Discussions
Using Craigslist to promote your blog
Posted by Seabuckthorn • 3/18/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blog promotion, blogging, craigslist
There has been some discussion of promoting one's blog on Craigslist, and rather than answer in a bunch of places, let's discuss our Craigslist promotional tactics in one place.
For myself, here's what you need to know:
My blog is my company's corporate blog, and about half our content is related to our natural skincare products or the plant we use to make the products. About another 40% of our content is general health & wellness and environment, and about 10% is Op-Ed (editorials and personal anecdotes). We are not monetized.
For my craigslist blog promotion, I have the following tips and guidelines, based on MY content and goals:
1. I have a craigslist account, which saves several steps while posting, and also makes it easier to manage existing posts.
2. I post all over the world.
3. I only post a given link once per day.
4. I only post 3 different links per day.
5. I select the best category for each post based on content and the types of people reading - I don't consider reader volume when choosing where to post.
6. Examples of what and where I post: I post blog items that are related to a particular region of the world in the CL "local news and views" section for that region; I post political posts in the politics section; and I don't try to trick readers - I say something along the lines of "X is a current news item - I have a summary and a selection of good links at my blog post about the topic - come join in if you're interested in reading or discussing it."
7. I don't mind posting in low-traffic sections. The good thing about it is that my post may stay above the cut for the full 45 days of its life.
Please, input from others who use CL would be great! I am by no means an expert, but I find what I do really works for me.
User Comments
-
Anyone else use Craigslist? What are your tips and tricks?
-
This is a splendid idea - but I've never used Craigslist before - so I'm going to have to check it out and figure it out.
Thanks!-
How did it go? Did you get a chance to check it out yet?
BTW, the best place to go to check out Craigslist is this link: www.craigslist.org/about/sites
It's a master list of all the locations.
-
-
Very ingenious idea. Thanks for the tips.-
NP. I checked out your blog and your site - it's a great idea, are you planning on posting again soon?
-
-
great idea
but i dont sell anything so dont think it's useful for me-
Craigslist isn't just for selling stuff, and I'm suggesting people use it to promote their blogs.
-
-
Make sure that if you do advertise on Craigslist AND if you do not want people to send you junk emails............................. don't include your email address on your blog. There are people who just don't have that sense of respecting other's privacy. Especially people who email you stuff related to commercial interests.-
It's always great to get new suggestions on avoiding SPAM, but in my experience Craigslist spammers are too lazy to actually visit sites and harvest emails; that's why they use CL, so they can phish with a net rather than a spear.
-
-
not sure what catigory would be best for my blog on craigslist. do you have any sugestions.-
Hi HeadStones: I checked out your blog, and here are my recommendations:
1. I would write a post calling for volunteer photographers, then you could post a link to that blog post to pretty much every volunteers forum in every Craigslist across the country.
2. I would post a link to your individual state categories in the relevant states, with a friendly and descriptive post text to invite visitors. You could post in the "free" section of "for sale", in the "creative" section of "services", and in several sections of the "community" category, for instance: artists, general, local news.
3. I would publicise the events in the relevant cities' Events or Classes sections - but be descriptive both on the blog post and the CL post, because as a new visitor I really didn't have a clue what the events were about, and the hyperlink to the calendar didn't even go to the right month, so I had to go back and check where to look.
HTH! Any more questions, just ask! -
thanks for the info
-
-
Here's an opportunity for me to add some info about my CL practices.
1. I don't publicise the site as a whole, I publicise single posts or single categories. I find that this generates more targeted traffic (people who are actually interested in staying and reading rather than visiting then instantly clicking away), and it decreased the likelihood of the craigslist ad being flagged for deletion. I find that a lot of the traffic I get from CL is from people who are not regular blog readers, and if you just send them to your blog, they don't get it, and click away. Give them something specific to read and prime them for it.
