The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. With winter upon us and it really is time to snuggle up and get cosy with all that the season has to offer. But hang on! Do you really need to spend the winter alone? Wouldn’t it be much better to have a snuggle buddy to cosy up to on the cold winter nights?

If you are feeling the winter blues and need someone to make you smile without braving the cold, wet and windy weather what about trying a dating site? That’s right. Spend those lonely nights chatting online with a potential partner and who knows, you may not be spending the evenings alone for long.

Step 1 – Sign up to a dating site

Possibly the most difficult part is actually biting the bullet and signing up to a dating site. You may have been contemplating it for a while but not actually plucked up the courage. What are you worrying about? With an online dating site, you are in control. You can visit this site to check all the benefits and see that you can choose who you want to talk to and when you want to talk to them and if they don’t turn out to be the right one for you then you can move on to meet someone else.

Step 2 – Build your profile

Once you have plucked up the courage or found the time to create an account, next you need to build yourself an online profile. You need to make yourself sound interesting without going overboard. Find a nice profile picture of yourself and write a bit about your likes and dislikes. Spend an evening with a friend getting them to help you. After all, it is much easier sometimes to hear what others have to say than trying to write about yourself. Get them to help you pick a profile picture as well. Remember, it doesn’t have to look like something that was taken in a professional studio. Set unrealistic expectations and you will spend hours getting ready for dates if you set the bar too high with lots of photo filters!

Step 3 – Wait for your matches

Dating sites are very clever and will use an algorithm (computer geek-speak for coding) to match you to others based on your age, gender, likes, dislikes, preferences, hobbies and interests. If only life were this simple all the time. Imagine if you could walk into a bar and give a list to the bartender of the single man or woman that you would like to meet – it would be as easy as ordering your drink. With an online dating site, it really is that simple. The computer will find people that you are likely to get along with and match you based on the information that you both give. You may have several matches, if this is the case you can decide which of them, if not all, that you would like to get to know better.

Step 4 – Get to know them better

Once you have chosen a person or people that you would like to get to know better than start chatting with them in an online chat room. This is the perfect place to get to know someone better from the comfort of your couch on a cold winter’s night. You can hide behind a screen without having to venture out in the cold for endless dates. Enjoy messaging, flirting, laughing and finding out more about one another. Once you are sure you would like to meet them you can then arrange a date. It couldn’t be easier.

Step 5 – Arrange to meet for your first date

So, you have been talking for a while. You feel like you have got to know the other person really well. You like the same things, you laugh at the same jokes and you are so intrigued that it is time to arrange your first date. Make sure you choose something that will suit you both; something that you will both enjoy. If you feel like you may need a quick escape then choose to meet for a drink. If you are confident that you are going to get along like a house on fire then you could meet for dinner or go to the cinema. The world is your oyster and who knows, you may end up meeting the man or woman of your dreams.