Craigslist as an SEO(ish) Tool

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Swayze, May 24, 2009.

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  1. #1
    I've recently unwittingly discovered how powerful Craigslist can be as an SEO tool. I'm not referring to any kind of benefit Craigslist may directly give to your website, but how the ads themselves may rank high in various search engines. One of my clients recently posted a simply text-only ad in Craigslist selling his services as a Salesforce.com administrator. Recently when researching his website's performance in google by searching "Salesforce.com Dallas" I noticed that this very ad (posted only TWO days ago) was the 8th in search results. Not bad for an ad that cost a whopping ZERO dollars. While "no follow" tags may prevent Craigslist from being a true SEO tool, its marketing potential extends even beyond its millions of users.

    -Swayze
    Webmaster, CloudUp.net | SwayzeSmartt.com
     
    Swayze, May 24, 2009 IP
  2. Canonical

    Canonical Well-Known Member

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    #2
    Yep... but check 4-6 weeks from now how that page ranks for that very same keyword phrase... My guess is that you won't find them in the top 500 listings. I'm guessing it was a new URL that Google discovered, and is showing it on page one as part of their Google "honeymoon". They do this frequently w/ new discovered URLs.
     
    Canonical, May 24, 2009 IP
  3. Swayze

    Swayze Peon

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    #3
    Right, of course this will be a short run. I'll keep track of how long it stays up there and report back. However, if it's this easy to reach the first page of Google a new (similar) post will hopefully get reindexed and appear high up as well...
     
    Swayze, May 24, 2009 IP
  4. The Villa

    The Villa Peon

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    #4
    Isn't posting in classified ads one SEO tip to get noticed by search engines? I've tried this myself and got a good result at first but as canonical mentioned, the benefit seemed to be short lived
     
    The Villa, May 24, 2009 IP
  5. wh0

    wh0 Banned

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    #5
    Good tip, but due to the nofollow tags, its practically pointless :p.
     
    wh0, May 24, 2009 IP
  6. Swayze

    Swayze Peon

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    #6
    Right, it's not really good for promoting your main site (do to "no follow" tags and the ephemeral nature of the ad appearing high in SERPs). It's mainly an added benefit of using Craigslist and a good thing to have in mind when typing up ads. Once you've discovered what keywords are easily penetrable, you can optimize your Craigslist ads so that they'll also appear high up in search engines.
     
    Swayze, May 24, 2009 IP
  7. Gallito

    Gallito Peon

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    #7
    Well it is worthless in terms of SEO because of nofollow and the short time span in the SERPs, but it is a great source of traffic when used properly.
     
    Gallito, May 24, 2009 IP