THE DEFINITIVE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO OPTIMISING AN UPWORK PROFILE

First, what is Upwork SEO?

It’s the ability to communicate effectively with Upwork’s algorithms. SEO stands for “search engine optimization”; its algorithms are the way Upwork works. Together, it means helping Upwork understand you better – what you do and what you want. Many people’s profiles are not understandable by Upwork, so having one that the algorithm can understand easily can be a great advantage. 

Sometimes the words used in a profile are not right for your clients. For example, an e-commerce entrepreneur looking for someone to build an app might not know what MongoDB or PostgradeSL are. If they don’t understand you, they won’t choose you to work with them.

Recently, Upwork has set up a new HR department, so real people who post job posts find jobs.  

Communicating clearly with prospects will get you more invitations. Once you are positioned in the mind of these guys in a niche, you may receive many invitations; these are free leads that can become new clients. 

Having an Upwork profile that is clearer for Upwork algorithms pushes you higher up the pecking order when you send proposals because if you fit the position, the algorithm will boost you up the rankings. 

Think of someone who has put “Digital marketing” in the title instead of “Facebook Ads for Real Estate.” The second is more clearly connected to a job post that starts: “I am looking for a Facebook Ads expert for real estate.” 

And someone applying for a real estate Facebook Ads post who has the same keywords in the profile title is much more likely to be considered by the potential client.

THAT’S THE BACKGROUND. NOW HERE’S THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO BOOST YOUR PROFILE

1. Your photo creates a vital first impression for your potential client; it shows in an instant who you are. Make sure your portrait is professional, friendly, and high quality. Check out the details here: https://www.upwork.com/resources/how-to-guide-perfect-profile-picture

2. There are some great tips here too. Take a few moments to read them:

https://www.upwork.com/resources/9-tips-create-freelancer-profile-stands-out

Now take a look at: 

1. Your Job Success Score. We know that the JSS is currently composed of the reviews your customers have left you, how quickly you have replied to invitations and messages, contracts without activity, and an excessive lack of feedback. The detail is here: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063558
2. The ratio between hours worked and amount earned. I’ll keep this simple: your price per hour should be around the market rate. Pitching it lower makes it easier for your potential customers to knock down your price during negotiations and more difficult for you to move the delivery to someone else. 
3. Categories. Go to setting => My profile until you see a section called Category. Select all the categories that fit your skills. Never mind if you don’t find one that matches your skills exactly, but remember the more things you select the better it will be. 

Specialized profiles. Here’s what an Upwork profile is: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/115013750068-Create-a-Specialized-Profile#:~:text=With%20a%20specialized%20profile%2C%20you,a%20translator%20or%20graphic%20designer.

To understand the details of your job, Upwork needs to ask you about your experience. It does this by asking you during the creation of a specialized profile, to select different tools you’ve been working with, and niches your job has been in, according to your experience and the specialized profile selected. 

These criteria are then used to define what type of professional you are. Since your clients always want to work with someone who has previous experience, the criteria will also define what types of invitation you get. 

The interface is really easy and tailored for each profile (for each profile and type of category, there’s a different interface ), and you just need to select aspects according to your experience and what you have done in your life and add them to the bar below if you’ve missed anything.

2) PROFILE DESCRIPTION 

Upwork categorizes your profile for invitations according to these parameters: 

• Title of your profile
• Keyword density in your description
• Titles of case studies in your portfolio
• Skills selected in your profile

(The information for this comes from the Joshua Burns Video about Upwork profile, plus my own research.) 

This is why these four categories should fit together. If you are a Facebook advertiser, the title of your profile, your keyword density, the titles in your portfolio and the skills selected in your profile should be aligned in the same niche. 

The principles we discuss here also apply to the other specialized profiles. This structure of the Upwork profile is the product of hours spent talking with prospects and analyzing their replies.

Profile description 

[ Line 1 to 4] 

Say what it’s like for a client to work with you. Include things such as:

“I am accurate.”

“I am gentle.”

If your clients’ reviews tend to be short (say, two lines) it makes sense to copy and paste them. It’s really important to say something real about your attitude to work. (If you claim “I am perfect”, that’s not realistic; no one will believe you.) Potential clients tend to evaluate values and attitudes more highly than your list of skills. 

