Posts Tagged: guide

Classifieds Marketing — 2 Comments
21
Jan 10

How to write a free classified ad that really works for your business

An alternative title for this article would be “The anatomy of a classified ad” but I thought the other title would work too.

You should read further only if you:

  • want to promote your website on the internet, for free
  • want to generate more leads for your business and get more clients
  • want to get people to know about you, what you do, what you sell, what you’re good at

The adventures of a visitor to a classified ads website

I wrote before about promoting your business with the help of classifieds ads and now it’s time to write about how a classified ad has to be organized so it can bring you more results.

It doesn’t matter how good the product you’re selling is or how many ads you publish if the message can not be understood by the potential clients.

Let’s think for a second about what happens with a visitor when he is browsing a classifieds website.
What does he do?

  • he is browsing the classifieds
  • he might filter by category or region
  • he is looking at the classifieds in the listing
  • the interest and attention to the classifieds listed is going down; after the first 3-5 pages he will abandon the browsing; most likely to succeed ads are the ones listed in the first half of the first page; we are talking about 10 ads at most
  • at each ad he will look first at the image, then at the title and then, if the ad looks interesting, he will look at the short description
  • if all looks good he will click to see your ad and you have won the first battle, the listings battle; now you have to win the ad page battle.

Let’s consider the visitor clicked on your ad.
As I said, this means only that you’ve won the first battle but not the war.

On the ad page the user actions are the following:

  • he already knows the title of the ad so he only checks it to see it he’s on the right page
  • he looks at the image, then at the price, if available
  • scrolls down too look at more images
  • he gets back to the ad description and starts reading
  • he will read not more than 2 lines before he decides if he should read more or go browse for more ads
  • if he likes the ad he will look for either the contact form or a save functionality or send to email functionality

We took care on RunClassifieds.com of some of the aspects to ensure a good presentation for your classified ad but you have to take care of the content.

The anatomy of a classified ad

Now we know what a visitor does on a classified ads website.
All that we have to do is write a good ad.

Let’s define the parts of the ad:

  • The title
  • The main image
  • The price
  • The short description, usually the first 200-250 chars of the ad, also called the summary (part of the ad description)
  • The description of the ad (part of the ad description)
  • The characteristics (part of the ad description)
  • The closing of the ad (part of the ad description)
  • The image gallery
  • The contact details

The title
Top importance for the classified ad you are writing.
You should do some keywords research related to what you want to write about and include in the title those keywords but keep in mind that the title has to be read and understood by a human.
Also, do not write a huge title, restrain yourself to max. 160 chars.

The main image
It has to be your best image and it has to be an image that let’s the user understand, from only one look, what your ad is about.

The price
If you have a range of prices put the lowest price, if you sell something in packs of 10 for example put the price for one item.
Never forget: the price has to be attractive and real.

The short description
Write here the essential about what’s in your ad, trow in some keywords.
First 4-5 words are critical, it has to be the statement of your ad.

The description of the ad
Here you start by writing about yourself.
Then you write about the product you’re selling.
Insert testimonials, proofs of what you say, expert quotes, etc.
Be descriptive. Explain all appropriate details.

The characteristics
This section has to be in table style; pairs of name – value with one pair per line.

The closing of the ad
Here you must include the conclusion of the ad, write again, in a sentence, what your ad is about, what good can do to the visitor.
Also, include a final call to action.

The image gallery
Include here images that provide details of your classified ad.
You shouldn’t add more than 8-10 images.

The contact details
Always provide a link to your website. The link must be related to the ad, do not put the link to your index unless the visitor can find more details about your ad on that page.
Publish your email (create a special email account for such activities) and ensure you are using an email in the name + surname @ domain format not something like dustdreamer569@strangedomain.com .
Providing a phone number it’s proof that you are serious about what you wrote.

I’m sure you all heard about the AIDA formula: A – Attention / I – Interest / D – Desire / A – Action. It’s good to think about it when writing your ad.

If you have any questions don’t forget that we are here to help you. All comments are welcomed!
You can always post a new ad on RunClassifieds.com here.

Classifieds Marketing — 4 Comments
18
Jan 10

3 easy steps on how to promote your business through classifieds

Your business, be it online or offline, may have many needs but one of the most important needs is promotion.
You need to let the people hear about your business, know what you do and why you are better than others.

There are many ways for promoting your business online and one of them is through classifieds.

You can post classifieds very easy and mostly free to many websites.
The are general classifieds websites, there are niche or local classifieds. There are also niche forums that have a classifieds section where you can post your ads.

Step 1: Writing the classified ad
Your classified ad should be simple to read and understand and short enough not to be boring and long enough to offer readers the needed information about you.
You should not focus on general information about your business, you should better focus on products or services you offer, even if you need to write more than 1 ad.

Offer good contact information and identify yourself.

Also, do not forget to add images and video, if the website allows, if not at least post links to images or video.

Step 2: Where to post it
This depends very much on what is your business about.
You should make a list of websites that you update at least every 3 months.
The list should have:

  • general classifieds websites (world wide and regional / local)
  • niche classifieds websites (world wide and regional / local)
  • forums that have classifieds sections

Search Google, ask your friends, ask on Twitter and build your list. Then post your classifieds on those websites, it doesn’t matter if the website is big or small, what matters is that some of those visitors can become your clients.

Step 3: Measuring results
Always include a link in your classifieds.
The link should go directly to your website, on a page related to what you wrote in the classified (ensure, in this way, the relevancy of the link).

You can use, then, Google Analytics to track referrals for your website, you can even group the websites from the list and, in this way, see the results of the whole classifieds campaign.

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Promoting your business through classifieds can only bring you good results, either big or small, but can never harm your business.

If you start promoting your business through classifieds don’t forget about www.RunClassifieds.com where you can post your classified real fast (no account needed, just confirm your email), easy and free. You can even define a nice and unlimited images gallery for your ad.

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This article was first posted on DanielBuca.com blog.