Location Counts with Craigslist

Craigslist is a well-known and highly reputable site for classified advertising. It has overtaken the online classified advertising business by storm due to its simplicity and the fact that it is FREE! As an online marketer seeking opportunities to promote your business and your products, you can’t afford to pass up the chance to post classified ads on Craigslist.org.

You already know the basic rules when it comes to any time of online advertising. Creating powerful headlines that grab attention, crafting engaging, keyword rich content, and providing your potential customer with something of value are all part of your strategy.

Location

But when it comes to using Craigslist, there is one more important thing you need to consider. Location, location, location! With Craigslist, it’s all about location. Since this website is a community based classified advertising site, you are only allowed to post ads in a single community at one time. This means you need to identify the best community, which are basically cities, and decide which ones offer the most return for your ad.

Of course, the advertising is free so you don’t have to worry about the cost of advertising. But why even waste your time creating compelling ads and posting them if they’re not going to result in increased traffic and greater exposure of your website.

Determining location

To help you determine the best locations for posting your classified ads on the Craigslist website, take a look at some basic tips for identifying location:

Think about your product and who is most likely to buy it. If you’re selling bathing suits, you don’t want to target Eskimos in Alaska! Cities in Florida or California might be a better bet. If you’re selling beach chairs, you might want to avoid St. Louis.

If you have products to offer with universal appeal and that are needed by people regardless of geographic location, then consider the most heavily populated cities that are accessible through Craigslist advertising. Based on population, you would want to target cities that include:

New York (20 million)

Los Angeles (12 million

Chicago (9 million)

Dallas (6 million)

Atlanta (5 million)

Boston (4 million)

These are just a few of the more highly populated cities. You might also want to take a look at countries this way too.

Another consideration is to think about the cities where business is hustling and bustling. These locations are typically where people are turning to Craigslist for products or services and they have a high demand for many different types of things. Your classified ad could be just what they’re looking for. Some of the cities that are known for their business sectors include:

Atlanta

New York

Las Vegas

Los Angeles

Dallas

Washington D.C.

These are just a few of the business capitals of the U.S. In addition, you should look to other countries as an option for advertising as well.

Finding the right location to place your classified ad can make the difference in whether or not you attract traffic to your website. Do your homework, consider your products, and then test the cities or communities on Craigslist that are most likely to benefit your business. With a little trial and error, this is a strategy that can pay off big time.