Google is an amazing tool for a lot of reasons. It remains the gateway to the internet, with 60 trillion pages indexed and 2 trillion searches annually. There are plenty of freelance sites and job boards out there to help you find clients, but don’t forget Google as another powerful option.
Here’s a crash course for freelancers on using Google to find leads.
1. Use Google keyword search
Google makes it easy to find leads if you search for exact match keywords. When you type something into Google (e.g. freelance designer wanted), include quotation marks around the phrase. Then Google will only return results with those keywords.
Here are some other keywords you can search for to bring up leads: “Designer wanted,” “hiring designer” and “designer needed”.
If you’re a writer and you work in a specific niche, you can also search for something more specific, like finance “writer needed”. This will return results where “writer needed” is an exact match, and “finance” also appears somewhere on the page. You’ll probably have much less results to sift through, but they’re more relevant.
Get creative with your keywords and see which ones bring up the most relevant results. Some sites will post job openings with different language, such as “request for proposals website design” or “RFP designer”.
Just below the search bar, make sure you click “Tools,” then change the results from “Any time” to “Past week” so you’re only looking at fresh job postings.
2. Use Google Alerts
Instead of typing your keywords into Google all the time to find leads, set up a Google Alert so they’ll come right to your inbox. Head to www.google.com/alerts and type your search term into the field.
Once you create the alert, Google will send you an email when pages containing your keyword show up. The alert will come as a digest -- you can choose to receive once a day or once a week. Time is of the essence if they’re already looking to hire, so I’d set it to once a day.
Make sure you select “Automatic” when you set up the alert. This ensures you’ll receive notification when your keywords appear in any online source, including blogs or discussion forums. There are also options to filter your results by region and relevance if you want.
3. Follow the money
You don’t have to use Google Alerts just to find sites with an open job listing. You can also look for businesses to cold pitch to.
For example, say you’re a freelance writer for the marketing niche. Set up a Google alert for things like “marketing firm merger” or “email marketing funding.” Then you’ll receive news articles discussing businesses that are 1) in for a big change, or 2) just got a bunch of money.
Check out their site and see if their blog isn’t up to date, or if there are other issues that your freelance services can help with. These are good options to target for a cold pitch.
Keywords like “merger,” “funding” or “acquisition” are all indicators of a corporate shakeup. They’re probably going to need to hire some people soon to adapt to these changes, and you can help.
4. Track yourself
You can also use Google Alerts to track mentions of you or your company name as they appear on the web. How does this help you find leads?
Well, tracking conversations about your freelance business around the web makes it easier for you to participate in them. Someone could be asking a question about your services, and it’s easier to convert those leads if you’re the one to answer.
It also matters for reputation management. If an unhappy client is speaking poorly about you online, you need to respond to it and try to reconcile the problem. This helps you maintain a positive brand image, which is essential for lead generation.
5. Track your competitors
Just like you track mentions of your own brand across the web, you should also set up alerts for your biggest competitors. Say you get a keyword alert for “John Doe Web Design” and find a forum discussion:
“Have any of you worked with John Doe Web Design? What do you think of their work?”
Then, instead of commenting on your competitor, you can join the conversation and offer up your own services as an alternative. You can also take advantage of your competitors’ disgruntled clients by offering them a new option.
Job boards and freelance sites are easy ways to find potential leads because they’re all in one place. But every other freelancer is pitching to these businesses, and there’s always someone with a lower price.
With the help of Google, you can find freelance business leads with much less or even no competition. Just take your time, experiment with your keywords, and keep up with the strategies that bring results.
