Upwork search engine not the same for Client and General

[usairem05]

Hi there,

My friend just made a Clients account to hire some Writers, and i asked him to see if i featured in his searches if he searched for PCB Designers. And to my surprise when he searched for PCB Designers, he got all sorts of guys of Web Design Category, Graphic design etc but did not get much of PCB Designers. Also when he logged off from the account and then searched for PCB Designers, I was featuring at no.4. 

So how is it that I feature at no.4 in PCB Designer search on the main website but for a client i am not even in the first 4 pages.

Please help, this terrifies me and i think thats the reason i am not getting much of the invites.

Thanks

[prestonhunter]

You are correct. The search engine works differently for different people. This is intentional.

You are also correct in pointing out that the Upwork search tools work differently then other search tools you may have used, such as Google.

Upwork intentionally rotates search results. So the results one week may be different he next. This is done to give different freelancers an opportunity to be found in searches.

My advice is to not search for yourself. Focus on doing great work for your clients, and your opportunities will increase. Trying to figure out Upwork search and "optimize" results for yourself is a rabbit hole that you can go down but are unlikely to find satisfaction from.

[usairem05]

Yeah i dont focus on looking my self up on search engines, or try to optimize, but the thing is that he doesnt get true PCB Designers when he searches for them. What he gets are a few electrical engineers with PCB Design specialities and rest all are extra guys who do web designing etc. 

My point is that he or any client who wants to hire, should get the best relative Freelancers upon searches. Not a few right and rest all un wanted people.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

Usairem:

You are pointing out that sometimes the search tool seems to be providing more useful results. And sometimes... not so much.

As a client I have hired over 100 freelancers on Upwork, often for very specialized tasks. Based on my experience, I agree with you.

I have often done searches for freelancers and found the results to be sub-optimal. I have found that there are highly qualified freelancers on Upwork, but often they aren't whom I see in initial search result pages.

I suppose my approach has been simply to use the tools as they are, to the best of my ability. If I was the project manager for Upwork search, then I would continue trying to improve the tool for all users. But that is not my job. To be fair, I think this is a very difficult task, which requires balancing competing priorities on a very large site. I don't doubt that Upwork is always trying to improve.

[petra_r]

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Usairem A wrote:

My friend just made a Clients account to hire some Writers

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Of course "your friend" did...

[usairem05]

Well yes he did.. And i am sorry but that is offensive.

[abinadab-agbo]

Usairem,

The search results are as good as what you put into it.

So, most clients find that they get more relevant profiles thrown at them when they posted a quality job description first, then try to invite from among the suggested freelancers. Using this method you are more likely to get freelancers who have the skills, availability and reputation you require in the job post.

Those profiles are usually more relevant than just entering a random keyword in the search box on a random day.