Free Classified Advertising Online
The most obvious place to find free advertising online is at the many free classified advertising sites, not least of which is Craigslist. These places cost you nothing but time, and with the right approach, not even much of that.
Some of the more common online classified sites are usfreeads.com, adpost.com, and inetgiant.com. A search through Google will turn up countless others.
You want to be careful about using ever site you can find. Some may not have sufficient traffic to make them worthwhile. Others may have a lot of traffic, but not traffic that’s suited to your offer. You want a return on your investment, even if that investment is just your time.
I will say, though, that even if you don’t get any customers from your ad, there is one other advantage to using a classified ad online – and that is SEO (search engine optimization). If your classified ad contains a link to your website, that will add to the backlinks that search engines see, and can only be helpful is raising your website higher in Google rankings. So, keep this in mind as an added feature, but don’t rely on it as your main SEO strategy – your real reason for these ads is to bring in new leads.
When you write a classified ad, be very careful not to try to sell the reader in your ad.
This sounds counter-intuitive. After all, you want to sell your product/service, right?
Well, yes. But the greatest advertising minds of the century all agree on this – a classified ad is simply a way to get readers to ask for more information. If you try to do anything more, the readers will skip right over your ad. You just want their attention and one small action. You want them to call you on the phone, or click on a link to your website, or send you an email. Simple as that. If you try to do any more, you will lose 90% of your business right there.
Once the lead has clicked through to your website or called you, then the selling can start. So, focus on getting their attention in your classified ad. Pique the reader’s curiosity, inspire them, make them concerned…and no more. You just want to compel them to click on the link.
Use your creativity here….but be honest!
Don’t try to lure in readers by misleading them. Catch phrases such as “free money here,” “your ex-girlfriend wants you back,” or “your life is in danger” may inspire a reader to click through and learn more. However, unless your product or service specifically deals with one of these problems he will feel tricked, and will click away as quick as he can. You will have lost trust. This would see obvious, but I see ads like this all the time, with some shocking or titillating info – and when I click through, they say “Now that we have your attention…..(blah,blah,blah).”
Your ad is there to attract the interest of potential customers. If you sell hair transplants, than a good classified ad might be “Losing your hair? There is a simple, effective and permanent solution. And for the first 50 people, it’s ridiculously cheap.”
While this may not be a great classified ad, it has all the elements you need:
1-”Losing Your Hair?” This qualifies the reader. You don’t need a guy with a full head of hair clicking through.
2-You suggest a solution to the problem
3-You create sense of urgency in “the first 50 people.” If you don’t ad some sense of urgency, they may think to click later and then just forget about it.
Lastly, if you want some Craig’s list tips and tricks, see some Craigslist tricks here. It’s advice you can’t do without, and much of it is applicable to all classified advertising.