Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Free Classifieds How to Set them Up

By Alex Wu

The Internet is the new place for placing free classifieds. The local paper does not let you run ads for free. They are good for local sales, like a car or some large piece of furniture or equipment. You can also advertise locally on the internet. If you have smaller items you can reach a larger audience. Classified ads target the people that are already interested in the product or item already that is why they are there.

You wonder why they are free. Well they have many "link ads" on their web pages and the more ads they have, the more pages they have to place those ads on. They are often paid on a per click basis. They also offer upgrades like you can post a picture with your ad for a fee, or get a premium membership and pay no fee for the extra feature.

The secret to where the free classified sites make money is in the click ads that appear on the pages of their website. They get paid per click. They also charge for premium features such as adding a picture to your classified ad they do quite well with this.

When you decide to place a classified ad on the Internet, do your homework and find out which ones rank highest on the search engines. You can use Google Analytics for this, or just do web searches as if you were looking for something on the Internet classifieds. Once you get the results make a note of the top three results as these will be your most looked at classified ad websites. You should advertise on more than one.

Once you know what you want to sell and where you will place the ad, make sure that you have a good, clear, and brief ad describes your item or service and set your price and method of payment accepted. Place a contact e-mail address not a phone number. You do not want your number all over the Internet.

Be precise in the method of payment that you require, and never send your item without payment first. PayPal and Money Orders are two methods that are good. If you accept checks make it clear that no item will be sent until the check clears. You have to protect yourself. There are people who are out to scam others just like anywhere else.

When you place your ad make sure it is clear, short, and gives a good brief description of what you have to offer. Adding a picture can help in some cases. Make sure that you describe you item honestly and include any flaws if there are any. A good description can mean a sale.

When you decide on the website that you will place your classified ad on, look into the terms of service and use. Make sure you know of any costs that they charge, and for what they are charged. Know what restrictions they have as far as what you can advertise on the website. The ads usually run between seven and thirty days, know what yours will run for. Do your homework and you can sell many things for free on the Internet. - 16069

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