Classified Advertising – 4 Tips to Succeed

Creating an online advertising strategy that results in increased traffic and higher conversion rates should deploy multiple methods of outreach and promotion. In addition to the obvious benefits of SEO and keyword optimization, you should also evaluate and consider online classified advertising. Classified ads are just another method of display ads, but without the graphics, bells, and whistles typically associated with banners and other displays.

Classified ads have resulted in success for many years in the offline market. People routinely turned to the classifieds to find everything from houses and cars, to dogs and furniture. You can find products and services locally or nationally through offline classified advertisements. Now with the increased use of the Internet for shopping and buying decisions, classifieds are a good investment for online marketers too.

Before you spend a lot of time and effort creating your classified ad, keep in mind these four (4) essential tips to help ensure you are successful.

Tips for online classified advertising

As with any strategy, there are a few tips and tricks to help you become more successful. Paying attention to these tips can help you create a successful classified ad.

Review these essential tips before you take advantage of classified advertising:

Curb appeal. Make your advertisement interesting, appealing, and engaging – you have 1-2 seconds to attract attention. State the benefits of your product or website quickly and with clarity. Give your audience a reason to want to know more about what you have to offer. Knowing your audience is essential when creating any type of advertisement. If you haven’t done your homework to show you care about what they want, they won’t care about what you have to offer either.

Power words. Use ‘power’ words that command attention rather than relying on a long string of exclamation points or capital letters which can be a turn-off. Power words are engaging and they spur people to action. Words such as “Free”, “Deep discounts”, “Act now”, “Limited quantity”, “Call this number”, “Go to our website….”, “Don’t miss this opportunity”. People are more likely to act on command or to react to something that is in short supply and high demand.

Ad placement. Place your ad in the most likely category where it will be searched. If you are selling cars, it’s easy to find the automobile category in the index. But not all products or services are as straight-forward as cars or computers. Make sure your ad is listed in the best category and remember that there may be more than one category where people will search. Ad placement is essential.

Category ranking. In addition to placing your ad in the appropriate category, try to determine how ads are categorized and ranked within categories. The higher your ad can rank and the closer to the top of the category or sub-category you are, the more likely you are to draw visitors. Just like search engine ranking, you want to be first or as close to first as possible.

If you’re still wondering about classifieds, it may be time to give it a try. With billions of dollars being spent in online classified advertising annually, it’s working for a lot of people already.

Make it work for you!