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Mate1.com doesn’t come across as a real dating site in any sense of the word.
Although it does rank in the Alexa system as having some noticeable traffic, a quick view of the site and a closer look at its structure and data will confirm that nothing is really what it appears with Mate1.com. They should get points for being able to afford to register the domain name, “Mate” is one of the best keywords around to have to bring people in.
First Impressions
The landing page is not promising. It very much has the feel of a template offering and heavily features stock photos. Even in the section that is supposedly showing “real” profile pictures, it is very obvious that these are stock photos, or at the least – staged. Too many of the profile pictures use the same pose for it to be real! You can use the tabs at the top of their page to read a FAQ and some testimonials, but they very much don’t say anything of value or even appear to be real. Before you get to do any meaningful searches or to view profiles they is a push toward signing up for a paid membership.
How does it compare in the real world?
Alexa gives a rating 31,723 globally which is a drop of 8,683 from last ear. In the US it ranks 11,103. It does return a fair time on the site of over 5 minutes per visit, but that time frame is down almost 50% from the prior year. When you look at the overall traffic and performance data it doesn’t reflect the activity trending of a dating site, it most definitely starts to look like a keyword trap site that also brings in some users with high hopes. Speaking of users, they are mostly male and mostly in their 20s.
Features
Everything on this site that is offered as a feature has the feel of being part of a basic package for a template site. There is nothing new here and nothing to distinguish this site from any of the rest.
- Build a profile
- Send messages and IM if you have a paid account
- Do custom searches
- See who viewed you and have extended search filters when you are a paid member.
While there is nothing overwhelming or impressive about their features – except for how outdated they are and the programming of the site is – at least the paid membership options are reasonable.
Price and membership
Of course, registration is for free. In order to use what features they do offer you must select a paid membership program. The memberships start at $29.95 per month and then decrease in monthly cost in direct proportion to how many more months you agree to pay in advance. The payment charged isn’t a lump sum, but a monthly bill. The billing is done on an automated, subscription basis and of course, there have been a number of complaints about this to consumer organizations as there has been a lack of follow through with cancellation process.
Conclusion
Mate1 gets a lot of traffic, but not traffic that is going to turn into anything meaningful for you. If you have any doubts about whether or not to join one of the best things you can do is to watch some of the videos posted by former users on their experience with the site. There is a reason why most review sites rarely rate Mate about a single star. If you don’t have a lot of time to fool around, then keep looking for a better site that will actually offer you something back for the money you are paying to have an account with them.
Mate1 is very useful in showcasing what you should watch out for in a dating site. It can be very beneficial to click around and do everything but sign up as you will see what one of the dating templates looks like. A template program is an eCommerce package that is sold pre-made to a customer. Many people have jumped on the online dating wagon not to help people connect, but to try and make a quick buck off your loneliness.
