Good Upwork Profile Tips

Introduction

If you think that a good job proposal is enough to win a job on Upwork, we are here to tell you something important. A good proposal is NOT enough to impress the client. Proposals come to complete the info you share on your Upwork profile and they are just a part of applying to the job. Profiles are perhaps the most important thing in freelancing. 

Whether you are new to Upwork or you have been working there for a while, we have created an awesome guide for you to help you get gigs and improve your workstyle on Upwork. Here we are to discover the secrets to good upwork profiles and how they can help you stand out in the crowd, win high-paying jobs and increase your visibility. 

Whether you are a content creator, translator, web developer, designer, marketing consultant, project manager or someone else, it’s essential to have a 100% complete profile. Below we’ll refer to the main profile aspects that play a crucial role in creating a high-quality and eye-catching upwork profile. 

Profile Picture

A professional, friendly and positive profile picture is a must for an upwork freelancer. It’s almost impossible to gain clients without having a profile picture in your account. And while a client can create a profile without a picture, the freelancer has to introduce themselves with a high-quality and engaging photograph. Try to pick a close-up image of your head and shoulders where you smile and look positive. Keep the background neutral and avoid blurry pictures. 

Video Introduction 

Recently upwork has given another great opportunity to its freelancers to impress their potential clients. It’s the chance to add a video where you can talk about yourself, introduce your skills and experience. This way the client easily learns who you are, how you look and what to expect from you. Thus, take your chance and use this great feature to make a short and informational video about your personality and skill set. 

Headline and Brief Description 

The headline and the description found on your profile tells a lot about you. Although it’s not recommended to write a long description, it’s still necessary to cover all the important things that relate to your work field. You can take a look at the profiles of some successful freelancers to learn how a good profile description looks. They usually include bulleted lists to showcase their skills. The headline must show who you are: a developer, content writer, photographer, marketing consultant, project manager, etc. 

Skill Set 

As for skill set, here you need to be accurate. Try not to include skills that don’t match your profession or profile or try to create a separate profile for a skill set that differs from your main workfield. In this case we recommend keeping it well-organized. 

For instance, if you are both a content creator and a web developer, it’s better to have two profiles inside your primary profile. Depending on what you do better, you can decide which profile is primary. It’s usually called a general profile and the second one describes your other skills and experience. It’s great to see how upwork takes care of details. 

Portfolio

Next comes the portfolio. What is a portfolio? It’s usually a visual representation of what you’ve done in the past. It's another awesome part of the profile that allows you to demonstrate your best works to your potential clients. If you have already completed a project, you can showcase it in your portfolio and attach it to the job you’ve completed on upwork. 

This can include screenshots, photos, videos, documents, URLs, etc. Each of the portfolio items is represented along with a short description that tells about the project. This way your potential clients will easily find out what you are able to do for specific projects. 

Education

Include every possible experience related to your education and courses you have taken in the past. This should be done in a chronological order. A detailed description of each education field will help you showcase some of your best practices and skills. 

Testimonials

Besides clients’ reviews/feedback you can also have testimonials on your profile. Testimonials are an awesome way to show your work experience if you don’t have feedback from upwork clients yet. This section is usually used to show the experience you had with your clients outside upwork. On the other hand, you can also request testimonials from your upwork clients. These quick notes and feedback will enrich your profile and make it visually more appealing. 

Employment History

Don’t forget to add employment history the way you do in the education section. It should be in a chronological order and will represent your experience in different fields. You can add remote employment history too. 

Project Catalog

The project catalog is something new on upwork and few people use it. We are here to tell you that you need to use this upwork feature if you offer services. By creating a project catalog you can offer a package with a cost, timeline and additional details related to a specific project. Clients can view your project catalog and buy your projects if they need. 

Other Experiences 

The section of ‘Other experiences’ allows you to add other work history, education, courses that don’t have a direct association with your current profession but they can be interesting for a client. Here you can also add some experiences related to your hobbies or voluntary work. 

Tests/Quizzes

Upwork gives you a chance to prove you have the skills mentioned in your profile. For instance, if you are a linguist, translator or a language specialist, you can take a specific upwork test/quiz related to your education, skills and experience. The best part about those tests is that you can overtake them if you are not satisfied with the result. This allows you to showcase the most satisfying result with the highest score you gain. Then your clients can see that you have the  skills mentioned in your profile. 

Hourly Rate

You can always work on fixed priced jobs, but it’s mandatory to mention an hourly rate on your profile. If you are unaware of the current rates for your workfield, you can search for other talents’ profiles and see what average hourly rate they offer to their clients. 

Some may charge little and some others may come with high rates. It all depends on the freelancer’s  experience and skill set. If you are a newbie then consider offering a reasonable rate to win a job. Note that upwork doesn’t support rates under $3.00 USD per hour for hourly contracts. You can always change/edit your hourly rate. 

Verification

The final step to make the profile 100% complete is going through a verification. Every upwork freelancer must verify their identity through an ID, video call and by providing some supporting documentation if necessary. This helps them earn an Identity Verified badge on their profile.

Conclusion 

Here Adam Palmer, a successful freelancer, freelance king and an agency owner on upwork, has created a helpful guide on youtube on how to make a perfect upwork profile. Make sure you go through it too, to learn additional secrets to a good upwork profile. Also click below to download the free Profile Optimization: https://www.freelanceking.com/profile-optimization