Black Belt Web Marketing.pdf - Costa del Sol

Exercise 4-2 -- Selecting Sites for Your Classified Ad
Obviously, you aren’t going to demand too much from a free site, but consider these
guidelines when analyzing potential sites for your classified ad:
Guidelines for Classified Ad Sites
The site must aggressively promote itself. If it isn’t taking the necessary steps to generate
traffic then your ad isn’t going to be seen by many visitors.
The site must offer appropriate headings. If the product or service offered by your web
site doesn’t fit neatly in one of the categories offered, then you may be wasting your
time. Any traffic to your site from a misplaced classified ad is purely by chance.
The site should have a large number of classified ads. The better the selection of ads, the
more visitors are likely to come. Also, the site is probably promoting itself heavily in
order to attract a large number of ads.
Banner revenues from independent sponsors provide revenues. The presence of banner
ads probably means that the site is working diligently to get the traffic up to satisfy the
banner sponsors. If it’s giving ad space away, then banner revenues are probably what
keep it going.
The site has a professional look and feel. Many net users have a prejudice toward
working with sites that exhibit a fair degree of competence and professionalism. Stay
away from chintzy, low-tech sites.
Finally, the site should pass a rudimentary test: satisfied customers. Email some classified
advertisers, particularly ones offering a similar product or service. Ask them how well
they are doing with their ad. As long as you’re inquiring, ask them for the names of
locations where their ads are doing well and how they are doing on the Internet in
general. It might be worth your time to establish a one-on-one relationship with
compatible sites. You may be able to exchange tips and eventually links.
Completing the Classified Ad Site Selection Worksheet
1.Well-known Sites: A number of large, busy, reputable sites offer free classified ads. A
good start is Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com). Look for others which have name
recognition.
Lesson 4 Pg. 7