1. Choose the right main photo
Your main photo is the first (and sometimes only) thing others see. On a swipe interface, the decision happens in under a second — unfair, but measurable. Photos where you're smiling naturally, outdoors, with good lighting receive up to 3 times more likes.
Do: a waist-up portrait, genuine smile, natural lighting (the "golden hour" before sunset flatters every face), a simple background that doesn't steal the show.
Don't: bathroom selfies, group photos where no one can identify you, sunglasses hiding your face, blurry shots or photos visibly cropped from an old couple picture (the ghost shoulder always shows, and everyone knows what it means).
A simple test: show three candidate photos to an honest friend and ask which one they'd pick without telling them your favorite. The outside eye wins almost every time.
Two technical details that change everything. First, fill the frame: a tiny face lost in a landscape doesn't work on a 6-inch phone screen. Get closer, or crop in. Second, look at the lens or just beside it: an averted gaze or a candid shot taken from afar creates distance, while direct eye contact makes it feel like you're speaking to the person swiping.
2. Use a variety of photos
On Loviam, you can add up to 6 photos. Treat them as a mini-portrait of your life rather than six variations of the same selfie:
- One full-length photo — it avoids awkward surprises and builds trust.
- An activity you love — hiking, cooking, concerts, climbing: show, don't tell.
- A social moment — a photo with friends (where you're clearly identifiable) signals a balanced life.
- A trip or a memorable place — guaranteed conversation starter.
- Your pet, if you have one — a cliché, but devastatingly effective.
Photo variety makes people want to learn more about you and creates natural conversation starters. Someone hesitating to message you will find their opening line in your photos — in fact, most of our first message examples start from a profile detail.
Order matters too: your two strongest photos should hold positions 1 and 2, because many people never swipe past them. Avoid stacking two near-identical shots (same outfit, same place, same day) — they burn a slot without adding anything new. A good lineup alternates registers: a sharp portrait, a shot that shows your full frame, a scene that tells people how you spend your weekends.
The 3-second test
Before you lock in your selection, try this exercise: ask someone to scroll through your photos for three seconds, then close the app and ask what they remember about you. If they can't name a single concrete trait ("he climbs," "she travels," "he looks funny"), your photos are pretty but silent. A profile that says something always beats one that's merely photogenic.
3. Write an authentic bio
Skip the clichés like "I love to laugh and travel" — everyone does. Instead, talk about what makes you unique. Your passion for Thai cooking? Your vinyl collection? Your ability to binge-watch an entire series in one night?
A good bio is short (3-4 sentences), specific, and makes people want to message you. Compare:
"I like travel, sports and nights out with friends." — interchangeable with 10,000 other profiles.
"Adopted Londoner on a mission to find the city's best ramen. Bonus points if you know your shōyu from your tonkotsu." — you can picture the person, you already have a first date idea, and you know exactly what to write in your first message.
Writing tip: end your bio with an open question or an easy hook ("Strong opinions on pineapple pizza? I need to know."). You'll multiply your chances of receiving the first message.
One simple principle for finding the right tone: concrete beats abstract. "Adventurous" says nothing; "I go hiking in the hills the moment the sun's out" sets a scene. "Foodie" is empty; "I judge a city by its best bakery" is memorable. Every time you're tempted to write an adjective, swap it for the specific example that proves it.
Three bio structures that work
If a blank page stumps you, start from one of these templates and make it yours:
- The trio of details: three true, specific things that, side by side, sketch a whole person ("Maths teacher, Sunday guitarist, physically incapable of turning down good cheese").
- The "we'll get along if…": an invitation that filters gently ("We'll get along if you like walking with no destination and debating the best Miyazaki film").
- The mini-story: a one-sentence anecdote that adds colour ("I learned Italian just to read a menu properly in Rome, zero regrets").
In all three cases, leave a door open at the end — a question, a light challenge, something to respond to. A bio succeeds not when it impresses, but when it makes the first message easy to write.
4. Be honest about what you're looking for
On Loviam, you can indicate what you're after: a serious relationship, something casual, friendship, or "not sure yet." There's no wrong answer, but being upfront saves everyone time and avoids misunderstandings — and disappointments on both sides.
Profiles that clearly state their intentions get more compatible matches. It's mechanical: you filter out people looking for something different before the first message, and every conversation starts on solid ground. Vagueness doesn't widen your audience; it dilutes it.
The same logic applies to Loviam's "About me" fields (religion, kids, sport, pets…): every field filled honestly is a misunderstanding avoided three weeks later.
5. Complete your profile 100%
A complete profile is a visible profile. On Loviam, discovery favors filled-out profiles: preferences, bio, multiple photos, additional info. The more complete your profile, the more you appear in discovery results.
There's a human reason too: a half-empty profile looks like a throwaway account — or worse, a fake profile. Unconsciously, nobody invests in a conversation with someone who didn't invest three minutes in their own profile.
Take 5 minutes to fill everything out — it's the highest-return investment of your entire digital dating life.
A living profile keeps changing
The most common trap after signing up is treating your profile as finished forever. But the best profiles move. Swapping a photo every month or two, adding a shot from your latest trip, tweaking a bio line that no longer fits: these small gestures make you resurface as "new" to people who may have scrolled past you too quickly.
A useful ritual: once a month, open your profile as if you were seeing it for the first time. Is the main photo still your best one? Does the bio still say something true about your current life? This simple maintenance is often worth more than an hour of swiping.
Bonus: the mistakes that ruin everything
- Lying about your age or height — the lie shows on the first date, and it starts the relationship with a betrayal.
- Five-year-old photos — same problem, same result.
- The negative bio — "not here to waste my time", "fans of X swipe left"… You think you're filtering; what you're projecting is bitterness.
- Zero proofreading — a bio full of typos cuts your replies in half. Re-read it, or have someone else read it.
- The filter catalogue — a face smoothed, whitened or reshaped by an app creates an awkward gap when you finally meet. Look like yourself.
Take action
The perfect profile doesn't exist, but an authentic, well-crafted one makes all the difference. Create your account on Loviam, apply these tips, and start swiping. One last thing: don't try to please everyone. A profile that owns a clear personality will pull fewer raw likes but far more relevant ones — and that's exactly what you want. And when the match comes, don't let it fizzle: we've prepared everything you need to nail the first message, plus 15 first date ideas that beat the usual coffee.