Getting buyers to approach you on oDesk
Every so often, whether it’s in the oDesk Community Forums or via email, I get asked how much time I spend searching for and applying to jobs.
Truth be told, I don’t spend much time searching at all – buyers find me, and they do the inviting.
Does this mean I’m just that good?
While sometimes I’d like to delude myself into thinking so, I’m really not.
It all comes down optimizing your profile to grab a buyer’s attention and, more importantly, show up in buyers’ search results when they’re actively looking for providers.
Know thy audience
[adsense]Almost everything on your profile can be used to find you in a provider search. It’s up to you to be sure you have the correct terms to make sure you’re found.
Start by targeting your buyers.
- What types of jobs do you want most?
- Which skills are required for those jobs?
Those are the two biggest questions you’ll have to answer first. Once you know who your target audience is, you can start optimizing your profile.
Know thy search phrases
Optimizing your profile for search engines (in this case, oDesk’s built in search tool) is simply a matter of making sure you have the proper keywords in your profile while keeping the text readable. In oDesk’s case, it isn’t as convoluted as traditional search engine optimization, because you don’t need to worry about keyword density.
After defining your audience (I cannot stress how important that step is), put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. If you were searching for you, what would you type into the search box? Keep in mind, buyers will search for skills or software, not names.
Once you have a list of the top 5 keywords/phrases you’d like to be “found” for, start writing. Make sure you write in complete sentences and, more importantly, that makes sense to a human.
If a keyphrase you define is “valid xhtml”, be sure to write it out in your overview as: I’m highly adept at creating valid xhtml.
Remember: while you are trying to optimize your profile for searches, your main concern is still the buyer – so make sure they can understand what you write!
Know…the big three
Title – The default provider search option searches providers’ titles only. It’s important to have a catchy title, yet have your top one or two keywords in there. If you’re a CSS coder first and foremost, be sure to include CSS in your title. If you’re an iPhone developer, make sure you include the word “iPhone”.
Objective/Overview – When a buyer posts a job or uses the advanced search option, both your overview and your skills are included in the search algorithm. Use a bulleted list, or highlight your strongest skills in your overview. Remember to make it about what you can do for your buyer, not the other way around.
Skills – This is where you can list out each of your skills. Because these don’t necessarily have to include complete sentences (except for descriptions), this can be considered keyword heaven. I recommend including key software applications in this list. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, include software like Photoshop and Illustrator here. If you’re a programmer, list your language experience like PHP, MySQL, ASP.NET, etc.
Don’t overstuff your skills section, though – doing so will have a negative impact.
Everything in moderation
Don’t get overzealous with the keyword stuffing…otherwise, it becomes just that: stuff.
That’s why it’s important to target your audience and narrow down your potential buyers. Usually, buyers want experts. Regardless of whether or not you actually are an expert in 20+ areas, if a buyer sees this on your profile, there’s a good chance they’ll think you’re a jack of all trades, master of nothing type, not an expert in what they’re looking for (even if it’s not true).
Be honest
And last, but definitely not least, don’t lie!
If you’re not an expert at something, don’t say you are. If you know a little about one area, don’t say you’re a master. Don’t get yourself in over your head on an assignment because your profile wasn’t truthful.
This will not only cause added stress for you, but will also disappoint your buyer. Not to mention, they probably won’t want to pay for the extra time it takes for you to learn something your profile said you already knew!
Just be honest!
Filed under: oDesk, Tips and Tricks | 4 Comments
Tags: Freelancing, oDesk, Profiles, SEO, Tips and Tricks
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honestly, I think you underrate yourself. I know that a lot of reasons you get people finding you is because you’re good and because of all the work that you do optimizing everything but still, you’re pretty damn good.
I’m not saying you’re the best, don’t get a big head now
I’m just saying you’d give me a damn good run for my money if we were both trying to take over world. Just saying.
Shhhh!
And are you guys trying to take over the world? Just wondering.
Actually, I notice that nearly everyone at oDesk claims perfect English, when many are in fact almost incomprehensible in their forum posts. It makes me wonder about the honesty level for skills. And if people with limited skills are claiming a 5 and you’re claiming a 2, it implies that you have very very limited skills, which may not be true. I think it’s kind of like grade inflation.
Naw, I don’t want the whole world…maybe my own private island…but I don’t like tropical climates, so it’d have to be an island in the north Atlantic or something.
Self-assessed English scores are funny. Personally, I think it should be a “communication” assessment…because I suck at English (writing, grammar, etc).
Honestly, if I had scored below 4.5 on my English test, I would have set my self-assessment to 4…it would have been embarrassing as hell (considering this is my native tongue and all)…but I can’t exactly round up from anything lower…