RefreshClassifieds

I think it has been said and everyone now gets it that traditional sources of news have got to e-enable themselves in order to stand a chance at competing. Newspapers get that - The issue newspapers are faced with now is what to do once with the site once it has been built? In essence – ‘How do we drive traffic to our site?’ It should first be said that there aren’t too many publishers asking this question, as many of them rely on organic search terms to get by – and of course - focusing organically does not foster growth. However, there are few who understand e-sales and the value of creating a massive marketplace online for the benefits of buyers, sellers and information gatherers.

I performed random searches for things that newspapers generally target as their big verticals. The results confirmed that newspapers have not been doing all that they can to optimize their sites and as a result, are missing the opportunity to expand their marketplace.

• Apartments for Rent in NY – Kijiji appeared five times in the first two pages, but no New York Times.
• Used Cars LA – Kijiji again had dominant listings, but no LA Times or even Auto Trader
• Used Cars Toronto – A newspaper site (Wheels – Toronto Star) appeared on the second page of my search results.

The test could go on and on, but the point is the ‘build it and they will come’ mentality has the potential to cripple even the most web savvy publisher, very quickly.

From what we can see today, search engines are looking at ways to better the search experience through personalization. To a publisher or site owner, this means there should be less reliance on someone Googling your business name as opposed to your products. In order for search results to work for you, you need to start thinking like the customer and include Meta Tags that are relevant in likeness to the terms a customer would use, while performing a search. You should also be thinking about your site architecture and decide on the pages or content you want measured, read and trafficked - You should optimize those pages as well.

If this seems daunting, there are services that can help you. You can reference the service of a search-marketing agency and they will not only consult on SEO (search engine optimization), but also SEM (search engine marketing). If you think you can handle it yourself, use a robust reporting source like Hitwise to keep current on how people in your marketplace are searching for the items or services you offer, as well as see how your competitors are stacking up in regards to search.

The findings from a study performed by Penn State’s Dr. Jim Jansen and Amanda Spink, earlier this year, summarizes it best:

• Half of all users entered only one search query.
• 54 percent viewed just one page of search results per visit to the search engine.
• Searchers typically visit only the top three search results.
• About 55 percent of users checked out one result only.
• Only 19 percent went on to the second page.
• Fewer than 10 percent bothered with the third page of results.
• More than 80 percent stopped after looking at three results

Livedeal.com has added topic based discussion Forums similar to those found on Craigslist. The forums provide an opportunity for further discussion on local purchases. For example “How to find a vet?” or “What is the best movie?”. The forums should also provide the ability to for buyers & sellers to discuss fraud issues and raise aware about less than reputable people. Forum groups include:

• LiveDeal Q&A
• LiveDeal Lounge
• LiveDeal’s Newest Features
• Super Seller Forum
• Special Events
• Local Notices

Inside each group discussions topics can vary and its not clear how much Livedeal will be moderating the forums. The Livedeal does have a terms of service that allows them to remove whatever content they choose. Livedeal.com has been making aggressive moves to become more social with both its classifieds and directory businesses. Livedeal.com recently added ratings to its Directory service. The next step for Livedeal.com might be ratings for classified buyers & sellers similar to Ebay.

Ebay’s Gumtree.com classified site has launched into the US markets of Boston, New York and Chicago.  Gumtree has been operating of out the the United Kingdom and been very popular in London.  The site is offers free listings similar to Craigislist but has a more developed user interface like Kijiji.  Ebay seems to be determined to hedge its bets in the classified market with a variety of overlapping websites brands.  Ebay has the following classified sites in play:

• Craigslist, through a minority share purchase
• Kijiji.com, popular out of the Canada and now entering the US
• Gumtree.com, popular out of the UK and now entering the US
• Rent.com, one of the leading rental sites in US

It will be interesting to see the impact of the Kijiji and Gumtree on Ebay’s Rent.com business but I suspect that the biggest impact is Craigslist.  Its not clear how much Ebay is involved or learning from Craigslist.  In past interviews with Jim Buckmaster, he’s indicated that ebay’s involvement was minimal.

Missing from the Ebay arsenal of Classified sites is a major player in the Automotive space.  Automotive Classifieds have traditionally been the biggest earner and it would not be a surprise to see Ebay add an Automotive Classified site to augment its Ebay Motors Auction service.  Ebay may also look to part with print advertisers to try to get additional review from reserve publishing to the failing print classified publishers.

Gumiyo, a leading provider of classified information to mobile devices, has partnered with Autobase, a leading data collection company in the US. In the US most dealers use a data collection company to capture information related to the vehicle and produce state required window stickers. Generally the data collection companies then publish the vehicle information in a variety of media locations depending on the dealers requirements.

Increasing the dealer’s own webpage is becoming one of the best locations to promote vehicles and the Gumiyo solution allows the dealer to have additional communication tools with the consumer. For example Gumiyo can provide the ability to text message on vehicles or view classifieds on the smaller screens available on mobile devices. Its not clear how well the Gumiyo solution will work with third-party media which may not fully support some of the Gumiyo functionality.