Improving My Fiverr Gig! Escaping ‘Impressions but No Orders’ [Overseas Side-Job Journal, Vol. 9]

Unfortunately (though it’s only natural, laughs), Fiverr orders are still zero.

Leave the zero as it is? Or take action? The answer, of course, is: I act!! Because I have the backing of the AI called Claude.

Previous: Registering with Redbubble — Steps and Impressions

Sorting Out the Problem: Why “Seen but Not Ordered”?

Fiverr has an analysis feature called “Analytics.” You can see impressions (how many times you appeared in search results), clicks, and orders.

Checking my situation, impressions were reasonably there, but clicks were almost none. (Still, thinking “I’m being seen overseas” honestly makes me happy!!)

I consulted Claude right away, and they organized it like this for me.

• Low impressions → you’re not appearing in search (a tag/title problem)
• High impressions but few clicks → the thumbnail is weak
• Clicks but zero orders → the description, price, or profile is weak

In my case, impressions existed. In other words, the problem was “appearing in search but not being clicked.” The cause is the thumbnail, the title, or both.

Improvement 1: I Changed the Title

First, reviewing the title. The title before the change was this.

I will draw a taisho showa retro portrait illustration in japanese anime style

When someone in the English-speaking world thinks “I want a Japanese historical portrait drawn,” what keywords would they search? Thinking it through together with Claude, the policy became to put “Japanese” and “Historical” up front.

After the change:

Japanese Historical Portrait in Taisho Showa Retro Anime Style

By the way, when I first typed it with “I will” attached, Fiverr rejected it with an error (laughs). Fiverr automatically adds “I will” to the head of titles, so it wasn’t needed in the text. Even so, as someone who doesn’t understand English well, I still don’t really get it (laughs).

Improvement 2: I Switched the Tags to “Words Searched in the English-Speaking World”

This time I also reviewed the tags. My previous tags were Japanese sensibilities translated directly into English. This was also on Claude’s instructions, but…

I had Claude think again about “what words do people in the English-speaking world use when searching for Japanese retro illustrations,” and rebuilt the tags. I hadn’t realized the obvious: “the words I would use” and “the words foreigners actually search with” are different.

Improvement 3: I Fixed the Delivery-Time Mismatch

Looking at Fiverr’s analytics screen, my gig’s “average delivery days” was displayed as 10 days. However, in the actual gig settings, it was “as fast as 5 days.”

Claude pointed out this contradiction to me. If the average delivery time from your track record and the gig’s set days are out of alignment, it may be evaluated negatively by Fiverr’s algorithm.

As a countermeasure, I changed the Premium plan’s delivery time from 10 days to 7 days, making all plans consistent.

The Iron Rule: “Don’t Tweak Too Much”

Once you know the improvements, you want to fix everything. But Claude told me this.

“Every time you update a gig on Fiverr, the algorithm starts re-evaluating it. Updating too much carries the risk of resetting the ranking you’ve built up. One small fix every 10–14 days is the right answer.“

After improving, wait a while for results. That patience is the hard part (wry smile).

The Thumbnail Is Still Being Improved

Honestly, I want to change the thumbnail too. I’m currently using the Shizuka Gozen work, but I’m considering changing it to my signature work, Salome.

However, changing the thumbnail counts as a “big update,” so I plan to do it once the title, tag, and delivery-time fixes have settled, watching the timing.

Improved — Now We Wait

I fixed the three points — title, tags, delivery time — and I’m now in a wait-and-see state. Honestly, zero orders continues.

But I feel it’s a big change to have gone from “doing nothing” to “forming hypotheses and acting.” Even if you can’t speak English, you can think through strategy while conversing with Claude. That alone is completely different from worrying alone.

Accepting the reality of zero orders as reality, I’ll keep at it steadily.

Next Time

Next time, in Vol. 10, I’ll bring you the Fine Art America (FAA) registration challenge. The SMS verification that never arrives, the direct appeal to support, two weeks of struggle… the reality of “can registering really be this hard?” — I’ll share it with you.

Next: My Two-Week Battle to Register on FAA (Part 1)

The big comparison of 5 overseas platforms is here