When I’m working with a new WordPress training client one of the first things they ask about is SEO (search engine optimization), getting hits and basically getting people to find their new site. The first thing I always start with is Craigslist because they always want free!!! I recently read that Craigslist gets about 40 Million hits a month…WOW…lets have a closer look at the benefits of Craigslist!!!
The power of Craigslist is absolutely amazing. Just by using the proper title in your business Craigslist ad….you have a good chance to make the front page of Google for your specific category. Now when I say you can make the front page of Google I’m talking about your Craigslist ad being on the front page….not your website. Hey we have to start somewhere and show Google that people think our website is important so they continue to rank us higher. In our Craigslist ad we are going to have some custom HTML, so we stand out from everybody else, to reflect our business logo that links to to our website, our website address also linked, some pictures and descriptions of our services with good key words.
One of my past clients was a brick mason here in Denver. He builds and repairs masonry fireplaces, flagstone patios, retaining walls etc… I encouraged him to get in the habit of, once a week, posting a Craigslist ad for his services…never delete the ad…let it expire!! Anybody can post a Craigslist ad but the key is having the perfect title and some matching content (description of services provided etc..) to back it up. So an example title for his Craigslist ad would be ‘Denver Chimney and Fireplace repair’ or ‘Denver Brick Mason’. Craigslist has so much content the Google and Yahoo spiders rank this website very high…and that’s why you’ll notice Craigslist ads on the first page of Google when searching the internet.
So now you’re asking yourself how do I pick the best title for my Craigslist ad? I follow a simple rule and this rule also applies to one the most important parts of your website……the ‘TITLE’!! I usually back into it….Lets say I live in Breckenridge Colorado..what would I Google to a find chimney repair person near my house?? Well, I would google ‘chimney repair breckenridge colorado’ or ‘breckenridge chimney repair’. I would never google just ‘chimney repair’….that would bring up brick masons from all over the country…and I want someone near my house…getting the idea?
How do we know this works and that people are coming from Craigslist to our website? Your new wordpress website has a dashboard and gives you visibility to the site statistics (hits/page views/last referrer/spiders/countrys/ip addresses/ keywords people use to find your site etc..) You can see exactly how your Craigslist ad, or other advertising is performing. Your site statistics will show you a list of your Craigslist ads and how many people came to your site from each ad….referring website…whatever. The point I’m trying to make is that there are many free resources out there to drive traffic to your site and should not be overlooked. Here in Denver I love Craigslist and The Westword Backpage for free advertising and a constant source of referrals.
Good luck out there!!!
The least you need to know!
⇒ A domain will cost about $10 per year.
⇒ Hosting your website will cost about $8 per month.
⇒ WordPress is free
⇒ There are many so called ‘package deals’ out there. Do your research!
⇒ And when you’re ready……hire a local designer.