Understanding and improving your Profile Quality Index
Your agency’s success on Sortlist depends heavily on the quality of your profile.
To help you grow visibility and trust, we created the Profile Quality Index (PQI) — a data-driven score that helps you measure, understand, and improve your presence on our platform.
A higher PQI directly translates into greater visibility, better client matches, and more business opportunities.
📊 What is the PQI?
The PQI is scored on a scale from 0 to 100% and is made up of five key subscores, each evaluating essential aspects of your agency’s presence. Each subscore has a direct impact on your visibility in client searches.
Your dashboard provides full transparency into your PQI, breaking down the score and guiding you on where to improve. PQI levels range from Beginner to Outstanding, helping you track progress and prioritize your efforts.
PQI subscores breakdown with tasks
Your PQI id made out of 6 different subscores.These subscores and task breakdowns offer valuable insights into areas for improvement, enabling you to identify strengths and weaknesses in your profile.
Let's deep dive into each PQI subscore:
🔓 1. Set your Profile Live
Live Profiles are central to Sortlist’s mission: making it easy for clients to find trustworthy, ready-to-work partners.
A profile is considered "Live" when it meets a baseline standard for transparency, completeness, and engagement.
Why having a Live Profile?
When your profile is live, you:
🔍 Appear in client searches and directories
🤝 Get shortlisted and contacted directly by clients
⚡ Access the Opportunity and Visibility modules to unlock more leads
If your profile is not live, it will not be visible on the platform — which means no new leads or visibility.
🛠 How to Go Live
Your dashboard will guide you step by step. To meet the Live Profile standard, make sure your profile includes:
A company logo
A professional cover image
A clear agency description
At least one published case study or project
Connected social media profiles
A verified phone number (new requirement)
More information about live profiles here
😇 2. Boost your transparency
Your tagline: A short, impactful statement that communicates your unique value proposition.
Year of establishment: Demonstrates your agency’s experience and history.
Remote work availability: Let clients know if you offer remote services — this highlights your flexibility and adaptability, qualities that are highly valued by modern businesses.
💡 Tips:
Craft a tagline that’s short, specific, and showcases your positioning.
Add your founding year to reinforce credibility.
If you offer remote work, make it clear. Clients increasingly seek partners who can collaborate across distances, time zones, and formats.
🚀 3. Showcase your talent
This category focuses on the services you offer. To maximize your score, provide detailed descriptions for each service, showcasing the range and expertise of your offerings.
This subscore reflects the depth and clarity of the services you offer. It’s your chance to prove that you’re not just capable — you’re the right fit.
📌 To improve this score, provide:
A complete list of your services
Detailed descriptions for each one, including features and benefits
Skills that reflect your capabilities and specialties
Clear budget ranges to set client expectations
💡Tips:
Craft compelling descriptions for each service, highlighting their unique features and benefits.
Use relevant keywords to accurately represent the skills and expertise associated with each service.
Provide a transparent pricing structure to set clear expectations for potential clients.
👥 4. Present your team
Clients want to work with people, not just brands. Your team section helps create that essential personal connection and builds trust from the start.
This subscore measures how effectively you introduce the real people behind your agency.
📌 Here’s what to include:
Claimed agency profile – ensures your account is verified and managed
At least two profile managers – shows there’s a responsive, dedicated team behind the profile
A team picture – gives a human face to your agency
A team story – share your mission, values, and journey
💡 Tips:
Use your team story to tell more than just a history — show your passion, culture, and what sets your team apart.
Choose a warm, high-quality team photo that reflects your professionalism.
Assign multiple managers so clients know you’re responsive and organized.
This section helps humanize your agency and sets the stage for lasting relationships with potential clients.
5. 🎨 Highlight your best work
Your portfolio is one of the most important parts of your profile. It’s where potential clients get a real sense of your capabilities, creativity, and the impact of your work.
This subscore evaluates the quality, relevance, and completeness of the work you showcase.
📌 What you need to do:
Upload at least 10 total works
These should be actual projects completed for past clients, ideally including high-quality visuals, goals, challenges, strategies, and outcomes.Add 3 new works for each key service area
Projects should reflect your specialties and be completed within the last 2 years.
💡 Tips:
Choose a mix of projects that highlight range and depth.
Be clear and structured in your project descriptions: outline the objectives, your strategy, and the results.
Use high-quality images, videos, or assets where applicable.
Prioritize recent work to show you’re actively delivering results in your field.
A rich, well-organized portfolio helps clients visualize what it’s like to work with you — and boosts your PQI by proving your expertise with real, verifiable work.
🎖 6. Become a Trusted Partner
Clients today don’t just want services — they want certainty. That’s where the Trusted Partner Badge comes in.
This new badge replaces the old "SL Badge." Unlike the previous version, which was based only on platform activity, the Trusted Partner Badge is earned by demonstrating quality, trust, and credibility.
Requirements:
To earn the Trusted Partner Badge, you must:
Maintain an average rating of 4.0 or higher on Sortlist
Have at least 10 verified client reviews
Be a Sortlist+ member with access to premium features
Provide a valid company registration number, which will:
Be displayed in your profile’s "About" section
Be independently verified for business legitimacy and financial stability
💬 Learn more about the Trusted Partner Badge here
Why it Matters:
Boosts visibility in search results
Increases credibility with clients
Shows you’re a proven, reliable partner
💡 The badge isn't just a label — it's a signal. It tells potential clients: “This agency has been reviewed, verified, and delivers quality work.”
Keep Improving, Keep Growing
Your PQI is a living score — it grows as your agency evolves. Regular updates, from publishing new projects to requesting reviews, are the key to unlocking new opportunities.
🎯 Final Tips:
Check your dashboard regularly – it shows exactly what’s missing and how to fix it.
Update your profile frequently to reflect your latest work and capabilities.
Celebrate small wins – every improvement boosts your visibility.
Your journey toward an outstanding PQI begins now! ✨