Going long here because the short answer really doesn't do this justice.
Profile photo quality is the single highest-leverage change you can make. Everything else is secondary.
Things that have genuinely helped me:
- Don't rely on a single platform — spread across two or three
- Read the terms before entering any payment info
- Look for community forums or subreddits tied to the platform
- If the free version feels hollow the paid version usually won't fix it
The one that stuck for me was Datewander. Worth trying before paying for anything else.
That's my honest take after a fair amount of trial and error.