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1)
Why do I need to pick a Classification?
You need to pick the right Classification for your Ad so people can find it amongst
the tens of thousands of other Ads. For example, if you were selling a used car,
the people most likely to be interested won’t see it if it’s buried away in a Personals classification.
If you're really not sure which classification to pick, just go for the one you
think best matches your Ad. The Classification selector should help - or, alternatively,
have a look for other similar Ads on the site and follow their lead.
2)
Why do I need to enter an Ad Location?
This helps people in your area find your Ad much quicker.
When they perform a local search, they’ll get the nearest Ads back first (ie yours)
- rather than Ads hundreds of miles away. We automatically include your
User Location (the
one you entered when you registered with Classifieds) in the box but you might want to change it for another (ie
you might be advertising a property, a job or an event that’s located elsewhere).
To do this, just click ‘Change’ to reveal the Location
Selector. You’ll also need to confirm your full
Postcode (split into its two parts). This is so we can calculate precise distances
- although, for your security, we'll only ever publish the first part.
3) Do I have to include all my Contact Details
in my Ad?
Not at all. We pre-populate the form with the details you
provided during your registration. However, you can change these for each Ad – and
also choose which ones get displayed. In fact, you don’t actually have to display
any personal contact details in your Ad, as other
Registered Users will be able to contact you using
the Classifieds Messaging service. However, if you want other people to respond too,
you can include what you like
.
4) I don’t know what to write in my Ad, can you
help?
Unfortunately, we can’t write the Ad for you – otherwise
everybody would and we’d never go home! However, there are basic guidelines you
should follow…
HEADLINE: Keep the
Ad Title short and snappy - but descriptive. Just say what it is you’re
advertising in a way that people who may be interested, can easily spot it while
scanning a page full of other ads. A purely descriptive headline like
“Audi A3 Car - metallic blue, 2003, Immaculate Condition” combined
with a good price, will get far more attention from the people who count, than a
gimmicky title or one that uses odd formatting, such as
“AAAA… SMASHING MOTOR FOR SALE – CoMe AnD GeT It!!!!!!”. The latter
title is difficult to read and deters (rather than encourages) people from clicking
through to your Ad Details page. That doesn’t mean to say that a bit of genuinely
clever ‘classified wit’ won’t work wonders… otherwise, stick to the facts.
MAIN TEXT: You can afford to be a bit
more expansive in your Ad Description.
Here, you need to say exactly what it is you’re advertising – as if you were describing
it to a friend or a neighbour. You don’t need to use big, fancy words or even concentrate
too much on spelling (although, of course, you can if you want). Just include as
much detail as possible – the kind of stuff you’d like to see if you were doing
the looking. You can make it really brief, by all means, but it’d be a pretty poor
Ad – and you shouldn’t then be surprised if you get a poor response! On the other
hand, don’t write too much or waffle needlessly. We’ve restricted the amount of
text you can enter to prevent overly long and unreadable Ads. Not that YOU would,
of course. And certainly not now you’ve read this! ;o)
5)
Can I apply formatting to my Ad?
You can apply basic formatting to the text in your Ad using
the buttons beside the Main Text
box, inserting limited HTML formatting directly into your
Ad text. It’s displayed within square brackets either side of the word or characters
you’ve chosen. The formatting codes are as follows:
B for ‘Bold’;
I for ‘Italic’;
N for ‘Remove Formatting’; and the
Arrow Symbol for
a ‘Line Break’. For example, if you wanted to make the word “new” bold, select it,
then click on the “B”
button and it’ll appear like this: [b]new[/b]. It won’t actually be displayed as
bold at this stage but it will be in the Ad itself (you’ll be able to see it once
you hit the Confirm
button).
Tip! Less is definitely more! Don’t go
crazy with the formatting. The more you do, the worse your Ad will look. And too
much could cause the codes of various formatting options to overlap – in which case,
it’ll look terrible and we’ll either strip it all out or just reject the Ad. Sorry,
but we’ve got to be fairly strict when it comes to ‘orrible Ads.
6) Do I have to enter a Price?
If a price isn’t relevant to your Ad, you can
Skip this section
– or, alternatively, tick the box to give your item away for
FREE. However, if there’s a price to pay, you should
make it as competitive as possible to attract the best response. You’ll need to
indicate the Price Frequency
– that is, if it’s a one-off or a regular payment (the first
would normally be an item, whereas the others might refer to rent or a salary/wage).
You can also select Pricing Options (indicating whether the price
is exactly as you’ve stated or if you’re open to offers) and, finally, include a
Price Note (e.g.
the security deposit required for a rental property, any deals to compliment a sale,
a job’s bonus details, or anything else really).
7)
What are Ad Tags?
Ad Tags are a brand new feature
that let you add relevant keywords to your Classified Ad – quickly and simply –
and make it much easier for people who are searching the site to find your Ad amongst
the hundreds, or even thousands, of similar Ads. Think of them like luggage tags
or key-ring tags, in that they quickly identify your Ad to those looking for whatever
it is you’re advertising.
You can also use them to include specific attributes (e.g. Engine Size, Property
Type, Personals Preference or Job Function etc.) in a standardised and easily scannable
format. So, all-in-all, they’re a useful feature that can boost your Ad’s ‘searchability’
and content – without you actually having to write any more!
Use the Ad Tag Picker to add as many
or as few as you like from the drop-down list or, if one you want isn’t already
there, by adding it yourself (using the New Tag
text box). Any new Ad Tags you enter
will need to be approved by our editorial team, although this won’t delay your Ad
from going live. Remember, too many can be counterproductive (as they’ll just confuse
people) and too few won’t do the job they’re intended to but please always ensure
they’re relevant to your Ad. Not only will it make it easier to find your Ad – as,
depending on what people are searching for, Ads including these primary keywords
will be returned first – it will also make it easier for people to quickly see what
you’re advertising when they get to your Ad Details
page.
8)
How do I add Pictures or Videos to my Ad?
Ads with at least one picture get noticed far more and adding an image can
really help improve its response – it’s a fact! Either add them when you first create
your Ad, or later by using the Edit Ad
button next to your Ad on the MyClassifieds
– Manage My Ads page. In all,
you can add 8 Pictures and/or 2 Videos to your Ad. The pictures you upload
from your computer should meet the following requirements:
- Format: They
need to be Jpegs
or Bitmaps
(not Gifs
or PNG
formats).
- File-Size:
No more than 300k.
- Shape: Ideally,
Landscape oriented (ie rectangles where the width is greater than the height) rather
than Portrait (ie where height is greater than width).There’s no real problem if
they aren’t Landscape shaped but all images are automatically squashed to fit on
to the listings and Ad Details
pages. Although, this squashing might cause a little distortion,
the original shape, size and quality will be magically restored whenever the user
clicks on them (please browse the site to see this in action).
9) When I’ve finished creating my Ad, what’s next?
Once you’ve confirmed all the sections in your Ad
(by hitting the Confirm button next to each), click on the
Show Ad button to view it as it will appear on the
Ad Details page (this will launch a new browser
window). If there’s anything you don’t like, you can still change it at any time
by returning to the Post an Ad
page and clicking on the
Edit link next to the relevant section. Then, when
you’re happy with your Ad, you can either save it for later (by clicking on the
Save Ad
button) or click the Submit Ad
button to submit it for approval and publication.
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