Start Online Classified Website and Make Money

Start Online Classified Website and Make Money! Is this so simple? 

We can see many Bloggers recommended to start an online classified website and make money from home. Like you, I was also fascinated by this idea in the past. So, I have started a classified website with some additional features and a business directory website. In this process, I have learned a lot. I am sharing my experience with you in this following post and additional posts at Classified Websites Category.

Everyone knows about Yellow Pages Advertisements can be found on local newspapers. Now a days Technologies have proven to be overpowered many Traditional System and we are being aware of environment friendliness in many ways. An outcome of these following gave birth the Online Classified Websites.

Here are Top Five Reasons “Why Online Classified Advertisement sites are Booming day by day?” :

1. Free or very Low Cost of Advertisement
2. Easily accessible for everyone either from any Internet enabled devices maybe it is Mobile Phones, Tabs on the go or from PCs
3. Provides Specific Category based information when you need
4. Build for Emergency information requirements
5. Location specific information with contact details

What is a Classified Website?

As defined in Wikipedia “Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge.”

Some examples of Top Classified Websites if you are not already heard of them:

Craigslist.org : Craigslist is a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, items wanted, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums. It is founded by Craig Newmark in 1995 has Headquarters at San Francisco, California, United States. The current CEO of Craiglist is Jim Buckmaster and its current revenue is $ 900,000 (As of 27 June 2016).

Backpage.com : It is a classified advertising website launched in 2004. It offers classified listings including automotive, jobs listings, real estate and services, founded In 2011. Backpage is the second largest classified ad listing service on the Internet in the United States after Craigslist.

Gumtree.com : Gumtree was founded in March 2000 by Michael Pennington and Simon Crookall as a local London classified ads and community site, designed to connect Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans. In May 2005, Gumtree was acquired by eBay’s classifieds group, for an undisclosed sum. At the time of the acquisition, Gumtree already was available in multiple cities in a number of countries including the United Kingdom, Poland, France, Canada, Australia (Gumtree Australia), New Zealand, South Africa and Hong Kong. Gumtree is the #1 classifieds site in the UK, Australia, South Africa, and Singapore.

Kijiji.ca : Kijiji is an online classified advertising service that operates as a centralized network of online communities, organized by city and urban region, for posting local ads. It is a fully owned subsidiary of eBay launched in March 2005. Kijiji websites are available for more than 300 cities in Canada, Italy, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Kijiji was made available to selected cities in the United States on June 29, 2007, but was changed to eBay Classifieds in 2010.

OLX.in : OLX is founded by Fabrice Grinda, Jordi Castello and Alec Oxenford and acquired by Naspers on August 26, 2010.  OLX offers free local classified ads in India. OLX is the next generation of free online classifieds. OLX provides is for selling, buying, trading, discussing, organizing, and meeting people nearby. OLX meanwhile, is backed by the South African media company Naspers.

Quikr.com : Quikr is an Indian classified advertising platform. It was founded by Pranay Chulet and Jiby Thomas in 2008, and as of 2013 reported 12 million listings. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Quikr has listings in over 1,000 cities in India in categories such as mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services and education. Quikr recently raised $90 million (Rs. 550 crore) bringing their total funding amount up to $140 million.

Locanto.com and others : Locanto is a worldwide online classifieds network founded in 2006 by Klaus P. Gapp, CEO and founder of Yalwa, having headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany with areas dedicated to jobs, personals, for rent, for sale, services, community, real estate, vehicles, and pets. Locanto Classifieds is available in more than 60 countries worldwide.

After knowing about these Giant Online Classified Websites you may have understood some overviews of these type of sites. Read on about Requirements to “Start Online Classified Website“. Here are some more insights for you.

Business Process Models of Classified Sites

How Classified Websites Make Money or Profitability Model 

You can also Start Online Classified Website from your home and comfort zone. Just follow these basic requirements for starting your new classified website.

Online Requirements for Online Classified Website:

1. Domain Name: Choose a specific, easy to remember, unique Domain name which reflects to your niche classified site. Get Domain names from NameCheap. They offer lowest rates for Domain name registration with Free DNS servers and Whois Guard protection.
2. Hosting: You may start with a cheap hosting but prepare to upgrade anytime towards a Cloud Hosting environment as your site grows in terms of Traffic and Advertisements. SiteGround offers a very low Shared Hosting Plan Called “StartUp” which starts with usually $9.95 per month but you can get it as low as $3.95 per month for an entire Year with this Discounted Link. This hosting is specially optimized for different CMS like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and other custom Classified Scripts to handle Traffics/ Visitors from 10,000 to 1,00,000 Monthly. Later you can upgrade with their Cloud Services as you need.
3. Email: Get a reliable Transactional Email provider service with dedicated Spam Free IP address. Because you need to make sure all mails can reach into customer’s inbox.
4. Classified Script: Today you have various choice for the web application which will run the classified website. You may choose any Open Source CMS (Content Management System) with specialized “WordPress Classified Theme” or “Ready made Classified Application Script” or even can develop as per your requirements. We recommend the Best Classified Script called FlyNax.
5. Transactional SMS : Opt for a reliable Transactional SMS service provider to verify Mobile Phone numbers while posting the Advertisements.
6. Online Marketing: Start some initial Advertisements on Google and Bing Ad-networks to populate your site quickly.

Offline Requirements for Online Classified Website:

1. Business Plan: A solid Business Plan is required to clear your missions, visions and objectives about your classified website business. You have to look at future oriented planning and execution strategies.
2. Registration of the Business: It is not optional but mandatory at the first stage of your business. Because a registered business is more valued among consumers rather than a casual one. Contact local Municipality or Govt. Authority which registers the business.
3. Offline Marketing: If you are really passionate about this business then you must spend some efforts for offline marketing too.

10 Secret Tips for New Online Classified Site Founders

Take a Course on: “Create a classified website in 2 hours – guaranteed”

Imagination vs Reality: This is an overview for you to select some proven paths and Start Online Classified Website to make money. Someone said “If you want to be a good photographer then you must see more and more photos first.” Same goes for this type of online business. You must closely know every details about your present and future competitors as you can. That does not mean to copy them but to learn from them.

Read my other topics on Classified Websites and contact me anytime if you have any Questions.