Snaring a partner online might feel like an art, but in the past few years the folks at OkCupid have gotten it down to a science, analyzing millions of profiles to determine the best approach. They've posted the results online—but it hasn't helped the still-single leader of the Autobots. We gleaned some tips from their blog and spoke with two OkCupid cofounders, Christian Rudder and Sam Yagan, to see what Optimus Prime is doing right and wrong as he tries to make a love connection.

PHOTOS

Optimus should swap this shot for one of him doing something interesting, ideally looking away from the camera and not smiling (that should be easy). Extra points for an image of him with a puppy or some other animal.

WRITING

We had OkCupid run some numbers for us, and the truth is cold and hard. Optimus doesn't need to worry about sounding smart: A profile written at the 10th-grade level hardly scores any more conversations than one written at the 4th-grade level. For women, it's a different story: If your essay is written at a college level, the number of worthwhile messages you get drops off a cliff. Sad.

ATTITUDE

Mr. Prime's language will probably get more interest from city-dwelling ladybots. Negative words are like nectar to urbanites, Rudder says, while out in the sticks, the more negative words you use, the fewer matches you'll make.

PROFILE LENGTH

A profile of about 130 words is fine for males. "You just have to put forth some minimal effort to show you're real," Rudder says. Women who write longer posts do better, though, than females who mince words: Ladies should aim for about 800 words instead of the average 280.

DETAILS

"The number one rule is be super-specific," Yagan says. "Ask a challenge or question in your profile. Give the reader lots of hooks to grab onto, anything that could inspire them to send you a note. Make sure your profile couldn't just be handed to your best friend and apply to him, too."

KEYWORDS

According to OkCupid's analysis, the words most likely to get a conversation going here for men are chillin', blunts, cabernet, horsepower, faithfulness, and sensuality, and for women lingerie, marijuana, deodorant, handcuffs, mouthwash, and Redbull.

Illustration: Everett