Craigslist, A Good Traffic Source?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by bgj202005, Nov 20, 2012.

  1. #1
    Wondering how Craigslist is for a good source for driving traffic today?

    About a year and a half ago, I used to get about 200 visitors per day with 3 accounts. Occasionally some of the ads were flagged (probably by competitors) or ghosted if there were identical or even closely identical. The ads would have the link of my website and visitors would click through.

    About a year ago I noticed Craigslist had made some changes to the subcategories of my category for 'by owner' and 'by dealer'.

    It seems now, I can only get maybe 10 visitors even having 3 or more accounts, different ads and not even ghosted since I saw them running after 10 - 15 minutes.

    I realize spamming is a issue on craigslist, but even 1 ad seems of no effect. Has anyone experienced this?
     
    bgj202005, Nov 20, 2012 IP
  2. mmm555

    mmm555 Member

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    #2
    Why not try it out some and see if it works for you? And yeah don't spam. Also, keep it white-hat. :)
     
    mmm555, Nov 20, 2012 IP
  3. YoungAce

    YoungAce Active Member

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    #3
    I've never had much luck with craigslist. I always find that it's more effective to put my effort into SEO and ranking for high traffic keywords.
     
    YoungAce, Nov 20, 2012 IP
  4. johnrone

    johnrone Member

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    #4
    You probably posted the ads in a wrong way or you ads must have failed to follow the terms.
    As you may know, Craigslist has been used by approximately 60 million people each month in the US alone, and it has more than 50 billion page views per month.
    In such a huge number of users and visitors, Craigslist is definitely looking for ways to limit the ads posted on the site through a set of guidelines and policies to comply with.
     
    johnrone, Nov 20, 2012 IP
  5. alan2008

    alan2008 Peon

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    #5
    craiglist is a good classified site and can surely bring good traffic
     
    alan2008, Nov 20, 2012 IP
  6. tim.warboys

    tim.warboys Greenhorn

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    #6
    Its a good cheap/free way but not exactly the highest quality there anymore.
     
    tim.warboys, Nov 22, 2012 IP
  7. Gianni Palazzo

    Gianni Palazzo Member

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    #7
    You can use craigslist as alternative to the other traffic techniques that most marketers use in this days. Every avenue of marketing your site or business helps a little bit.
     
    Gianni Palazzo, Nov 22, 2012 IP
  8. melprise

    melprise Well-Known Member

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    #8
    It can be a monumental source of traffic if you properly follow (or workaround) its rules. Some local Craiglists (in the major cities) may be much stricter in what ads they may tolerate compared to other localities.
     
    melprise, Nov 22, 2012 IP
  9. FBLikeShop

    FBLikeShop Peon

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    #9
    Yes still a good traffic source. Depends on your niche. Try it out and update us.
     
    FBLikeShop, Nov 22, 2012 IP
  10. gordon08

    gordon08 Peon

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    #10
    Never had much luck with craigslist. Within a few minutes of posting my ads, they get flagged as spam and removed. I gave up on it.
     
    gordon08, Nov 22, 2012 IP
  11. CanisMajoris

    CanisMajoris Member

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    #11
    What kind of ads were you posting and which category?
     
    CanisMajoris, Nov 22, 2012 IP
  12. bizopp71

    bizopp71 Greenhorn

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    #12
    I have gotten a few sales from craigslist, and some traffic. But it is not nearly enough for it to be a main source of promotion. They do flag multiple postings. I would still use it as a part of my campaign. The best and most consistant sales i have gotten from craiglist are from merchandise products like cars, appliances, etc.
     
    bizopp71, Nov 22, 2012 IP
    stayfocusedonthis likes this.
  13. DatingExpert

    DatingExpert Active Member

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    #13
    if one dont spam craigslist, then yes it is a great way to generate traffic,
     
    DatingExpert, Nov 24, 2012 IP
  14. ninjamtlt1

    ninjamtlt1 Active Member

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    #14
    It's not even worth the time and effort because you get suspended and flagged, ghosted and all that so easily. :)
     
    ninjamtlt1, Nov 24, 2012 IP
  15. tac88

    tac88 Well-Known Member

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    #15
    I think it is a wast of time these days
     
    tac88, Nov 24, 2012 IP
  16. newbie2pro

    newbie2pro Peon

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    #16
    I have always used Craigslist for some of my advertising. You need to make sure that you change your ads regularly and also make them interesting. Good titles are the key but a great source of traffic.
     
    newbie2pro, Nov 25, 2012 IP
  17. freeadstime

    freeadstime Well-Known Member

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    #17
    We make sure to remove our older ads, before posting the new ads. This can save you from getting block or getting messages such as this ad exist. But, as for the lower number you get after the dealer and none dealer, we are surprised.
     
    freeadstime, Nov 25, 2012 IP
  18. mbanj

    mbanj Active Member

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    #18
    I have never try using Craigslist for traffic, will add this to my list of traffic generation. Thanks for sharing this...
     
    mbanj, Nov 25, 2012 IP
  19. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #19
    Craigslist is a great source of traffic... However, it's very tricky. The more indirect your are the better results you get. If you create a post advertising your services or site noone will bother to click and your post will eventually (sooner rather than later) get flagged.
     
    NetStar, Nov 25, 2012 IP