As a buyer on oDesk, one of the features I see abused most often is the “Job Message Board.” oDesk provides the Job Message Board alongside each job description, and it’s a handy tool, but misuse of it causes many providers to be rejected.
Some of the providers are spammers, so it’s no surprise they don’t make the cut (I’ve received the exact same message of the Job Message Boards for three separate–and completely different–job I’ve posted). But many providers are what I think of as “inadvertent offenders”–freelancers who aren’t experienced enough with oDesk to know that they’re messing up.
For the second group, here is a quick overview of the Job Message Board. I think it will be most helpful to start with what not to do. 
What the Job Message Board is not for
The Job Message Board is not the place to apply for the job. If you want to apply for the job you’re looking at, use the nice yellow “Apply” button found at the top and bottom of the page. I can’t tell you how many freelancers never get a shot with me because they don’t apply in the right place.
Why does it matter? Because oDesk allows buyers to see a convenient list of candidates for a given job, and provides the option to interview, hire, or reject each of them. There’s also a private rating system so buyers can keep track of their impressions of each provider.
If you don’t apply using the “Apply” button, you won’t be on the list of candidates. The buyer is likely to overlook you entirely, and if she does notice you, she may forget to come back to you.
Beyond that, the buyer then has to go out of her way to hunt down your profile (not always an easy task) and invite you to interview. Those are extra steps that you’re making the buyer do because you didn’t read the instructions. Given the choice between you and an equally talented candidate who applied the right way, who do you think she’ll choose?
What the Job Message Board is for
Even though 90% of the messages I see on the Job Message Board are inappropriate applications, it’s there for a good reason. When you’re about to post a message, oDesk tells you:
Post a brief message to clarify the buyer’s requirements.
Your message will be public displayed on the Job Message Board.
YOU SHOULD NOT POST YOUR PROFILE OR CONTACT INFO HERE.
As the instructions state and Bill recently suggested, the Job Message Board is a great place to clarify general project requirements. Many of the buyers on oDesk are as new as you are, and they don’t always know what to ask for. (Even experienced buyers will occasionally leave something out; I accidentally forgot a pretty major piece of information on a recent posting.)
If there’s something confusing or overly ambiguous about a job description, the Job Message Board is a great place to politely request clarification.
By asking good questions, you show that you’re capable of thinking through the specifics of a job, and also do the buyer a favor by helping them spend their money wisely. That’s what we call “adding value,” and if you consistently add value, you’ll stand out head-and-shoulders above the swarm of average providers.
Web Site Optimization.
All optimization is not equal. There is such a rush to optimize a website for search engines that people don’t realize that some SEO techniques can be self-defeating. Either a lot of work will go into a particular type of optimization that is fruitless or it can be downright harmful for search engine ranking. A high search-engine ranking is the holy grail of search engine optimization, but make sure you put your energy in the right place.
The first two issues involve web design: don’t use flash or frames when designing a website. These won’t get you banned by search engines;but the site might be ignored entirely. While you can use some flash animation within a site, overuse of flash should be avoided. Search engines like text, not fancy graphics. A flash-heavy site could be passed over. The same goes for a site written with frames;frame-heavy sites confuse search engines so the sites are not properly indexed. The text on a framed site is hidden within the frame, so even if there is ample content within the frame, it will not be read correctly. Verdict: avoid it.
When writing content, make sure the content makes sense. In the early days of the web, people went keyword crazy. They would cram a huge paragraph of keywords throughout a page. This worked for a little while. Now search engines are wise to it and this technique can lead to a site being banned. Website owners try to trick search engines by including the keywords within actual content, but if the keywords are too close together, this could also lead to problems.
Another issue is spamdexing. Never use keywords that don’t apply specifically to a site. This can most often be seen with site owners using adult-themed keywords to bring in unrelated searches. This will cause a site to be quickly red-flagged. Using invisible text is a bad idea as well. Invisible text is the same color as the background. It can be read by spiders, but can’t be read by human eyes. The problem here is that spiders now recognize this technique and it will be red-flagged.
Generally, content should be useful and informative. You can include specific keywords within content, but if you provide enough content, these keywords will be covered automatically without jeopardizing the site with picky search engine spiders. The use of quality content is two-fold: it’s a better way to optimize with search engines and web surfers will spend a longer time on the site reading articles or other content. The trick is to create trust;both with spiders and real people.
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