Difference Between Match And Eharmony
If you've been in the dating world anytime since 1995, there's a good chance you're familiar with the endless options for online dating websites. Match and eHarmony are two of the oldest and biggest players in the online dating game.
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- Official Match.com Website
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Even with newer dating apps disrupting the industry, Match and eHarmony are still leaders in their niche. Match takes in over $1 billion in revenue annually. In terms of revenue, eHarmony is a distant second, bringing in an estimated $250 million per year.
By splitting the difference between free-for-all platforms like OkCupid and the algorithm-only approach of eHarmony, Match can essentially provide you with the best of both worlds, which is an important factor to consider. Jan 18, 2020 What’s The Difference Between Match and eHarmony? Choosing an online service for you isn’t a simple task. You have many options and it’s hard to know which one suits you. Which service can help you find your match? The two best and most familiar websites out there are eHarmony and Match, so those two are most often compared.
Their Alexa ranks correlate to their revenue numbers too. Alexa gives Match a global rank of 2,491, while eHarmony comes in at 16,793. Match is the clear winner between these two companies, but we wanted to find out whether there were areas where eHarmony could make up ground against its much bigger competitor.
See full list on diffen.com. A significant distinguishing factor between dating sites eHarmony and Match.com is that.
To do this, we dug into the website analytics of each company. We used Nacho Analytics and SpyFu to take a peek at each company's Google Analytics. What we found was that social media presents a huge opportunity for eHarmony.
Let's set the stage to give you an understanding of the traffic breakdown for both websites:
The main things to take away right off the bat is that both websites do well with direct traffic. eHarmony gets a larger percentage of traffic from organic search, but, as you'll read, it's not a difference-maker. Noticeably absent from eHarmony's traffic breakdown is any amount of social media traffic, which should be a concern for the dating site.
1. Organic traffic: eHarmony looks like the winner, but they're still losing.
In one corner: Match. Match's organic traffic makes up 17.9% of its total website traffic.
In the other corner:eHarmony. Its organic traffic makes up 28.2% of its total website traffic.
The winner? Match.
Similar to what we saw with Airbnb vs. VRBO, eHarmony has an advantage in nonbranded, organic keywords. Nonbranded organic keywords are keywords where the brand's name does not appear in the search term. For example, for keywords similar to “dating sites,” eHarmony ranks in the top five while Match ranks on the second or third page.
Unfortunately, eHarmony is a big loser in one high-volume, nonbranded keyword: “online dating.” Match ranks at number one for this term. eHarmony comes in at number 14, which is on the second page.
It gets even worse when we compare the data from SpyFu. Match ranks for 17,952 keywords. Of those keywords, Match ranks on page 1 for 4,493 of them. That leads to about 3.51M monthly clicks on Match results.
Looking at the same SpyFu data for eHarmony, they rank for 14,002 total keywords, and ranks on page 1 for 5,579 of keywords. Those page 1 rankings look pretty good compared to Match, but all of eHarmony's keywords only drive 1.06M monthly clicks.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
eHarmony ranks for a lot of keywords that probably aren't going to move the needle for the company. One of their highest-volume keyword phrases is “what is love.” That's not a terrible keyword phrase for eHarmony, but you have to wonder whether everyone who lands on the website for that term is actually looking to define the word “love,” or if they're just looking for the timeless Haddaway song?
eHarmony would be wise to reevaluate their content strategy, especially around the keywords that Match owns, such as “online dating.”
2. Social media traffic: Both companies lose.
In one corner: Match. Match's social media traffic makes up 3.4% of its total website traffic.
In the other corner: eHarmony. Its social media traffic makes up 0.8% of its total website traffic — a number so small it doesn't even appear on our chart above.
The winner? Neither.
Dating is social, and the stigma around online dating is virtually dead. This combination should mean that both eHarmony and Match have the ability to get a large percentage of traffic from the social platforms.
The truth is, as you can tell from the numbers above, they're both terrible at driving traffic from social.
What's even more surprising is that neither website gets traffic from Instagram. Driving traffic from Instagram is difficult for most companies, but the photo-sharing platform doesn't even appear in the top 10 social traffic referrers for either website. Both dating sites get more traffic from the Russian social media website VK than from Instagram. It's a strange problem, and one that they can correct.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
Match and eHarmony need to develop better social strategies — specifically Instagram. It's a perfect platform for both dating sites. We know what you're thinking: “But, Instagram is for Gen Z and millennials, who don't use traditional dating websites!”
