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Unlike other forms of advertising, classified ads are content people want to read; people spend time actually looking for your ad. But before you begin posting on classified websites think about what your customers are trying to find. A user centric approach to classified ad marketing is the key for success.
Writing The Ad
Before sitting down and writing the ad put yourself in your customers' shoes. Think about the things that your customers think are important about what you offer. Make a list of these key pieces (words or short phrases) and then pick the top 2 or 3 items. Powerful ads get their point across quickly. They focus on the most important pieces of information. In the end the goal of the ad is to generate enough interest to generate a click, call, or email. They don't need to try to close the sale, only generate the lead.
But classified ads should be long enough, and contain relevant keywords so that search engines pick up on the content and index the ad correctly. Ads that are written well get the message across quickly to readers but contain enough details and keywords for search engines. Put the most important information in your first paragraph for the reader and then elaborate in the following paragraphs for the search engine.
The most important thing to keep in mind while writing your ad is to be sure it builds trust. Building trust online is also a key to success. You can build trust by keeping the tone of your writing strait forward and marketing language free. No one likes reading through marketing babble.
The Headline
Online classified headlines are often limited to 80 characters. Keep headlines concise and factual. Headlines that make promises in marketing language often look like spam ads and get ignored. Here is an example of two headlines for the same car:
1. GREAT CAR IN EXCELLENT CONDITION LOW MILES!!!
2. 2001 Porsche Boxster – 12,010 miles – Porsche Club Member Owned
It is easy to see which headline grabs readers' attention better. The second headline also communicates more key information by telling the prospective buyer key information about the car, (year, make, model, miles). It also mentions that it was owned by a PCA member, which suggests the car was well cared for.
The first headline also omits real information about the car, making is virtually useless to the reader. It requires that the reader click for more information. The problem here is that clicks have to be earned. Readers will not give you a click unless you give them a reason to click.
Another problem with using marketing language in a headline, ("excellent condition", "low miles", "great car"), is that these phrases are over used and scream to the reader that the rest of the ad is filled with useless marketing language. No one likes reading marketing babble.
There last problem with the first headline is that it is written in all capital letters. This may be surprising to most people but when headlines are written in all caps they are actually physically harder to read. Fonts are designed to read better in lower case. Capital letters help draw the readers' eyes to important items. If you use capitals in a headline use it on one or two words only, your ad will stand out more than if it was written in all caps.
Images
If the free classified website allows posting images, definitely take advantage of this. Usability studies of ecommerce websites show consistently that images of products draw attention. Digital cameras are so inexpensive and easy to use these days you owe it to yourself to buy one and photograph the things you sell. Another alternative is to find a photo of a similar item online, but an actual photo taken by you will be much more powerful and help you build trust.
Contact Information
It is best to provide several ways for classified ad readers to contact you. Some customers will prefer to use email, others will prefer to call you. If you can respond quickly to both of these contact methods be sure to include both your email address and phone number. If you don't check your email often don't include your email address. If you are slow to call people back or rarely pick up your telephone, don't include your phone number. Slow responses scream a lack of professionalism. If you use free classifieds to generate contacts be prepared to respond quickly, your success will be notably better.
HTML Descriptions
Some free classifieds websites allow you to include HTML (hyper text markup language) in your posts. HTML is the simple scripting language used to make web pages. By adding a little HTML to your ads you can include other images, links and call out headlines and other key phrases in bold. Learning how to use a little basic HTML is easy. For a simple HTML how-to article see http://emptum.com/html-how-to.php.
The most important html code to learn is to code a link, image and bold text. All three of these are easy to learn and give you powerful tools for making your ad more interesting and informative. Links help people get more information about your product or service. Images help tell the story if the image is relevant to the ad. Bold text allows you to draw out a few key words to make your ad easier to scan by readers. Combining all three of these in one ad can strengthen ad effectiveness. Over using them can make them harder to read and look like spam, so once you learn how to write a little HTML, use it sparingly at first. Remember the goal of the ad is to earn a click, call or email.
Posting the Ad
The Internet is filled with free classifieds websites; pick the sites you post on carefully. You want to be sure you choose classified websites that are not considered bad neighborhoods by Google. Google is very good at weeding out websites that contain a lot of schemes and scams. The people that run these schemes and scams also post on free classifieds websites and if enough post Google may stop indexing the site. When you post in a ‘bad neighborhood' you may also be tagged as a spammer, especially if you post links to your website in your ads. Free classifieds websites that have some sort of moderation tend to be better because schemes and scams are removed keeping the website in Google's good neighborhoods. For more information about Google best practices see: http://www.google.com/intl/en/webmasters/guidelines.html
A new search engine for classifieds has popped up called http://Oodle.com. Oodle lets buyers search multiple classifieds sites at once, but you can't post ads directly on Oodle directly. Oodle does recommend several free classifieds websites. By posting on these high quality web sites your ad will be included in the Oodle search results exposing your ad to many more quality buyers.
Conclusion
Free classifieds are a great way to generate new business. The most important thing to remember is to build trust in your reader. It may seem counter intuitive at first to tone down the marketing language and capital letters but once you do you'll see how quickly the response rates to your ads increase. Also remember to post only on the better websites. Posting ads in bad neighborhoods may not only be a waste of time but it can actually damage your reputation with search engines.
Michael Janzen is a web designer and internet entrepreneur. In his blog, http://thetruthaboutfreeclassifieds.com/, he writes about the free classifieds marketing and posts reviews of free classifieds websites. He has also designed and built two free classifieds sites himself, http://emptum.com/ and
http://getitsellit.com/
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