Huge List of Free Classified Ad Sites

I just found this list (below), so obviously I haven't tried all of these. As we all know, 3 of the biggest (i.e. most traffic) free classified sites are:
Craigslist, Backpage and Kijiji.

I'm sure that some of the sites listed below have minimal traffic, and
as such would not be worth investing much time in. You can go to
http://www.alexa.com and get the traffic results for any site, to see if it is "well travelled." The smaller the number, the better the traffic. For example, Craigslist is currently ranked 40, which is VERY high in traffic... I think they have something like 3 Billion visitors per month. Backpage is ranked about 1,800 which is still very good.

Basically, anything ranked under about 250,000 or so is worth checking out for free advertising! I love free. You can also see what countries the visitors are coming from at alexa.com, which might be helpful for your campaign.

Here's the list:

adlandpro.com http://www.adlandpro.com
adpost.com http://www.adpost.com
adquest3d.com http://www.adquest3d.com
albertarose.com http://www.albertarose.com

backpage.com http://www.backpage.com
bestadforum.com http://www.bestadforum.com
buysell.com http://www.buysell.com

caklassifieds.com http://caklassifieds.com
chooseyouritem.com http://www.chooseyouritem.com
ClassifiedAds.com http://www.classifiedads.com
classifiedextra.ca http://www.classifiedextra.ca
classifiedsforfree.com http://www.classifiedsforfree.com
ClassifiedsForFree.com http://www.classifiedsforfree.com
classifieds.myspace.com http://classifieds.myspace.com/index.cfm
classifieds.spokane. http://classifieds.spokane.net
classifieds.yahoo.com http://classifieds.yahoo.com
craigslist.org http://www.craigslist.org

domesticsale.com http://www.domesticsale.com

e-classifieds.net http://www.e-classifieds.net
economist.com/classifieds http://www.economist.com/classifieds
expo.live.com http://expo.live.com/default.aspx
ezilon.com http://www.ezilon.com

free-advertising-blog.com/index.php http://www.free-advertising-blog.com/ind
freeadvertisingboard.com http://www.freeadvertisingboard.com
freeadvertisingzone.com http://www.freeadvertisingzone.com
freeadvertisingforum.com http://www.freeadvertisingforum.com
Freeclassified.jmcweb.org http://freeclassifieds.jmcweb.org/classi
freeclassifieds.va-web.com http://www.freeclassifieds.va-web.com/ca
freeads.biztop.com http://freeads.biztop.com
freeadpost.freeforums4u.com http://freeadpost.freeforums4u.com

google.com/base http://www.google.com/base
gumtree.com http://www.gumtree.com

hoobly.com http://www.hoobly.com

iclads.com http://www.iclads.com
inetgiant.com http://www.inetgiant.com
isell.com http://www.isell.com
InetGiant.com http://www.inetgiant.com
itsmymarket.com http://www.itsmymarket.com

kijiji.com http://www.kijiji.com
kijiji.ca http://www.kijiji.ca

 

Thank you for the huge list, I need to check out some of these. Do all of these allow you to put links in your ads though? For example, I know USFreeads strips out all the links if you are using the free version. Does Craigslist let you have links in your ads?

 

fatman: Do all of these allow you to put links in your ads though? For example, I know USFreeads strips out all the links if you are using the free version. Does Craigslist let you have links in your ads?

I don't know yet, as I said I haven't checked out most of them. For craigslist, they WILL let you put your link in, but if you "over do" it you will get ghosted, and your ads will no longer appear.

So what I do with craigslist is, put a picture with my link in the picture. That requires the reader to actually type my URL into their browser to get to my site, but A) I don't get ghosted and B) if they're too lazy to do that, then I probably have no use for them anyway.

Jaime McCarley

 

Thank you for the reply. I tried using Craigslist before, but it didn't work for me. I made an ad and Craigslist said it was approved and would be listed in a few minutes....but it never showed up. Is that what "ghosting" means? I had a link in my ad, so I assumed that is why that happened. I will try your picture idea though. Thank you for the tip!

 

Yes, "ghosting" is when craig says your ad has posted, but then it never shows up. There are many reasons this could happen, such as wrong category, they don't like some words in your ad, or maybe your link. Or maybe they don't like your email address, if it has posted more than 3 ads in 48 hours.

They also will ghost you if you use the SAME headline more than once.

So, try it again, post only 3 ads per 48 hours (per email address) and use different headlines for each ad.

Jaime McCarley

 

Jaime,

Did you put in the notation next to kijiji.ca or did that come from wherever you got this list? I know kijiji.com is pretty much out for advertising any kind of MLM or referral program, but does kijiji.ca allow it?

-Judy

 

Hey there Judy. kijiji is tricky to post in, and I've been banned lately.

I personally put the comment that kijiji.ca is a good place to post, because it really is. Notice how I bolded my comment? Well it's true.

Kijiji is tricky, and you will get your ads deleted if you don't play nicely.
I don't know yet what "playing nicely" is, so I welcome you to help me try different things to see what works.

