How to effectively advertise on Craigslist?

I just tried advertising my new free rental classified website on Craigslist today for the first time.

I posted the same ad with different wording in 9 cities, all with links back to my site. My Ads were all under the "services" categories which allow commercial posts and links back to websites...

All 9 Ads were "deleted by staff" within an hour! And within that hour, I already had 2 people from Craigslist register accounts on my site and place ads!

Obviously I am in need of a more subtle approach

How can I get around the flagging/spam system they have in place... Any ideas?

 

Do you have a secure registration system..? If no then you'll always have a problem with spam.

 

You misunderstood me...

I didn't get spammed... Craigslist staff deleted my Ads because they were "spammy".

I'm trying to figure out how DP'ers promote their sites on Craigslist without "tripping the spam filters".

 

Ive just submitted a site to the 'London' area and it is now live. Ill wait till tonight and let you know if it gets deleted or what.

If not you can take a look. I think a good, honest, short listing with only one link to your site should be OK really.

 

I'm a newbie to Craigslist so I only placed one advert. Perhaps it's because you placed so many? Do the have a T's & C's section?

 

You have to 'agree' to the agreement before you complete the listing. Its very long though so I guess it will explain it all in their (if you've got a spare hour!)

 

how does craigs list make money?

this site is not very popular at all in australia but I see alot of people on US car forums talking about it!

which sections do I post my sites in to get the best traffic?

thanks

 

Do not abuse craigslist! it is an awesome site and it is a classifieds board, do not clutter it up with your attempts to gain traffic.

 

I just use it to buy and sell stuff. Dont really see it as a good advertising tool.

 

In reply to my post earlier (and staying on topic). I added the listing and it is still there tonight. It is listed in the LONDON > SERVICES > FINANCIAL section.

Openfire, you can see it here http://london.craigslist.org/fns/ (its currently the top listing).

So I guess the best way to avoid your site getting hit by the filter is to list in the relevant category/area, don't make duplicate posts for different areas, and just make a simple honest post.

Guess that should help mate.

 

It's against the TOS to post a url to another site on craigslist accept in a few of the services sections.

Best way to get around that is to be sure your url is not needed in order for the person to get all they information they need. Be sure you post in an area the really relates to your ad, with enough information. As a side thought you can add a link, sometimes it gets through.

If your post is obviosly just a way to get a link, it will get deleted and rightly so.

Craigslist does not help with the search engines, the links do not last long enough, so it's really not worth spamming.

 

agree 100%

 

craigslist makes money selling ads in select cities and ill agree with the above people, dont spam craigslist, its a great resourse.

 

Anytime I tried posting on Craigslist my ads usualy would be removed within hours, either by community or staff. It is definitely not worth all the work posting ads on Craigslist.

 

yes i get mad everytime i see spam ads on Criagslist. There are better and more creative ways to get traffic.

 

Craigslist can be great if you use it right. Just don't spam it over and over again, or they'll catch on and it won't work for you.

And try VERY hard not to make your ad be perceived as spam. There are some very useful things you could advertise there that will help your business without appearing as spam.

Brian

 

I thought I'd also add that you can get a post ranked in Google very fast on Craigslist. That alone can make it worth gold to you.

Brian

 

Posting on craigslist does work. Why should craigslist care as long as your providing a service that everyone is looking for and will benefit from anyways.Its silly

 

Putting your ad up in multiple cities really rubs them the wrong way. Why not just put your ad up in SF Bay Area? Your ad will stay up for the full 7 days if you don't abuse the service.

 

Craiglist works for sure with helping your search engine rank. I can personally vouch for this as I have been doing it for years.

There are ways to post links to any website you want and not get them taken down.