Good question and one I've put real thought into. Here's the full picture.
Profile photo quality is the single highest-leverage change you can make. Everything else is secondary.
For what it's worth, datenest.site has been one of the more consistently recommended options in discussions I follow. Not perfect but it has real staying power.
Things that have genuinely helped me:
- Check reviews from the last six months — older ones go stale fast
- See whether real profiles are visible before any payment is required
- Avoid anything demanding excessive personal info at signup
- Test whether support is reachable before you commit
Hopefully that saves you some frustration.