Which Online Classifieds are Worth It?

There are any number of online classifieds that Realtors can post listings to, but which ones are actually going to improve sales?

Here are the metrics I’m using the gauge the effectiveness of various classified services:

Popularity of site in your market – Popularity of classifieds sites are very location-dependent.

Relevance of users in your market – Sure, it might be popular, but what type of people are actually using the sites? Does the site’s search engine allow for very precise classifieds searching?

How quickly can listings be posted – Some sites make it quick and easy, others make it ridiculously cumbersome.

Back-links – Are they allowed? Are they free?

So, on to the list…

1. Kijiji.ca – 4/5 (just because back-links aren’t free)

Popularity: 645th most trafficked site. Most popular in Canada. Less popular than Craigslist in Vancouver
Relevance of users: 4/5. Search engine is friendly,  pages are indexed by Google for relevant search terms
Postings: ~30 seconds. No account required.
Back-Links: $4.

2. Craigslist.org – 4/5

Popularity: 25th most trafficked site. Popular in the USA, and Vancouver.
Relevance of users: 3/5. Search engine is not very user-friendly and therefore traffic won’t be as targeted. Pages are indexed by Google for relevant search terms.
Postings: ~30 seconds. No account required.
Back-Links: $0.

3. Google Base – 2/5

Popularity: Unknown, although Base does not have a lot of listings compared to the others in this article.
Relevance of users: 4/5. Search engine is very targeted. Pages with relevant content appear on generic Google search as well.
Postings: 1/5. You need an account, and need to enter all kinds of personal information. Once done, it is easy to add listings, but still not as convenient as the above.
Back-Links: 5/5. $0.
Notes: Base may pick up steam in the future, but for the time being, your most time-efficient posts are with it’s alternatives.

4. Facebook Marketplace – 1/5 (unless you have a big business network on Facebook, or are investing in building one)

Popularity: Unknown. Facebook is a closed system, so search engines can’t access it. Also, people commonly complain that your listings are accessible to people in your network by default.
Relevance of users: This depends entirely on what your Facebook network looks like. If you do a lot of business on Facebook, you probably already know about Marketplace. If not, give this one a miss.
Postings: 3/5. You need a Facebook account, which most people already have.
Back-Links: 0/5. Don’t exist – Again, Facebook is a closed network and cannot be indexed by search engines, so forget SEO if you decide to use Marketplace to market listings.
Notes: If you’re big into online social marketing, Marketplace will be useful for you. For everyone else that is trying to drive the most traffic for the least amount of time and money, Marketplace should be at the bottom of your list.