Craigslist has become a force in the local classified advertising marketplace.  As a result big brand advertisers are taking notice.  Consumers and businesses alike are working diligently to determine best practices to working with the Craigslist system to derive the most value possible.  This post is intended to be a standard best practice checklist for utilizing this online property.

Target Locally

To begin, Craigslist is a local advertising platform and advertisers need to approach it as such.  There is not a simple way to blast an ad across the entire United States or even selected metropolitan areas.  Craigslist requires that you select a specific geographic area for each of your individual ads.  In order to post across several cities you will be required to place individual posts for each.  In order to accomplish this task you will need multiple email accounts.  The suggestion here is to establish a set of accounts that mirrors the city coverage you require.

It is also beneficial to target your copy for each location’s specific audience.  If you are posting an ad for a service in Dallas, then the title of the ad should mention Dallas and the body copy within the advertisement should mention it as well.  This is also a great way to avoid duplicate posts which are discussed later in this document.

 Post Limits

Craigslist enforces a post limit for each of its accounts.  It is recommended to focus on 1 – 2 posts per day for each established account.  Note that three posts within a 48 hour period will likely be the limit enforced, so one post per day should be the goal.

Avoid Duplicate Posts

Craigslist works very hard to eliminate what it considers to be spam posts.  This is the reason for the post limit and is also why they enforce a duplicate post policy.  You are not allowed to post duplicate content across cities or across categories.  Unique content will need to be developed for each post.  One particularly effective method of avoiding post duplication is to tailor content for each local audience being targeted.

Utilize Images

The use of images will improve the click through rate on your ads and will also improve the conversion rate of the ad traffic.  Said another way, the ads you post that show in the general category results will stand out and receive more clicks because your ads include an image.  Those ads that are actually reviewed will then convert better with images in their ad copy.  This means you will pull more clicks to your website and/or generate more phone calls by simply utilizing an image within your ad’s body copy.

Mind Your Titles

As with any ad, the title should be well written.  In the case of Craigslist it helps for the title to include major keyword targets and a mention of the location and category being targeted.  This helps provide reinforcement that the ad is relevant as users review the listings.

Category Selection

It is important to post your ad in the category that best suits its purpose.  Category selection is critical because burying your ad in an inappropriate category or selecting an appropriate category with no demand will limit the effectiveness of the ad.  It is also important to focus on major categories first and limit supplemental category selection due to the post limitations that are in place.