For those who don’t know what Fiverr is, it’s a platform where people all over the world can buy or sell services (on Fiverr they are called Gigs). Fiverr is famous for being able to buy a Gig for $5. In this Fiverr website review, I will talk about Fiverr from 2 perspectives (as a buyer and as a seller) and share my experiences with both.
Fiverr website review – as a Buyer
When I found out about Fiverr, I used it in the first place to buy services. From creating a logo to writing blog posts to create backlinks. I checked and I placed my first order on January 26th of 2016.
And I just checked while writing this article and I currently have 100 completed orders o.O
Soo, I am quite an experienced buyer on Fiverr you could say. 6 years ago I started my online journey and in the beginning, I did all the work myself. Then I outsourced a few jobs on other sites, but then mainly bought services on Fiverr as you can see.
Fiverr Website Review: Gigs I can recommend
I will now mention some categories that I can recommend to buy as a service on Fiverr and I won’t be able to mention all, but just the ones where I have experience in ordering.
Graphic design
This is probably the only category I can recommend, which means all the graphic design Gigs I ordered were fully satisfying!
From creating an eBook cover to a Facebook banner to a logo… you name it!
Manual submissions
Manual submissions of comments, links on forums, social media etc. Make always sure to get real proof and to let them send you where exactly they submitted something. Once you bought a few different Gigs, pick the seller that satisfied you the most. Loyalty can also be very rewarding here for everybody.
Fiverr Gigs you should be careful with
Here I will mention some Gigs where I had good but also bad experiences. Sooo, what you should do to avoid bad experiences in general when ordering: contact the seller before ordering and see if that person is able to deliver what you need.
Backlinks
This is one type of service you should be careful with. I will give you 500 high-quality backlinks. Sure you will and hurt my Google ranking. Buying backlinks is unnatural and Google doesn’t like that at all. If you buy backlinks search for manual submission ones and not this massive quantity. 5 good backlinks can go a looong way when starting out. Also, if you are not so familiar with SEO rather avoid buying this type of service, it can be really hurtful to your site if you don’t know what you are doing.
Content creation
There are a lot of content creators on Fiverr. By content in this context, I mean text. There are gigs where they will write a blog post for you, an entire eBook, a press release, an email marketing sequence, and so on. This is one of the Gigs where you definitely won’t get good quality by just spending $5. Especially for writing, I didn’t really have good experiences (I ordered blog posts and eBooks). If you are interested in a great alternative where you will get qualitative writers, go to the section “Outsourcing writing” in the following blog post: Thoughts about writing.
Fiverr Gigs you should avoid
Here I only have one category to mention…
Buying traffic
Yes, I bought these kinds of gigs. But it really isn’t worth it. There might be some sellers out there that genuinely promote your site on Social Media, which is good to get some buzz. But in the end, this will also not really help your site. You have to build a brand online and be recognizable and build trust. By just posting one of your articles to some groups once, that won’t make a big difference. In the end, the best approach is always to grow organically. Sure, it takes longer, but it’s worth it! Instead buy a Gig to create a cool logo and header for Facebook or Instagram and start building an audience there!
The point as a buyer is, know your sellers and get familiar with them!
Fiverr website review – as a Seller
After about a month of using Fiverr to buy Gigs, I thought why not sell some services myself. I honestly don’t really remember the timespan between setting up my Gigs and getting my first order, but it must have been at least 1 month in between.
And no, it didn’t just magically appear. I wrote to a lot of buyer requests and also promoted my Gigs on other platforms and that’s how I got to my first order. 3 months later I got my second order:
I was a lot into SEO (Search Engine Optimization) at that time, so I offered keyword research for example. One of my advantages on the platform was, that I also speak German and Italian, so this was a Gig for doing keyword research in German for a start-up company. Was a very cool experience.
In total, I earned about 100€ from the end of February 2016 to the end of December 2016.
It’s not a lot, but if you think about that I only promoted my Gigs at the beginning of the year, that’s not too bad. And also, that was the start where I got some contacts for regular work outside of Fiverr. Then I stopped as a seller on Fiverr because I was self-employed and wanted to focus more on my other projects.
I am not an experienced seller, but here a few tips that I know will help you when starting out:
- Start with a price of $5, else no one will order from a new seller (but implement up-sells as you can see from my 2 screenshots)
- Look at other similar Gigs that you want to sell that are doing well (and look at what pictures they are using and what description)
- Answer to 10 buyer requests a day
- Promote your Gigs on Social Media
Your only goal as a new seller is to get some positive reviews (and always over-deliver). Once you got some reviews Fiverr will push your Gigs visibility and more orders will roll in.
This was my honest Fiverr website review!
Soo, the conclusion is: I am still ordering Gigs on Fiverr to this day and I have to say there are A LOT more services available now and I didn’t try all types yet. Just be careful… That’s my only message here. Be sure to get good qualitative service (which you might have to pay more than $5 for).
As a seller, my experiences are a bit outdated and they actually improved the platform a lot to help you as a buyer and seller! Maybe I’ll do a Fiverr challenge in the future, where I’ll try to get as many orders as possible in one month. Let me know in the comments if you would be interested in that 🙂
The last thing, as you know I am also an Affiliate Marketer and all the links in this post are affiliate links (you don’t have to use them, but it would support me). If you are interested in promoting Fiverr yourself, you can join their affiliate program here:
Some solid tips here – it’s really tricky to approach a site like Fiverr or Upwork because there is SUCH a range of quality. I think the reality is that most professional-level writers/designers/artists will not be selling their gigs for $5 for very long, although you’re right that even professionals need to start at $5 to get reviews.
I think your advice to check out reviews and focus on certain types of gigs is pretty solid. But also, if you have more funding, you can probably find good services from content creators, you just won’t be looking at $5 or even $25 gigs…
Might also be worth thinking about the international angle – $5 in developing countries goes a lot farther, so theoretically if you have a coding/designing/marketing job that doesn’t require fluent English, you might get lucky with a service from someone based in a place with a lower cost of living. In developed countries, most people want to make at least $12/hour, which means if they are pricing a blog post for $5, and takes an hour and brings them $4 after Fiverr’s cut…they could be making more as a babysitter.
Thanks for sharing what has worked and hasn’t worked for you on Fiverr. I think these discussions are important.
Thanks for this great comment! This is one aspect that is kinda missing in my review and you are so right. When you buy gigs with higher prices usually the value is also bigger and more qualitative. That’s the thing about Fiverr you can great services for $5 or $100. Very interesting aspect you are adding to this conversation 🙂
My main message is just to be careful because I ordered a lot of different gigs and maybe didn’t put in the time to get to know the seller and in the end, it cost me much more than $5 because it hurt my site. But I also had more than great experiences with new sellers! Because who is serious about making money with Fiverr will overdeliver.
What do I have to do if I want to become a seller on Fiverr? Can you help?
Hi Sean, becoming a seller on Fiverr is totally free. Just head over to this link “Start Selling” and create an account. Once you have done that you have to create the “Gigs” that you will be offering. As I wrote in this Fiverr review already, check out other peoples Gigs to know what sells well and how to describe your service.