The data says otherwise. Hootsuite reports that Instagram has 247 million users over the age of 35. That age range makes up about 75% of Match's users.
3. Direct traffic: Match leads the brand round.
In one corner: Match. Match's direct traffic makes up 59.7% of its total website traffic.
In the other corner: eHarmony. Its direct traffic makes up 44.3% of its total website traffic.
The winner? Match.
Direct traffic is often overlooked, but it's important to understand a website's direct-traffic percentage because it can help you understand how strong that company's brand is. Typically, the more direct traffic a website gets, the stronger the brand. With Match and eHarmony, we see large percentages of direct traffic, likely because each company has spent years building up their brand.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
Match may have won this round, but that doesn't mean eHarmony is losing. Dating sites are a hyper-competitive industry. Some estimates say that there are over 8,000 of these services worldwide. When you consider that most sites are relatively similar, it's hard for them to get a competitive advantage. That leaves one thing as the competitive advantage: the brand.
Both brands do quite well in direct traffic because they focus on brand awareness. This focus on brand awareness means that people have likely chosen the site they're going to use before they even visit the website. That's the power of a strong brand.
4. New vs. Returning Visitors: Match keeps them coming back for more.
In one corner: Match. Match gets 29.9% of its visitors to return to the website.
In the other corner: eHarmony. eHarmony sees 26.7% of its visitors return.
The winner? Match (although it's a split decision).
We're taking a departure from acquisition sources to look at user behavior. New vs. returning visitors can tell you a ton about your audience, the way they use your website, and even weaknesses in your own product.
For dating sites, returning users are key. Ideally, dating sites want people to set up a profile, message people they're interested in, and come back day after day. That's why it makes sense to look at the new vs. returning visitors. But if we look at this number as a whole, it's not very insightful. It makes more sense to look at these numbers broken down by channel.
We'll set the stage by looking at the overall new vs. returning users for each website:
Match does a better job at returning visitors than eHarmony, but let's dig a little deeper to find some real insight from this data. We'll start by comparing Match's new vs. returning users from social media and direct traffic.
The split for users from social media is 38.9% new visitors and 61.1% returning. This suggests that Match isn't focused on using social as an acquisition channel. Rather, they're doing something that engages current users of the site. This is a bit surprising, considering the sheer number of people who use social media. Ideally, you would want a larger percentage of new visitors from social media than Match's 38.9%.
This likely means that Match either doesn't have a good social advertising strategy or that their budget is very small.
Direct traffic looks great for Match, with 68.5% of their users being new and 31.5% returning. Ideally, they want users to directly return to their website, regardless of how they initially found the website. But it's also important to have a healthy percentage of new users from direct sources. This signifies that your brand-awareness efforts are paying off.
Now, let's compare those same two channels for eHarmony's New vs. Returning users.
With social, we're seeing a flip in what we saw with Match. For eHarmony, 63.1% of their social visitors are new, while 36.9% are returning. This could signify that eHarmony is focused on brand awareness on the social platforms. It might also indicate that they're running ads targeted at people who have never used their service before. This is actually a good split to see, but when you consider the tiny amount of traffic eHarmony gets from social (remember, it's just 0.8% of their total traffic), eHarmony needs to seriously reevaluate their strategy on social.
Direct traffic takes a hit for eHarmony, too, with the split being 73% new, 27% returning. Returning visitors are 4.5% lower than Match's returning users. While that might seem like a small percentage, in real numbers it means eHarmony is losing thousands of users because they're not returning at the same rate as those on Match. This could signify that eHarmony has an inferior product, or that their audience's expectations don't align with the service eHarmony is providing.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
Overall, both sites do a decent job of gaining new users and converting them to returning users. It's obvious that Match should use social as more of an acquisition channel to try to gain more new traffic from the platform.
eHarmony, on the other hand, needs to take a look at what they can do to improve their returning users from direct sources. That's not an easy task or a quick fix, but it is something they need to take a serious look at.
Adding up the scores
Match won rounds 1 and 3, organic traffic and direct traffic. Their utter dominance on organic traffic makes it tough for eHarmony to make up any ground there.
eHarmony could make moves with direct traffic, but they'll have to focus on brand awareness, which is a long-term strategy. Rounds 2 and 4 were a different story.
