Did you notice sometimes you post an ad on craigslist and youget tons of responses? And sometimes you are just ignored? Well,there are too many reasons that you need to find out. So hereare some common problems that your ad didn’t get the traction youexpected:-
- You are posting ads quite often.
- Your ad has been flagged by the community.
- You are posting the ad at a wrong time. That’s not suitable forleads to convert.
What other problems you can think off? Did you hear theterm of ” Craigslist Ghosting”? Lot of folks are getting downon their revenues and conversions from craigslist just by gettingtheir ads “ghosted”
So what is Craigslist Ghosting?
when you post an ad Craigslist confirm that your post issuccessfully published by sending link and post ID to youremail.
But Once you search craigslist in the category you posted, youwon’t be able to see your ad. No one else will be able to see yourad because the system “hides” it from the front page. its called“Craigslist Ghosting “
how to check whether your ad is ghosted or live?
The easiest way is to copy your 10 digits post id from thebottom of your ad as shown in below screenshot.
Now paste this post id in search in the search box of thecategory where you posted the ad.
If you cannot find that certain ad, big chance that your post isghosted.
The other sign is when you did not get any response from yourad. No phone call/ emails, nothing! Even the mostun-interesting ads will get at least several views, so if your adsjust up unnoticed, possibly it was just never there.
it is not a rocket science to make your ads Ghost-proof. Ifigured it out recently by doing some testing and tweaking. In thisarticle, i am going to show you the main pain points that you canconsider if you really want to avoid craigslist ghosting.
Let’s get straight into this….
So these are main ghosting factors that can be triggered bycraigslist and ghost your ad.
1) Your IP might be blacklisted.
What is IP Blacklisting? It is a list of users or groups ofwebsite visitors regarded as unacceptable or untrustworthy andoften marked down for punishment because of their spamactivities.
If you post too much spam, craigslist block your IP for anunknown period. And focus you more closely to learn the behavior ofyour ads which result in frequent flags and ghosting.Solution
You might be a victim of a bad neighborhood. Someone else mightbe using the same shared IP address and spamming on craigslistwhich result in getting IP blacklisted.
Precautions:-
- Do not post ads from a public place. ( Cafe or Co-WorkingSpaces)
- Do not use any software for auto posting.
- Try to post 2-3 ads and increase gradually.
If you think your IPis blacklisted. You can change your IPaddress quite easily using proxies. DO NOT use public proxies theyare mostly spammed!
I recommend StringProxies. They work like a charm withcraigslist. They are easy to use and never used on craigslistbefore.
You can downloadFireFox Plugin or Chrome Plugin andjust copy and paste the IP address! You do not have to mess up withyour browser and carry complex settings.
There is no rule of thumb. Do not game the system. Try to benatural.
2) Your Ad Title, Description, and Images
Most folks use the same title and description again and again.Do not spam the same content until death! Try to use unique adtitles, description, and even Images. Your title should beunique every time you post a new ad. If you try too many duplicateads, craigslist is going to slow you down by ghosting yourads.
Solution
The most common reason is a similarity in ad title anddescription with an existing ad. When you sell the same product orservices, you just repeat the same advertising tagline orcatchphrase quite often.
You can use Craigslist Ad Title Generator which helps you tocreate unique titles on craigslist. Watch the video below and learnhow it works.
Buy Craigslist Ad Title Generator for $5.00
3) Outgoing Links
We have noticed that if you use a suspicious link in the adcontent, you might get ghosted. I noticed this in the servicesection a lot. Some overseas post ton of ads in small business tosend traffic to their affiliate offers. These ads are considered asspam because they do not provide any value to the visitor. Insteadof funneling their ad visitors through affiliate offers or a leadmagnet using a click bait.
Clickbait soal purpose is to attract and encourage visitors toclick on the link without providing any value.
How to fix?
- Try to avoid posting urls in the ad description.
- If you really want to drive traffic to your website. Use acustom image and include your website in the image.
- Do not use URL Shortening services like Bitly or google shortURL
If can’t create images yourself can hire someone do it for youfew bucks.
4) Issue with a phone number
Craigslist algorithm is very smart when it comes to trackingphone numbers. Can’t you post ads on craigslist without a phonenumber right? You might be asking, how my phone number cancause an issue with craigslist posting?
You can get ghosted based on our tests when:-
- Phone Number in your Craigslist account and your Craigslist addescription was different.
- Your Phone Number has been blacklisted.
Solution
Verizon and Toll-Free numbers do not work on craigslist. It’sbetter to use your friend and family phone number. Or buy a newphone number that you can use for craigslist.
Be careful once you are accepted with new phone number and donot break craigslist rules. Otherwise, you might be introuble.
Not Able to Figure out it Yourself?
I outlined all the possible reasons that can cause your adgetting flagged or ghosted. But everyone’s case is unique. You cantest and tweak at your end to figure it out.
If you don’thave the time and expertise, Signup forthis marketplace to hire experts that can help you with differentaspects if your ad creation and posting process.
Conclusion and takeaways
Based on our own testing, the above-mentioned reasons are mostcommon for ghosting. So make sure you have a clean IP address, andyou are not using duplicate image name, duplicate content (Including title and description) and try not post the same ad indifferent cities again and again.
- Semi-Dedicated Proxies for your Craigslist Ads. ( Ask for USAproxies)
- Use this Firefox Plugin or Google Chrome Plugin for theseproxies to avoid costume settings in your browser.
- Craigslist Ad Title Generator helps you to create thousands ofunique headlines for your Craigslist ads instantly!
