Personal ads are hundreds of years old. There were already personal ads in newspapers at the beginning of 19th century.

Now, with the invention of Internet, you can place your personal ad in front of hundreds of thousands of available singles. In terms of reaching the widest audience for your personal ad, nothing can compare with online dating services.

Should you even bother with placing a personal ad in newspapers those days?

I have been placing personal ads in newspapers, and I have been placing personal ads online, and my experience is that online dating services beat traditional personals every time.

This is why:

1. You can reach many more people through your online ad.

I have said about it in the very beginning but this is worth repeating: newspaper ads can NEVER compare with the audience you can reach online. Virtually every one has connection to the Internet these days, and since you are reading it online, I am sure you would prefer someone computer literate as your mate.

2. You can put much more information in your online ad.

To include as much information in your newspaper ad as you can in your online ad would cost you a fortune - and most dating sites will allow you to place your ad for free. Your online ad is nicely structured and easy to read, so the amount of information does not seem overwhelming, as it would be if you tried to include the same amount of information in your newspaper ad.

3. You can put a picture with your online ad.

A picture is worth a thousand words. All online dating services will allow you to place a photo, so people answering your ad already know how you look like. All things being equal, who would you prefer to contact, a person who has a photo in their personal ad, or a person without one?

4. You can change your online ad as often as you want.

You cannot change a newspaper ad - once printed, it"s done. If you want to change something in your newspaper ad and see what works better, you have to place many ads - and you have to pay again every time. Online, you can change your ad as often as you please and check what works the best.

5. Your online ad has no expiry date.

How long do you keep newspapers on your desk? You are lucky if you keep receiving responses to your newspaper ad for two weeks. Your online ad can stay on the dating site forever, until you decide to remove it.

6. You can view ads of people that answer you online.

Offline, you have no information about people answering your ad - and it can be difficult to obtain answers to certain questions. Online, most of the basics are covered in the personal profile, and you can also view their photo, before answering them.

7. You can communicate anonymously online.

You can talk to people answering your online ads without giving away your personal contact details for as long as you want. Offline, you have to give away your contact information immediately. Online dating is safer.

8. Online dating is cheaper.

And the last but not the least, online personal ads will cost you less than traditional newspaper ads. Most dating sites will allow you to place a personal ad for free, and many will also allow you to receive responses from other members free. On most sites, you only pay when you want to answer ads of other members. If you decide to buy a subscription, the price is less than you would pay for a movie ticket and popcorn - and you can meet thousands and thousands of people.

As you can plainly see, online dating beats traditional personals every time.

So, the message is clear:
If you want to improve your love life - get online!