Round 2, the social media round, was a loss for both companies. If eHarmony can sort out their social media strategy, they have a great opportunity to gain some ground on Match. Round 4, new vs. returning visitors, went to Match because of its ability to return users at a higher rate, which may suggest they have a better service.
The final score:
- Match: 3
- eHarmony: 0
Membership
Members on eHarmony are typically looking for long-term relationships. To join, users must fill out a comprehensive questionnaire. eHarmony conducts all searches for its members – users don't have the option of searching or browsing profiles themselves. Members communicate through the website. eHarmony generates matches based on a compatibility test and profile criteria that members fill out. The site sends email alerts when new matches are found.
Members on Match are looking for dates, hook-ups and long-term relationships. Match leaves the search up to the individual members. New users create a profile and enter search criteria. The site matches them to other members based on these criteria. However, members also have the option of conducting searches on their own based on search filters. For communication, members may 'wink' at others, email or IM.
Profiles
eHarmony profiles include basics, such as age, height, hair color, eye color, body type and ethnicity. Profiles also include relationship history, whether the member has children, whether they smoke or drink and their location. Members may add up to 12 photos. Members also answer questions to show their personality, choose must-have values and choose activities and interests. eHarmony profiles also include information from their '29 Dimensions of Compatibility Test.' While the main site is not open to the LGBT population, eHarmony refers them to a companion site, Compatible Partners.
Match is open to the LGBT community. Match profiles include basics, such as age, height, hair color, eye color, body type and ethnicity. Profiles also include sexual orientation, relationship status, whether the member has children, whether they smoke or drink, and their location. Members write an open-ended essay about themselves and their match. Profiles may include interests, exercise habits, hobbies, political views, education, faith, background values, and whether the member has or even likes pets. Users may add up to 26 photos and even import photos from Facebook.
Communication restrictions
While it is free for new users on eHarmony to view their matches, they must sign up for one of the paid plans to initiate contact wtih other members. Members have the potential to decline a match, meaning all contact stops.
Match.com also offers free viewing of matches, but new users must sign up for a paid plan to email or IM other members. They may 'wink' at members, but even paying members may not contact them until they've signed up for a membership. Like eHarmony, Match allows members to block other members from contacting them.
Matching Algorithm
eHarmony uses what it calls '29 dimensions of compatibility' based on a compatibility test. The algorithm looks at core traits such as emotional temperament, social style, cognitive mode and physicality. It also looks at vital attributes such as relationship skills, values and beliefs and key experiences. eHarmony makes matches based on this compatibility test and profile criteria members fill out. The site sends email alerts when new matches are found.
Match also offers some services for matching but the search and browse features are more popular on Match.com. Members may conduct a quick search based on age, location, keywords found in profiles, photos and whether members are currently online. Their custom searches include many options, such as appearance, interests, background, values and lifestyle. Another feature is the Date Spark Search. Members come up with an idea for a date and search for others' date ideas. Match also has some other matching criteria:
- The Mutual Match algorithm is based on user profiles. Mutual Match ensures that both parties are looking for a specific type of person.
- Reverse Match shows results for members who are looking for someone who is like them.
- Synapse Matching is based on user personalities, preferences and on-site actions. Members receive five matches each day using Match's Synapse Matching algorithm.
- Match also has Singled Out Matches, that shows members someone who really stands out as a match for them.
Price and Operating Model
Both eHarmony and Match offer a number of pricing plans, and renewal is automatic. Members must cancel if they don't want to renew. With both, some members have complained of being auto-renewed even after canceling the membership.
eHarmony Pricing
eHarmony offers the most options for price and services with their Basic, Total Connect and Premium Plans. eHarmony members also have the option of purchasing a Basic Plan and adding other services. They can add other services to their subscription such as:
- Secure Call for $5.95/month: allows members to call their matches on the phone anonymously without revealing their own phone number.
- RelyID for $5.95/year: The RelyID badge on a member's profile indicates that eHarmony has verified his or her name, age and city of residence.
- Premier Personality Profile for a onetime fee of $19.99 and
- Profile Advisor for a onetime fee of $99.95.
