Improvements to Freelancer Search Experience for Clients

[#1]

On March 20, we launched a new test feature to help clients searching for freelancers more easily view the information that’s most critical to them.

Check out the product release for Improvements to Freelancer Search Experience for Clients and let us know your thoughts about this update in the comments below.

[#2]

How are the results sorted? Looking at your example it seems that jobs completed is the top facture. Is this true? If not, what is the main sorting criteria?

[#3]

Hi Christopher, 

I can confirm that this test doesn't affect ranking in any way. Various factors go into search results. Some considerations may include freelancer skills, experience, platform ratings, and other elements to determine a potential match for the client's job.

[#4]

Are only Community Managers able to initiate posts on this Feedback page?

[#5]

Hi Pat, 

That is correct. This section of the Community is where we collect feedback for tests and features we post here. Feel free to share your feedback on the Freelancer board, and if it's related to another post or thread, we'll be sure to merge it there. 

[#6]

I noticed that search results no longer include the first two lines of the freelancer's profile overview/summary. This could mean clients will focus more on the freelancer's title, number of jobs, earnings, and skills categories, but only time will tell.

I now see the announcement here .

[#7]

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Clark S wrote:

I noticed that search results no longer include the first two lines of the freelancer's profile overview/summary. This could mean clients will focus more on the freelancer's title, number of jobs, earnings, and skills categories, but only time will tell.

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It means Upwork realises that many new freelancers can't write a good profile overview to save their lives, and is trying to help them out by hiding their incompetence. Of course, this takes away any advantages for those of us who've put a lot of time and effort into our profiles, and will further decrease the number of invitations that we receive. 

[#8]

Yes, the advantage is now gone.

I had been advising folks to review the first two lines in their profile summaries and confirm the content and its impact because the first two lines are shown in search results.

Oh well--no need to keep giving that advice!

[#9]

I believe that the first 2 line of freelancers profile should be restored. It's actually a good feature that let the client check you out quickly rather than going to the main profile itself. It's also an advantage for those people that optimize the profile and put effort to be noticed. 

[#10]

“they only need three pieces of information to determine if freelancers can provide high-quality services that match their needs” … “hourly rate, number of completed jobs, and Job Success Score.”

Which means for new freelances two out of the three skill profile criteria will throw them at the bottom of the list. their chances of starting a work in the platform will get shrank.

[#11]

This change is designed to benefit newbies. Are you suggesting that there shouldn't be any way at all for clients to find an experienced, highly-rated freelancer, and no advantages whatsoever for the freelancers who've worked hard to provide good service and build a good reputation here?

[#12]

Can newcomers obtain clients and how can new accounts attract clients?

[#13]

I am a Freelancer and a Client. I hire other Freelancers for clients all the time off of Upwork. This new format strips away the personality of the Freelancer by eliminating the first 2 lines of their profile's bio from showing.  I use this information to help vet whose profile I want to view in more detail. The new design, striping it away, would ultimately make the process of hiring become more labor intensive - because instead of scanning the snapshot of bios, I would have to click into profile after profile after profile after profile to see ther personality of the Freelancer to decide if I want to connect with them.  That means instead of viewing 10 preferred Freelancers profiles, I'd have to go into 30-50.

So, the current format might be a tad itty bitty bit confusing to new clients, but, once they adjust to the platform, they'll appreciate the way the searches are done to find freelancers as is.  For all new clients and Freelancers it always takes some mental adjustment to get used to a platform's design, how to use, all the benefits, etc.  I'd rather a client have to spend some time adjusting than to have the search results so heavily diminished in information that it makes the overall hiring process more labor intensive. 

Also, when I'm looking to hire Freelancers, I do like to see their past earnings.  I often hire those with no past earnings and have often been the first to hire a Freelancer on this platform.  So, earnings provide me with knowledge about the Freelancer before viewing their profile, but, it doesn't stop me from hiring someone who is new to the platform.  So, I don't particularly like the new design - it strips away the personality of the indiviudal Freelancers and makes the overall hiring process more labor intensive.

I'd rather spend a week learning the platform as a new client, than have to go through 30-50 profiles when I could have glanced at the mini bios in the search and gone into the 10 profiles I like the most. Long-term, it's less labor intensive for me with the current platform search design as someone who hires other Freelancers.

[#14]

Sherry,

I think it's important to show the Earnings otherwise a Profile with $5,000 could appear the same as a $1,000,000 Profile on the surface until a client starts clicking around. New clients don't know about clicking around.

Showing Earnings doesn't take an extra line and would fit perfectly with the proposed new design.

I agree with you also that clients that already know how to use the site will have to spend many times the effort to locate the freelancer of choice. A new client if the searches are poor results will think that is all Upwork has to offer. New clients frequently don't know how or don't use the left navigation bar.

Why not keep things as is and consider a button to click for a short form? The tech team would know within a week if clients wanted the short form.

[#15]

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William T C wrote:

Sherry,

I think it's important to show the Earnings otherwise a Profile with $5,000 could appear the same as a $1,000,000 Profile on the surface until a client starts clicking around. New clients don't know about clicking around.

