Posting a classified ad is something everyone can do. Classifieds sites are quick, user friendly and free of cost nowadays, so why not taking advantage of them to enhance the online visibility of our products and services? Let’s go through some of the best practices when advertising something on the internet.
Writing a good title
Just like every other post, adverts need to have a clear, catchy and descriptive title: easier said than done, though! When you have a limited number of characters, you need to spend a while thinking of what o focus on and how. Usually it is better to start with the product and location and then add some more elements, if needed. For instance, “Flat for sale in London, cheap price, close to the Hackney tube station”.
Writing an effective headline is no quick or easy job. You may end up spending the same amount of time as writing the rest of the advertisement or even longer! Don’t give up: it is definitely the most important part of your advertising strategy.
Taking good pictures
After the title, the most important part of your advertisement is the image you upload. People prefer looking at a picture than reading a long description> the most common situation on a classifieds website is a person browsing the search result page checking only the titles and their thumbnail pictures, basing on those their decision to open or skip an ad.
It is self-explanatory why pictures are so important, then: take several ones, test different angles and then pick only the images that better reflect the values of your product you want to communicate. Even if you advertise a service, a relevant picture (there are many free stocks of professional HD photos you can use) will help your ad stand out.
Using free visibility options
Most classifieds websites offer visibility options. They are often premium features allowing you to have your ad always on top of the list for a certain time, to have it automatically republished every hour/day/week or highlighted with a brightly-coloured background. All these things are good and, if used correctly, can definitely boost your ad-‘s visibility and enhance the conversion rate of your product/service. However, some ads websites like TheGoodDeal.co.uk offer free options like “the showcase”: it is a page in which all the ads of a user are collected and can be customized with a title, a description, header images and backgrounds.
It is in the middle between a simple ad and a dedicated site and can be very useful to offer similar products and give your visitors some options without leaving your page. You can see a showcase for a real estate agency advertising studios in London and giving visitors 8 similar ads to browse and choose from.
When it comes to visibility, being able to concentrate everything in one place and market it is the key.