Jaime McCarley

 

One more question about Craigslist....is it possible to make an ad with a link to the website in my signature? It is a review site of an affiliate marketing training program. I'm not sure which section of Craigslist it should go in. Not all of the sections allow you to put pictures either, so I'm not sure if I can use your method of showing the URL. Any ideas?

 

fatman: One more question about Craigslist....is it possible to make an ad with a link to the website in my signature?

Craigslist does not offer a signature option. So, every ad you post is all you really have in bringing traffic to your site. Create many headlines, and go from there.

Jaime McCarley

 

Hmm, I think you misunderstood my question. I don't want to put in a signature in my ads, I just want to make an ad with a link to a website (the website that I have in my sig here). How can I put that link into an ad on Craigslist? It doesn't really fit into the sections where I can post a picture....

 

If you put your link into craigslist ads, you will get ghosted.

If you put your link in a picture, then you can do it without getting ghosted.

Does that explain it for you?

Jaime McCarley

 

I understand what you mean about the pictures and I am trying to get a picture into my ad. But not all of the categories in Craigslist let you put a picture in your ads, do they? For example, if I put up an ad for a car for sale, I can put a picture. But if I go to the job section, then I can't put a picture. Sorry for the confusion.

 

fatman: I am trying to get a picture into my ad. But not all of the categories in Craigslist let you put a picture in your ads

Welcome to the world of craigs list. I use the small biz section, my ads seem to post well there, with pic. Other sections may give problems, especially job area.... your mileage may vary.

Jaime McCarley

 

Ok, I'll do some experimenting and see what works for me. Thank you for the help with this. I didn't really want to spend much time with Craigslist, but this has encouraged me to give it a try again. Take care!

 

thanks Jaime! What a great list - when I have a spare minute, I am absolutely gonna check it all out - and I agree, Craigslist has a mind all it's own but you just need to try things till you find what works for you - I have been able to put ads in the services>small biz section and link to my website but they do require a phone confirmation code - or at least they did a few months back...

 

I'm liking this post, thank you for sharing, It's nice to have so many links on one page.

 

Silverstone: So, try it again, post only 3 ads per 48 hours (per email address) and use different headlines for each ad.

Thanks for the information. Is there a bulk alexa checker available?

 

pcwork: Thanks for the information. Is there a bulk alexa checker available?

Not sure I understand what you're asking, but there is a tool that
shows traffic for subdomains of certain sites, for example craigslist.
If you check the traffic for craigslist.org at alexa, scroll down to the
bottom of the results, and you will see the cities listed, in order of
traffic! This is useful information!

Right now, the cities with highest craigslist traffic are San Fransisco,
New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, Phoenix, Portland, and the list goes on.

The good news is, when you post ads in these top cities, your ad is in a highly visited area. The bad news is, other ad posters are aware of this too, and your ad will be bumped lower and lower on the page as the day wears on. Some of them move pretty fast, too - For example, NYC, if you post an ad in the small biz section, your ad will probably be scrolled down and off of page one within a few hours.

Backpage.com also has a similar feature, that shows cities ranked by traffic.

My theory is, you shouldn't ignore the smaller "less traffic" cities, because your ad will stand out more, since there is less competition.

Jaime McCarley

 

mountainmom5: thanks Jaime! What a great list - when I have a spare minute, I am absolutely gonna check it all out - and I agree, Craigslist has a mind all it's own but you just need to try things till you find what works for you - I have been able to put ads in the services>small biz section and link to my website but they do require a phone confirmation code - or at least they did a few months back...

Hey thanks Mountainmom... I think tomorrow when I have time, I might go and plug all of these into alexa and see which ones have decent traffic. After that, perhaps I might "cull the herd" of sites and re-post a list of only those which have traffic.

As far as craigslist, yes there are certain categories that require a phone verification (per email address, done only one time). Services>small biz ads is one of those categories, and one that I currently use too. I actually have 2 email addresses I use, since I have access to 2 phones to get verified

So, with 2 verified email addresses, I can post 6 ads every 48 hours (instead of 3 with only one email address). A word of caution though, I always change my IP address and clear cookies when I switch between the 2 email addresses when posting.

Some people cannot change their IP address, if they have a static one... for example, some cable internet providers use a static IP that never changes. I have DSL, and whenever I power off/on my modem/router, I get a fresh IP address (takes about 3 minutes after cycling power).

You can easily find out your IP by going to www.whatismyip.org

I also think one important topic of discussion for posting in craigslist is, which category to post in? Some require phone verification (one time) and some don't. Then there's the issue of getting "flagged." This is where a person viewing your ad clicks on the flag button, and if several people do it, your ad will disappear.

This can happen for several reasons, like maybe the viewer looked at your ad, which was posted in the JOB section, but your ad was a business opp. Also, your competitors will flag your ad too, because they want traffic to their site, and your ad is obviously not helping them!

The burning question in my mind still is which categories of craigslist work well for bringing traffic to your website?

Jaime McCarley

 

Stellar post. This could provide some worth while alternatives for nearly anyone - especially if you're having trouble getting craigslist ads to stick, get posted, or if you you just hate trying to keep up with the craigslist "game."

Can't wait to check some of these sites out. Thanks.