2. In other words, I don't ever try to trick people into visiting my blog. I tell potential readers in the CL ad that I have a blog post I wrote and I'd like interested readers to visit and comment if they want. I might say something like, "Hi! I recently read about the issue of British Columbia teachers being told to go easy on students, and I felt so strongly about it I wrote about it on my blog. Are you interested in this topic? Read more and join the discussion HERE.
3. I tend to post to the non-commercial sections, which are at the top left of the listings. They are:
artists
classes
events
general
groups
pets
politics
activities
childcare
local news
lost+found
musicians
rideshare
volunteers
I tend to post in the General, Activities, Groups, Local News, Politics forums of that section, and I also post in some commercial and for sale sections, where appropriate.
Again, here's the best link: www.craigslist.org/about/sites -
What an interesting idea. And very helpful, specific advice as well.
Thanks for this. -
I was about to criticize you for junking up Craigslist with spam... but if you're selling something, that changes things slightly.
Still, over posting your link could be doing more harm than good. Keep the frequency to a minimum.
I think you'd be better off posting in the discussions there, perhaps on subjects related to your product. Someone asking for skin care advice? Give them a few tips and share your blog link for more info.-
Craigslist isn't all about selling. Do you read the community section at all? It's entirely non-commercial.
-
-
I posted one of my blogs in the rant section and I got an amazing amount of traffic.-
Cool, that's a really good suggestion!!
-
-
I'll try it. Thanks -
I want to promote my blog in CL but not sure which category to post.I would be very grateful if you suggest me the proper category for my blog activities-of-youth.blogspot.com in CL. Thank You in advance.-
Hi Shona: I checked your blog, and while your topic - "Activities for Youth" - would indicate that the "Events", "Groups" or "Activities" sections would be good, HOWEVER - although your blog seems to be aimed at youth, you have some mild adult content in your sidebar - links to dating sites, lovemaking and seduction tips, foreign brides, etc, and so I think you should avoid promoting your blog at all as long as it is aimed at youth and contains adult content.
If/when you remove the adult content from your blog, promote individual posts rather than the whole blog, and do so by going to the appropriate craigslist geographical site, and post links to the relevant post in one of the sections I recommended. For instance, for the post at top, Aspen activities, go to the Colorado craigslist section, find the cities closest to Aspen, and post to those cities.
-
-
-
shona2412: Why don't you look carefully through a local Craigslist (one near you), and come up with some suggestions of where YOU think you should promote your blog. Then post the list here, and we can give you feedback.
-
-
Lots of useful options on craig's list.
We bartered some home improvement work for us to create a website design for a company.
Sold a few templates as well on the site.
Also found a job last year on the C-list.
There is a free section and you'll be surprised at what people will give away. -
@HeadStones: How is your blog/business going? Any luck publicising on CraigsList?
-
I've never heard of marketing a blog on CL!
I have a parenting/humor blog, but I don't sell anything. If I posted, would I post in the area I live in or somewhere else? Under the community section?
And say what? I wrote this post, please read it?
I just have no clue how I would go about this - it sounds too simple and I'm always suspicious when things sound too simple. It's the paranoid freak in me.-
@CreativeJunkie: You have to take a bit of time and get to know CL a little bit. I often post my blog post links in the "Communities - local news" or "Communities - ??" sections - If I have a post that I want people to read, I post something like (real post): "The BC Ministry of Education has told school boards they must give students 3 chances to get a passing mark on tests - what do you think?? Read more HERE."
One important point: doing the CL promotion has helped me be realistic about the potential popularity of posts - not every post is newsworthy enough to warrant promotion. I tend to post the most topical, in-depth, or provocative topics for CL readers, and it works out really well. And BTW the 'local news' section does not HAVE to be local - it's really a free-for-all.
-
-
This is a great idea! I am not sure how well it will work for the majority of my posts but I think I will head over there now and post something in the pets category for today's post on cats.
Thanks for the information!
Nathan -
Maybe it's just me, but I think I would regard such marketing as spam if I ran across it.-
Me too.
-
-
The only way I could think of promoting my blog on Craigslist is on their forums.
Add Your Comment
Login to leave a message.
