You may be wondering why you should even consider using Craigslist to post your classified ads promoting your website and products. If you’re already using other classified advertising sites and using other types of display advertising, what does Craigslist have to offer that you don’t already utilize?
Maybe it’s time for you to take a look at how Craigslist has evolved and how effective it has become for online businesses and websites. Although it started over 10 years ago as a small community website, it is now a national site with a household name. Craigslist has also branched out into other countries to expand the reach of its advertisers and consumers.
Craig Newmark started Craigslist as a hobby to make it easier for people within a small community to connect online. The rest is history as Craigslist is now the largest, most highly recognized classified advertising site in the United States.
So what are the advantages and reasons for using Craigslist?
Craigslist offers options to post classified ads in more than 550 cities and over 50 countries worldwide.
It is a free service for ad posting.
There are multiple categories and sub-categories to make it easier to locate a target audience for your advertising strategy.
The site enjoys more than 12 billion page views each month – and yes, we said BILLION! Imagine how many times your ad could be viewed each month.
Craigslist is #8 worldwide when it comes to page views coming only after companies such as Yahoo!, TimeWarner, Google, Microsoft, News Corp, and eBay. They come ahead of BBC, Disney, and Amazon.
More than 50 million people visit the website each month – and yes, we did say MILLION!
There are 30 million new classified ads posted each month attracting a huge crowd of people searching for everything imaginable.
They offer over 100 discussion forums where as many as 100 million user postings are listed.
Craigslist chose to use the .org domain rather than .com to signify the non-commercial nature of the website and to reinforce their service mission, 120 cities were added to their listing in April, 2008 alone, with continual expansion into other cities and communities
Classified ad posting is user friendly with a quick process.
The mission of Craigslist is to “help inspire and connect people and communities on all levels to become active and engaged.
As you can see, there are many reasons to use Craigslist to promote your online business. Once you test the waters and find that it can actually drive targeted traffic to your website, you’ll want to include it as part of your ongoing marketing strategy.
Advertising on Craigslist has become an easy decision for online marketers since it is an opportunity to promote your business and website for free. It’s a good way to promote your business in a particular community or to promote your website nationally or even internationally. Craigslist is listed in more than 500 cities and 50 countries worldwide. That is significant exposure for your website!
When you advertise on Craigslist, your ultimate goal is to drive traffic to your website. You aren’t really trying to sell on Craigslist – at least not selling products. You’re selling the value and appeal of your website. Influencing your readers to click on your pictures or URL to visit your website is the most important benefit of using Craigslist to grow your business.
But did you realize how critical Craigslist can be to building your opt-in list for your business for the long-term?
When a visitor to Craigslist clicks on your link and visits your website, you have a golden opportunity to turn them into a viable prospect and eventually convert them to a paying customer. You don’t necessarily need to sell them something today – you want to create a long-lasting relationship and demonstrate the value of your website to have them coming back time and time again. Enticing readers of your ad to click on your link is essential.
Making sure that your link from your classified ad on Craigslist lands on the page that is most likely to appeal to your visitor and answer their questions is key to success. Whether this is a squeeze page, your homepage, or some specially designed page for this purpose, the landing page is critical. This is also the page where they can opt-in to receive valuable newsletters, discount offers, and product introductions. Selling them on the value of your website is your primary concern with this first visit.
Once you receive their opt-in permission, you can start promoting your website and increasing the value you bring to your customer. This will greatly enhance your ability to retain them as a potential customer and they are likely to tell others about your website too. Long-term relationships are what make online marketing so successful. A one time sale is great – but a long-term loyal customer is even better.
Make it easy for potential customers to link to your website and then focus on answering their questions and provide them with rich, relevant content. Focus on their needs and desires and appeal to their emotions with your website content and make sure you keep it fresh and dynamic. Interactive content is also a good way to keep them engaged.
Craigslist is just the beginning of the marketing process, and it can be a very effective way to help you build your lists. Promoting your business and website through classified advertising is all about creating value and building a relationship. Don’t miss the opportunity to create a long-term loyal customer.
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