Member Avatar for Mohsen32

Hi I've built a classified ads site and in it's first month I only got 12 ads posted by 10 users! It's terribly awful!

I tried some email advertising telling every people I knew that I got a site here but as you see it didn't work out.

Any ideas on how to get more ads posted here?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by MktgRob

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This is a two‑sided marketplace problem more than a promotion problem. As reports, low posting counts usually happen because potential sellers don’t see enough buyers, and buyers don’t see enough listings. ’s question about value proposition is exactly the right place to start: decide one clear group you serve (a neighbourhood, a vehicle niche, used electronics, etc.) and optimize everything for that group.

Make posting and discovery frictionless. Reduce the fields to the absolute minimum, allow fast photo uploads from mobile, provide category templates and title suggestions, and show examples of “good” listings. Seed inventory yourself or recruit 10–20 local merchants to bulk-upload a small catalog so every category looks active. Add simple trust signals: seller profiles, basic verification (phone/email), clear timestamps, and a quick “report” flow so buyers feel safe.

Create repeatable demand and a simple monetization experiment. Offer saved searches and email/SMS alerts to buyers so new listings get eyes immediately. Give early merchants free featured slots in return for inventory and feedback. Charge later for bump/featured placement and measure response. Track these metrics: listings/day, repeat posters/week, visitor-to-contact conversion, time-to-first-sale, and cost-per-acquisition for paid experiments.

Quick 30‑day plan (prioritized): pick 1–2 niches and seed 40–60 listings; streamline the post flow to under 90 seconds; launch saved-search alerts and a single email digest; invite 5 local merchants with a temporary featured offer and easy CSV import; instrument analytics and set target metrics. and touched on promotion and UX — iterate on both, but only scale paid acquisition after the supply/demand loop and onboarding are working.

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Member Avatar for MktgRob

Hi I've built a classified ads site and in it's first month I only got 12 ads posted by 10 users! It's terribly awful!

I tried some email advertising telling every people I knew that I got a site here but as you see it didn't work out.

Any ideas on how to get more ads posted here?

What kind of site traffic are you offering that will entice people to advertise? What is you value proposition for prospective advertisers? What are you charging for ads? More info is needed before anyone may be able to offer advice.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

How about buying targeted traffic to your site?
Try

Good stuff.

If you are promoting your site you are going to get on the bad side of DaniWeb. Be careful.

Member Avatar for mackone

You can start with Social Bookmarking sites to promote your site.

Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

My recommendations:
1. increase the value aspect of the user experience
2. constantly promote, promote, promote your site both offline and online
3. Everything you do needs online needs to link to your site and thus, this will help increase the number of potential advertisers.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

My recommendations:
1. increase the value aspect of the user experience
2. constantly promote, promote, promote your site both offline and online
3. Everything you do needs online needs to link to your site and thus, this will help increase the number of potential advertisers.

As you are still in the early stages, all of these suggestions are ideal.

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