Your date finder is the simplest way to locate singles right in your own backyard. What good is it meeting your perfect match if he or she is hundreds of miles away and has no intention of relocating anytime soon? Sure, you could pick up your stakes and haul across the country (or even to a different country), but isn't it more convenient to search in your very own neighborhood?

A date finder is easy to use and yields instant results. First, choose the gender of your ideal mate. You can categorize yourself as a man seeking a woman, a woman seeking a man, a man seeking a man, or a woman seeking a woman. Some online dating services even let you opt for both men and women. From there, you'll be asked to choose an age range for your prospective date. You can select any lower limit you please, provided it's over 18. There's no cap whatsoever on your upper limit.

Your Date Finder, Continued

The next step is to choose a ZIP code for your internet search. Most date finders require you to enter your own ZIP, then select a radius in miles that you wish to use to conduct your search. Start out by browsing listings of singles located within five miles of you (provided you live in a relatively dense area). If that turns up precious little, expand your circle to 10 miles, 25 miles, 50 miles, or more. You can even search the entire U.S. if you so desire.

Using these criteria, most online dating services are able to deliver highly targeted results. You can make your pool of prospective matches even better by customizing your search using hobbies, interests, and other preference-based criteria. If you're in search of a doctoral student conducting research on Weimar-era political theory, but also want a tennis player with a yen for Thai cooking, you can design your search to this end. Whether you find a match is a wholly separate story.