[ Line 4 to 10]

1. After you’ve described what it will be like to work with you, tell your potential clients your USP – your unique sales (or value) proposition. 

Examples

1. Explain your unique approach to converting your customers’ dreams to reality.
2. Describe your great achievements in marketing.
3. Outline your expertise in a particular niche.
4. Or tell your incredible story.

One of the most underrated attributes is empathy. Think about what your prospects are most afraid of: frauds, people that are only looking for money. The best way of reassuring them is to explain that they should not be apprehensive but happy to meet you because you’re a competent professional for reasons x, y, and z. 

This is the profile aspect that gets results. If you already have an established agency, you’re looking for new clients and you know your Ideal Client Avatar. You need to explain how you will solve their “pain points” (if you are at this level, you probably know this already).

Now connect the story you tell in (a) with (b).

1. Cluster your skills. 

In referring to your area, you use MACRO TERMS and MICRO TERMS.

• WordPress is a macro term
• WordPress for Real Estate or WordPress Elementor are micro terms, defined by NICHE or by TOOL. 

You need to arrange your skills in macro terms; then further define them in micro terms. For instance, if you know Python, but you don’t know the whole library, you’ll mention, say, OpenCV and Selenium: 

• Make a list of your macro skills.
• Explain what’s inside each macro in micro terms.

[Line 10-11]

d) Build tension using these tricks: 

Declaration of intentions => I’m fully committed to delivering the best results by working 7/7, 24/24 for my first client (recommended for beginners).

Klimax => list of previous professional achievements (recommended for senior professionals).

Explain why the sum of your skills creates a potent mix that will be extremely useful for your prospect (recommended for people with a side story).

[VIDEO]

Your video should not last more than five minutes and should summarise what you are offering on Upwork. Don’t forget to record your film against a neutral background. 

[ Line 11 - 13] Call to action

End your profile with something like:

For these reasons:

Invite me to your job post (or it might be too late).

Hire me (or it might be too late).

Reviews

Your reviews should be coherent with the service you’re offering as a professional. If at the beginning you’ve closed too many jobs that you shouldn’t have closed I suggest you create a specialized profile. On the last page, you will be asked to select the reviews you would like to show. Select them carefully. 

When you apply for a job post again you’ll be able to choose between your profiles. Use the new one with the best reviews.

Portfolio

There’s no right or wrong here. There are three different portfolio options:

1. Gallery => it’s really useful to show a story graphically, especially if you have done an app
2. Case study => show how something has changed as a result of your work, a sort of “before” and “after”. 
3. Classic => one image and some text possibly used to upload a carousel (more images). Or if you are in sales, strategy, or anything that can’t be measured with a comparison, you could link your achievement in this “classic” template, put a random picture, and use this option creatively. 

In every case study, when it’s possible, it is extremely important to address these questions:

=> which of your services were involved? 

=> what budget was invested to reach the ROAS?

=> how long did it take to reach the breakeven point? 

=> what were the results in terms of sales/ awareness/ leads?

Always ask your customers what results they achieved as a result of your work. Then include this information in your portfolio and presentations. That will make your services much easier to sell. 

Always link to your case studies when you submit proposals; and keep them short – I mean two lines.

SKILLS 

On the mail profile (automatically filled on the specialized profiles) you will be able to select 10 skills. Select all of them. Start with the macro and then go to the micro. 

e area. Go broader. The mission here is to help Upwork understand what you do to the best of its capabilities. 

Your skills, the title, and the text in your profile should belong to the same area of expertise. Here’s how not to do it:

Title: Best Canadian voiceover

Text: All about business development.

Skills: Facebook ads

The title, the text topic, and the skills should be the same, in this case, relevant to Canadian voiceover. 

Many people have problems in defining what problem they have because the number of words we use nowadays is extremely reduced. 

If you have no idea what I am talking about, I suggest you read five or six articles about your niche, highlight the keywords that best define your professional expertise, and list of the platforms you use most frequently. Then arrange the more generic keywords on the left side of a page and the more specific on the right, and draw lines between them to associate one with the other.

Let me have your comments below. 

Luca