Outsourcing has become such an established practice. It is no wonder that the number of available online sites offering their brokerage services is growing by the hour. They attempt to reach, both potential clients and those freelancers or organizations/agencies offering them. But how should ‘either side’ navigate through these? How should they find top-quality outsourcing websites and how can they make the right choice for them?
In actual circumstances, the element of top-quality outsourcing websites can vary from which viewpoint you take a look at the plethora of currently existing sites. The advantages and disadvantages of some websites can be different for potential outsourcing clients on one hand, and those offering services on the other.
Potential clients will seek sites that will offer them the right balance between top-quality service and the investment they need to make. They would seek a website that will offer them the highest ratio of freelancers/agencies that offer a high level of quality and efficiency, with the highest possible level of their input at as low price as possible. The higher the competition on offer is, the higher is the chance that they will land the right person/agency to do their outsourcing job.
The job seekers, on the other hand, will look for those websites that offer some advantages in their favor. They would need a site where they stand a better chance of landing a job. A site where there are more jobs on offer and where their specialty can be noticed. They would also seek a site where they can land clients that can offer them a more constant flow of work. Of course, they would be more interested in the site where they can achieve better pay rates.
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This post was updated in June 2021
Where do the clients and those offering services agree on top quality outsourcing websites?
Still, there is a number of points where both potential clients and those offering services agree when quality outsourcing websites are concerned.
The first criteria are the level of choice on offer. Clients want to pick the best fit possible for their job. Freelancers/agencies want to visit sites that are frequented by more potential clients. This will give them a better chance of getting a job that suits them.
The second would be the clarity of how the outsourcing website operates. Both clients and freelancers/agencies want to have a precise idea of what kind of jobs are on offer and who offers them and how they are organized. Either want their possible search to be precise, efficient, and quick.
They also want to have an absolutely clear idea of how a certain outsourcing website organizes its operation. This includes elements such as:
- the application process, vetting, and testing of freelancers/agencies;
- does it, and if so how does it check if potential clients are bona fide, i.e. will they honor their side of obligations, particularly the eventual payments;
- the organization of the site itself, the ease of navigation and presentation of potential clients and freelancers/agencies;
- the outstanding elements specific to each site, including special services on offer.
While the needs and the ideas on all of the above points might differ, there is one where both sides will agree. That is, they will seek the outsourcing website that takes the lowest level of commission from either the clients or the freelancers/agencies.
Those sites where mutual interests converge in most cases produce the best results for both sides and can hold the top quality title. But, finding those might not be such a straightforward task.
Outsourcing site aggregators and what to look for
If finding a top-quality outsourcing website would be an easy task, there wouldn’t be so many aggregators and ‘best of’ lists of them around. You could then just look at a number of potential visitors or the Alexa ranking of certain sites and presto!
But, ‘where everybody goes’ could be a solution, but very often isn’t the right one. The traffic at those sites could be large, but the quality of jobs or services on offer may not be what either side of an outsourcing job project is looking for.
That is where the aggregating or listing sites come in handy. But then, as far as outsourcing work goes, the number of such aggregating/listing sites can be as large and as cumbersome as finding the right outsourcing site itself.
They could range from listing just a few sites, something convenient for those specific needs, or fall into a specific category. Such aggregators list just a few potential candidate sites, in most cases less than ten. These could be if clients are, say, micro-entrepreneurs. Or, if the clients or freelancers are looking or offering specific skills. The could list IT or translation services. Also, both clients and those offering services might look at a site that lists alternatives to a site they are already familiar with.
In most cases, the number of outsourcing sites these aggregators quotes ranges from 10to 25. Still, one of the most complete lists of outsourcing websites is prepared by Feedspot. Their list has 100 entries.
Still, even when going through these lists it is essential for both clients and work-seekers to know as precisely as possible what they are looking for and to have a number of choices so they could make a list of their alternatives.
Are the big-name sites the top quality outsourcing websites?
In many cases, the first place many clients will go to would be outsourcing giants. The problem there, particularly for freelancers and/or agencies is that job listings include both outsourcing (freelance) and full-time jobs.
Even if you narrow the search to freelance, remote, or part-time jobs there can be unsuitable overlaps.
The second tier of sites includes very large outsourcing sites. The offer of both jobs and clients is very large and includes everything from finding a full stack developer for hire to ghostwriters. Still, finding a good fit for either side can often be a painstaking process, almost like a lottery.
Some clients and freelancers often resort to quick overturn and small payment sites. There, clients are on a tight budget, and freelancers need a quick job or are novices.
The next level of sites that both clients and freelancers refer to are more specialized sites that concentrate on technical clients and freelancers, BunnyStudio, which focuses on content writing, voice acting, and translation as well as design and video content.
In general, more specialized sites like BunnyStudio have much stricter criteria when selecting both clients and particularly freelancers/agencies. This is where both the quality, value, and reputation all converge. Very often, the reputation of such sites goes beyond the number of actual clicks.
Still, the key element to define a top-quality outsourcing website lies in the concrete experiences of both clients and freelancers/agencies. Each side should have a very defined plan and the idea of what they want to achieve. Then, they will be able to make exactly the right choice. There, even a very resourceful aggregator or listing site can make at least one of two mistakes. They can miss a good choice or list an outsourcing website that doesn’t really deserve the adjective top.
