Craigslist is sitting on a goldmine. They know it but have been hesitant to take advantage. Seems to me that CL could take advantage of a win-win situation by allowing sponsored ads from webmasters and affiliates. They could charge to place clearly marked sponsored ads on a side column. These ads wouldn't even have to appear in the regular listings -- just on the side. They might allow links and photo upgrades. This would probably cut down on spamming and open up a billion dollar industry for CL. I'd be first in line to sign up for the new advertising opportunity. It's hard for me to understand why they are so hard nosed with online marketers when they operate one of the largest online marketplaces. I understand they created it for local ads but it is bursting at the seams to become something much greater. Just my thoughts...
I have been thinking about looking into using cariglist as the site has got good rank and many visitors.
As long as the creator of CL continues to be the owner they will never make the changes you talked about Loni. They do charge for Help Wanted and Real Estate now in the major citys and at $25 an ad they are making plenty. Backpage does offer the type of ads you are talking about and the results you get are terrible. I would not expecty CL to change the policys in the near future.
I agree, the kind of traffic you will develop can be described in 1 word - useless. I avoid as many forums as I can and stick to the ones were quality information is appreciated. I use around 10 forums of the most and have 3 main ones...
Am I the only one that disappointed from the design of CL? Cmon blue links on a white page..... I am no longer using a dial up with 33.6k modem. And yeah I have made few ads and sold few things, but that's about it. I find social networks like twitter much better for website promotion
Its free, so we post on it daily. Actually got a call today from Craigs List, and setting up an appointment tommorow.
You'd be surprised amount of people I get on my site inquiring about my services from Craigslist. 90% of my business is from CL. If CL wasn't around, I wouldn't be making any money. & I don't even work for CL. Posting is a art! Not everyone has it down. Flashy ads linking back to your web pages do not work anymore. Give users something to read upon, educate them and then lure them into your services. Be transparent. It works.
Craigslist is exceptionally difficult to post to, and to have your ads stick, this is the problem when too many people are competing for the same audience, it becomes inevitable that others try to get the upper hand by removing the competition
I would say the issue here is your attempt to use the forums as opposed to posting clever ads/listings. CL ma not be the best outlet for every venture, but it can work for the right niches.