Within the last year, Craigslist dramatically tightened up their terms of use for real estate postings – stripping away the ability to create full HTML ads with clickable links to outside pages. Now, they are testing some impactful changes to the housing section that may help agents get more exposure for their listings.
It appears they haven't rolled the new layout out to all markets yet and I haven’t seen any official release details so I’m not sure when you’ll be able to see changes - but it’s always good to be ready!
Here’s how to use Craigslist’s new layout and tools to generate more exposure for your listings:
-
Pictures:
Craigslist results used to display a boring text list…
The new layout includes a photo display for each listing:
This change accomplishes two things. First, it helps you stand out from the competition and drive more really estate leads to your listing because poorly taken pictures are going to look REALLY bad in this format. In fact, you may drive people away from your listing all together. Second, it allows you to highlight the most impactful part of your property to drive more clickthroughs to the property details. Make sure you choose a great shot!
-
Search by Open House Date:
Craigslist gives agents the option to add up to three open house dates to your real estate listings. This change is sure to drive more traffic to your listing and open house since it gives consumers the freedom to search based on their own availability.
Setting in listings builder:
Search option for buyers:
-
Alerts:
Consumers searching craigslist are now able to save their criteria and set alerts to be notified when new properties are posted. What does this mean to you? Since people will be receiving a daily email digest, you have the opportunity to increase your overall listing exposure. It’s important to make sure that you come up with a compelling listing title, fill out all of your listing details and make sure all of your information is accurate. Take advantage of the free advertising and generate more real estate leads!
Searchers have the option to click the set alert link:
Once clicked, the searcher is redirect to a confirmation page where they can view or edit their settings.
If they click edit, the searcher is able to rename their search and choose what type of notification they’d like to receive.
And lastly - here’s a sample notification email:
It’s always good to stay up-to-date various marketing platform changes and to adjust your strategy to take advantage of any new tools that become available – especially free tools. As craigslist rolls out these new features - make sure you optmize your postings to make the most of the free promotion!!
See powerful results - follow our Craigslist Best Practices Guide!
