Profile photo tips: the 7 photos that get requests on Otterly
Exactly which photos to use (and which get your profile rejected), how to look like yourself on a good day, and why a smiling face in photo one matters more than anything else.
Quick answer: Write your bio as three short paragraphs: how you spend an ordinary week, what you are looking for and by when, and one specific, slightly surprising detail. Then answer three to five Otterly prompts with concrete stories rather than adjectives. Cut every word you would not say out loud, and state your marital status and kids stance plainly.
Most bios fail for one reason: they are written to impress a stranger rather than to be recognised by the right person. “Fun-loving, well-travelled, loves food and music, looking for someone genuine” describes roughly everybody and therefore nobody. The right person scrolls straight past it.
This guide gives you a method you can finish in twenty minutes, plus worked examples for the situations Otterly members are actually in.
The three-paragraph bio
Keep the “About me” to three short paragraphs. Each has one job.
Paragraph 1: an ordinary week
Not your highlights reel — your actual life. Where you are, what you do, how a weekday and a Saturday look. Concrete nouns and verbs.
I run a small architecture practice in Pune — mostly houses, occasionally a school. Weekdays are site visits and too much tea. Saturdays start with a 10 km walk on the Tekdi and end with whoever is around for dinner.
Notice: no adjectives about personality. The reader supplies them (“active, sociable, grounded”) and believes them, because they drew the conclusion themselves.
Paragraph 2: what you want, and by when
This is the paragraph most people skip out of fear, and it is the one that matters most on a marriage-minded app. Say it plainly.
I am here for marriage, ideally within a couple of years, and I would rather have three honest conversations than thirty polite ones. I was married before; it ended kindly. I have no children and would love to have them.
On Otterly the fields for marital status, kids and timeline already exist, so you are not confessing — you are confirming. That sentence tells the right people “you are in the right place” and tells the wrong people to move on. Both are wins.
Paragraph 3: one surprising, specific thing
End with a detail that someone could write a request note about.
I can name every Test cricket ground in India but cannot boil an egg. Working on the egg.
That single line will generate more notes than a whole paragraph of virtues, because it gives people a door to walk through.
Prompts: where the depth lives
Otterly gives you around thirty prompts. Pick three to five. The rule for every answer is the same: a story, not an adjective.
| Prompt | Weak answer | Strong answer |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect first Otterly date would be | Coffee and good conversation | Filter coffee at a place with no Wi-Fi, then a walk with no destination. If we are still talking at hour two, dinner. |
| I get along best with people who | Are honest and kind | Ask the follow-up question. The second question is where people actually start. |
| My most irrational fear is | Spiders | That the one time I do not check the gas knob is the one time it matters. I check it twice. |
| A random fact I love | I love travelling | The Howrah Bridge has no nuts or bolts. It is entirely riveted. I think about that more than a person should. |
| My simple pleasures | Food, music, travel | The first sip of chai after a run. A clean inbox on Friday. My daughter's terrible knock-knock jokes. |
The strong answers are all longer, all specific, all slightly vulnerable. Every one of them gives a stranger something to say — which on Otterly means a reason to send a request with a note.
Worked examples
Divorced, 41, with a child
Software lead in Bengaluru, dad to a nine-year-old who thinks I am hilarious (this will not last). Weekends alternate between full-on parenting and full-on quiet.
Here for marriage — no rush, but no drifting either. My first marriage ended six years ago and we co-parent well. I would like a partner, not a replacement for anything.
I make a genuinely excellent Sunday biryani and a genuinely terrible cup of coffee. Happy to be judged on both.
Widowed, 55
Retired early from banking, now teach maths to kids who need patience more than formulas. Mornings are for the garden; evenings for long calls with a sister in Toronto.
I lost my wife four years ago after a good marriage. I am not looking to replace her; I am looking for someone to share the next chapter with — companionship first, and marriage if it grows into that.
I still write letters by hand. Actual ones, with stamps. I will write you one if you ask.
Never married, 34
Product designer in Mumbai, originally from Kochi, which means I have opinions about fish and rain. Weekdays are Figma and filter coffee. Saturdays I teach a pottery class I am only slightly qualified to teach.
I waited for the real thing rather than the expected thing, and my family has (mostly) forgiven me. I am here to get married — within a year or two — to someone who wants a partnership, not a merger.
I have never finished a book of poetry but I have started forty. Recommend me one I will finish.
What to cut
Go through your draft and delete:
- Adjective lists. “Honest, caring, loyal, fun-loving.” Show one; do not list five.
- Negatives. “No time-wasters, no games, no drama.” It reads as bitter and attracts exactly what it fears. Otterly's intent filters do this job for you.
- Instructions to the reader. “Swipe left if...” There is no swipe left on Otterly, and commands make you sound like a form.
- Anything you would not say aloud to a friend of a friend at a wedding. If it sounds like a LinkedIn summary, rewrite it.
- Emojis as content. One is fine. Eight replaces words you should have written.
The read-aloud test
Read your finished bio and prompts aloud, once. Anywhere you stumble or wince, rewrite. Anywhere you smile, keep. If the whole thing sounds like a person you would want to have coffee with — you are done. Publish it, then head to the request note guide to put those prompts to work.
Frequently asked questions
How long should my dating profile bio be?
Three short paragraphs — about 80 to 150 words — is the sweet spot. Long enough to be a person, short enough to read on a phone in fifteen seconds. Put depth in the prompts, not the bio.
Should I mention my divorce or that I have kids in my bio?
Otterly has dedicated fields for marital status and kids, so you do not need to repeat them. But one warm sentence (“Dad to a nine-year-old who thinks I am hilarious”) turns a fact into a person.
What are Otterly prompts?
Otterly offers around thirty prompts — from “Perfect first Otterly date would be” to “I get along best with people who” — and you pick the ones that suit you. Answers appear on your profile and can be tapped to send a request about that specific line.
Meet people who date to marry.Otterly is free on iPhone and Android.
Otterly Editorial
Written by the team behind Otterly, informed by what 400,000+ members tell us about dating to marry after 30, after divorce and after loss. Not therapy, not legal advice — just honest, practical writing.
