possible soul mate. From these two platforms came more diverse choices. Adult split into gay, alt/fetish, swingers, video/chat, ethnicity specific, age (mature) and other niches. Mainstream dating sites split into sites stressing religious matches, sexual preference, region specific, and even STD specific for singles (herpes, HIV+). While many mainstream programs do not allow adult affiliates, many adult programs do offer mainstream targeted versions of their dating and personals portals.

These days, regardless of niche or site type, there seems to be a dating sponsor that can match your traffic.

But what types of sites actually do best with dating sponsors?

With geo-targeting tools such as dynamic banners and text ads that identify the location of each surfer and can display region specific personals on the fly, it's no wonder these ads can be attention grabbing. Imagine your visitor is surfing for free porn on a TGP and has viewed hundreds of hot "untouchable" girls that may look beautiful but completely for fantasy. This surfer then sees an ad display of an attractive woman from the same city! What clicks in the surfers mind is that not all women they see naked online are out of reach, and perhaps they can chat online with this real girl, see more pictures, and maybe get to meet her! Jerking off behind a screen can get lonely and interaction with others online in this day and age is addictive.

The truth is everyone is looking for human interaction at some time or another when online. Couples often find that flirting with the idea of swinging can add spice to their love life, so why not explore other like minded couples in the area for fun? Singles get sick of looking for "online girlfriends" and eventually desire the real thing. Regardless of motivation, there is an appeal to dating and personals sites that grab at the basic levels of human interest.

However the effectiveness of online dating site advertising is redundancy in the ways they are being promoted online. "Get laid tonight" and "Meet Sexy Singles" is so overplayed most surfers have begun to be blind to it. Any type of adult site matches well with adult personals sponsors where users can see photos of REAL people naked rather than just glammed over models and porn stars. However, there has become an inherent mistrust of planted personals, "fake profiles" and the fear of their own pictures and profiles being used as ads on porn sites that throw up red flags for those looking for more "discreet" interactions.

It's not so much the type of site and traffic you have that converts dating traffic so much as it is how you are promoting your dating sponsor. By providing information on why this personals site is better than others, informing them of safety tips and other facts to help the surfer earn trust in the sponsor, as well as listing the incentives and bonus' of joining as either an active member or "lurker" the benefits are the same…interaction with real people.

Just as with any sponsor, any time you are selling or promoting anything, your site has to instill trust in the visitor (such as by not launching popups, spy ware, or other overzealous advertisements "banner farms") by offering content that supports or relates to the revenue streams you have in place.

That fact that dating sites are self populating, self sustaining sites that can keep users interested in months, and addicted to their accounts so much that by not renewing they may lose "friends" (imagine how many people would pay $10/month or more to keep their MySpace.com accounts active), dating sites offer high retaining memberships that can keep you profiting for months on end.

When choosing a dating sponsor you may want to make sure you decide on one and promote only one at a time (sub niche versions of the same program are ok, however it is recommended that you choose the niche to promote that most closely matches your traffic).

Unless you offer reviews of several dating sites, it is important to list the benefits and assurances that can earn a users attention and trust to click through and sign up. And if you use ad networks for text link revenue on your site, you may want to consider blocking ads relating to dating so as not to compete with or confuse your visitors by bombarding them with competitors – keep them focused on the dating or personals site or personals section of your site (if you select to promote a personals page or instill a co brand) that will make you the most money.