Basic Plan
The Basic Plan offers full access to the dating website plus the 29-point compatibility matching. Its pricing structure:
- 1 Month: $59.95 per month.
- 3 Month: $29.95 per month; must be paid in one full payment of $89.85
- 6 Month: $29.90 per month; can be paid in 3 installments of $59.80 each, or $179.40 in full.
- 12 Month: $19.95 per month; can be paid in 3 installments of $79.80 each, or $239.40 in full.
Total Connect Plan
The Total Connect Plan offers the same services as the Basic Plan plus a deeper analysis of users' personalities, the Secure Call feature which allows anonymous phone calling and the Rely ID feature which verifies name, and age for purposes of honesty.
- 3 Month: $44.95 per month; can be paid in 3 installments of $44.95 each, or $134.85 in full.
- 6 Month: $33.90 per month; can be paid in 3 installments of $67.90 each, or $203.70 in full.
- 12 Month: $23.95 per month; can be paid in 3 installments of $95.80 each, or $287.40 in full.
Premier Plan
eHarmony's Premier Plan offers everything from the Total Connect Plan plus an 'Ultimate Guarantee' that if users don't find a match in first year, they get another year free. The Premier Plan also includes personalized help from a profile advisor. Premier Plans are for 12 months at $41.95 a month or a single payment of $503.40.
Match.com
Match offers two plans: Standard and Best Value.
Standard Plan
Standard Plan users can view members, contact members and read email from members. The Standard Plan costs $35.99 a month, $19.99 a month with a three-month commitment and $17.99 a month with a six-month commitment.
Match Vs. Eharmony: Both Are For Serious Relationships, But ...
Best Value Plan
Match's Best Value Plan offers the same features as the Standard Plan, plus a highlighted profile and 'first impressions' services. The 6-month plan comes with the 'Match.com Guarantee,' meaning if users don't find someone in the first six months, the next six months are free. The Best Value Plan costs $23.99 a month with a three-month commitment and $19.99 a month with a six-month commitment.
Dating Categories Available
Both eHarmony and Match have several dating categories available. eHarmony allows users to specify according to the following within the site:
- Asian Dating
- Black Dating
- Christian Dating
- Senior Dating
- Jewish Dating
- Hispanic Dating
- Compatible Partners
- International Dating
In addition to offering Yahoo Personals and Match Personals to its members, Match allows users to specify according to the following categories:
- 50+ Dating
- Black Dating
- Single Parents
- Christian Dating
- Jewish Dating
- Asian Dating
- Gay Dating
- Lesbian Dating
Statistics
Both eHarmony and Match offer their own statistics. eHarmony promotes that its site is responsible for 5 percent of all U.S. marriages. Of couples who met on a dating site then married, 25 percent met on eHarmony. Of marriages that started on a dating site, 3.86 percent of eHarmony's result in divorce, the lowest percentage of all sites.
Match promotes that one date in 1,369 leads to marriage. Of couples who met on a dating site, 30 percent met on Match. 42% of the matches result in dates, and 35% of the matches result in relationships of three or more months.
Member Demographics
By Age
eHarmony has 15,500,000 members, 47% men and 53% women. Concerning age range, the members fall into the following demographics:
Official Match.com Website
- 18 to 24 – 30%
- 25 to 34 – 18%
- 35 to 44 – 20%
- 45 to 54 – 18%
- Over 55 – 14%
Match has 21,575,000 members, 49% men and 51% women. Concerning age range, the members fall into the following demographics:
- 18 to 24 – 16%
- 25 to 34 – 22%
- 35 to 44 – 27%
- 45 to 54 – 21%
- Over 55 – 14%
By Ethnicity
eHarmony members come from all 50 states and 150 countries. Concerning ethnicity, they fall into the following demographics:
- Asian – 5%
- African American – 9%
- Caucasian (white) – 77%
- Hispanic/Latino – 8%
- Other – 1%
Match members come from all 50 states and from 60 countries. The ethnicity demographics:
- Asian – 4%
- African American – 9%
- Caucasian (white) – 77%
- Hispanic/Latino – 9%
- Other – 1%
By Education
40% of eHarmony members have a high school diploma, 45% graduated with a bachelor's degree, and 15% have a graduate degree.
41% of Match.com members have high school diplomas, 42% have bachelor's degrees and 17% have graduate degrees.