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A profile showing $5k in UW earnings could easily be much more qualified and a much better fit for a project than one showing $1,000,000, especially if a client wants to be sure the work is not being farmed out. Many of the most successful professionals on the platform obtain only a portion of their clients and income through Upwork.

In any case, UW might have unwittingly created another self-filter for prospective clients, i.e., I'd be less interested in discussing opportunities with one who doesn't know any better than to rely primarily on these metrics rather than scanning the provile overview thumbnails as Sherry described. Unfortunately, they've also -- as usual -- created yet another obstacle for best-match clients, for at least soem of us.

[#16]

Phyllis,

I am in agreement with Sherry.

If the information is too surface, it can make the freelancers look identical when they are not which causes clients to waste time searching the site even more.

[#17]

Earnings are important. Feedback they have, even success rate, aren't the same thing if it's 20 quick jobs (few months of work) or 20 big projects (many years). 

Just remove those badges, they are useless. As an employer I don't care about "rising talent" (for example) at all, what's the point of that badge? It's just too easy to earn them and it tells me nothing. "Top rated" was nice but now you have pretty much two duplicated things, job success rate and top rated, and I don't see why. Just keep one

[#18]

Agreed.

As a new freelancer I don't give a **edited for Community Guidelines** about those badges either.

It feels like a game, and I don't play. 

I don't have time to waste checking five notifications a day because I liked someone's comment, or replied on a comment.

I want to know if someone replied on my proposal, my message, or invited me on an interview. That's all.

[#19]

I think you should take a break and stop improving the lives of freelancers and clients. You have already improved this platform so much. All the clients are running away, and now the freelancers are too. I also wonder if the exchange is working or is it some kind of glitch in the system. I see jobs that were posted 3, 6, 8 hours ago. Is it really that bad, or is it still a technical glitch.

[#20]

I've thought the same thing about, "you have already improved this platform so much." Sometimes businesses, like Upwork, have a great platform where everything has been successfully improved.  Then, they keep making changes and end up going backwards because the yet, "newer and improved" versions are actually done more to make a change to the site to make the site look new and modern because it's different but it is no longer an actual improvement.  For me, this is one of those instances. For me, this doesn't look like an improvement. It looks like they're going backwards and just trying to make changes to make the platform seem modern. Everyone is always trying to improve things, yet, things are pretty great as they are because they've already been successfully improved in the past.

For example, putting a pink, blue or green badge next to our photos.  That's not an improvement. Clients will have no clue what the Pink badge means, nor the blue, nor the green - unless they take time to research it.  It makes the search more streamlined looking. But, is that an actual improvement? No. 

Like taking out our country of origin.  Does that improve things? Clients sometimes want only talent from the Philippines.  How are they supposed to see at a glance who is from the Philippines and who is not? They can't. Instead, they have to enter the profiles, look, exit the profiles. Enter the next profile, look, exit.  Or, they have take the time to learn how to do Advanced search where they choose to do a search where only Freelancers from the Philippines show.

Knowing the job skills they selected is nice, but, it doesn't really tell me if they're any good at it or not. Having the 2 liner from the bio helps to give me an idea if they might be. With that gone, I would have to go into the profile, look, exit. go to the next profile, look, exit. Go to the next profile, look, exit. Very time consuming and labor intensive.  It would get physically and mentally exhausting looking through every single profile just to find out if they are actually as experienced as I need. Or, on the flip side, when I look to hire people new to the platform.  If I have to go through 100 profiles just to get the information I need rather than glancing through the searches and picking the 20 best ones that stand out - that would just get mentally and physically exhausting.

[#21]

It is sad.
I thought to check the profiles(3) of the Community Blog article providers, and although it says they were last seen 2–3 days ago, their profiles are gone.

As a new freelancer hearing that clients are leaving is not very encouraging. 

Do I check Fiverr? or is it the same ...

I understand that every lesson, every improvement on my profile, or BIO, I learn to do is a plus; no matter if I get hired in this platform or not. But I don't have the time to go through 200 articles (to only collect badges).

Asides, I can get those lessons from other places, and improve my existing profile there.

I worked about 350 hours helping a “friend” set up her website, during the crazy period we went through, knowing that I will not get fully compensated. But, when she was in a better position she made the working experience unbearable.  

I joined Upwork so I can boost my income, while building my confidence, and business, not to spend 10 hours a day reading articles, or find a job that pays $3.

“Work On It, Not Just In It”.

[#22]

I totally agree with this, the number of jobs should be highlighted. But the amount earned should be kept as well, it's all four of them, in my opinion.

[#23]

It is suggested that at least the number of jobs completed and earnings shall be shown in the search page.

[#24]

It seems like Upwork recently updated the design of search results but isn't showing the freelancer location in the search results (the previous version did).  This is vital information to see on the search results page for context. Is this an oversight or a permanent change?

[#25]

Why not give clients the ability to customize the data they wish to see (i.e. "most critical to them")? Job done.