Craigslist Classified Advertising with Integrity

Just like any other website, Craigslist.org receives its share of people who want to use the site for unethical or inappropriate reasons. Posting classified ads that are discriminatory, threatening, or harmful in any way is not acceptable on classified advertising sites by any means. Craigslist is no different, although they have had their share of controversy around their website over the years.

If you’re considering Craigslist as an opportunity to promote your products and business, but you’re not sure it’s the right place, you should review their detailed privacy policies. They are a highly ethical website focused on providing a community of people with easy, free access to a huge variety of classified ads. Craig Newmark, the brainchild behind the website, created the site with the issue of making it easy for communities to gather, buy, sell, discuss and congregate in mind.

There will always be online users who will attempt to get around privacy policies and use inappropriate types of information and content online. But when you access the Craigslist website, you are expected to adhere to their privacy and disclosure policies, and their rules of conduct.

Posting classified ads on Craigslist expands your ability to open your online business to a much larger community of users. With their detailed categories and search options, it’s much easier to focus on your targeted audience through their site. Aiming your classified ads at the target market means you’ll reap rewards through increased visitors and a greater number of conversions.

If you’re still wondering whether or not Craigslist is a good option for you, you need to understand the policies and management behind the website. It is a highly reputable and well-known site that draws millions of visitors. It is a social community of people working together and who want to share in a variety of activities. That’s what classified advertising is all about after all.

Rules and policies

To reassure you of their integrity and credibility, we’ve provided some of the key points of their policies here for your consideration. Postings CANNOT include any of the following:

Threatening, abuse, or harassing content

Pornographic or related content, including any type of sexual content

Degrading, intimidating, and hateful content toward any individual, community, or ethnic group

Any content that violates the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against anyone for any reason

False misrepresentations, deceptive advertising, and deceitful content

Junk mail, spam, pyramid schemes, and any type of affiliate marketing links

Content advertising illegal services or products

The privacy and rules of conduct are clearly outlined on their website. The above is just a sampling of the policies that protect users of the website. Those who choose to violate these rules are usually few and they do not interfere with the effectiveness of Craigslist as a powerful marketing tool for your business and your products.

As you approach 2009 with your marketing strategy, don’t overlook the power of Craigslist as a tremendous outreach website to promote your business. Check out the policies and determine if this classified advertising site fits in with your plans. You’ll find that you can’t beat the cost of classified advertising on Craigslist – making it VERY cost-effective!