{"id":9375,"date":"2009-07-31T13:40:15","date_gmt":"2009-07-31T20:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=9375"},"modified":"2009-07-31T14:10:30","modified_gmt":"2009-07-31T21:10:30","slug":"in-search-of-better-faster-linkier-craigslist-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9375\/in-search-of-better-faster-linkier-craigslist-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"In search of better, faster, linkier Craigslist Ads"},"content":{"rendered":"

I still get quite a bit of activity from Craigslist ads. <\/span>I have been using Postlets, because it puts listings a bunch of different places, and adding a bit of html before and after their code with links to the individual property site, my blogs and my real estate site.<\/p>\n

\n

Even though Postlets doesn\u2019t put links in the Craigslist ads, I wanted links! <\/span>So, since I\u2019m lazy about coding and not very fluent in html, I did a draft post in WordPress with the things I wanted to say and link to and put three lines above the Postlets ad with links to the individual property site, my blog and my real estate home page, clicked to have it shown in html and pasted it in above and below the postlets ad. <\/span>It looks like this<\/a>. <\/span>With 20 or so of these running, I get a noticeable bump in google search results and traffic. <\/span>No problems with being flagged or having the ads yanked.<\/p>\n

\n

But, I\u2019m thinking I can do more.<\/p>\n

\n

Craigslist is a more time consuming than I would like because the ads expire every week. <\/span>I want to automate the process where I can create a template that I can prepare quickly, much like the custom page creation for each property can be automated using Engenu. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

So, I took the source code for a property page from Engenu and pasted it into a Craigslist ad to see what would happen. <\/span>I found out right away that only 30,000 characters were allowed in the post description (the place I can paste in html code). <\/span>Since the file I tried was 11,000 lines of code, I found that limit pretty quickly. <\/span>I wanted to see what would come up and I at least found how many characters are allowed. <\/span>30,000 characters of code is enough that <\/span>I should be able to do something better.<\/p>\n

\n

Then, I finally searched BHB for Craigslist and found Greg\u2019s post on CL<\/a> from last year. <\/span>The comment string is pretty important on that post. <\/span>After reading those, I was ready to experiment with making a new .html template Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I still get quite a bit of activity from Craigslist ads. I have been using Postlets, because it puts listings a bunch of different places, and adding a bit of html before and after their code with links to the individual property site, my blogs and my real estate site. Even though Postlets doesn\u2019t put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,26,6,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-general","7":"category-lending","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-technology","11":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":877,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/877\/feed-the-starving-realtybot-zillowcom-is-underwhelming-so-far-as-a-national-property-listings-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":9375,"position":0},"title":"Feed the starving Realty.bot: Zillow.com is underwhelming, so far, as a National Property Listings Service . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"January 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I think I have to back off -- for now, at least -- from my earlier expectations for Zillow.com as an incipient National Property Listings Service. To this date, anyway, Zillow's appeal to sellers and listing agents has been underwhelming, at best. As I write, there are 19,250 homes listed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9583,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9583\/drivebuy-listings-plug-n-play-procedure-knock-out-presentation\/","url_meta":{"origin":9375,"position":1},"title":"DriveBuy listings: Plug-n-play procedure, knock-out presentation","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"We use the term \"drive-by listing\" to refer to the kind of listing you get with almost no human contact: \"The key's under the doormat. Look it over and tell me what we can get. Email me the paperwork.\" I have five of these right now, investor-specials that came in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flourishing"","block_context":{"text":"Flourishing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/flourishing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8499,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/8499\/taking-a-page-out-of-realtorcoms-absurd-playbook-craigs-list-offers-free-showcase-listing-package\/","url_meta":{"origin":9375,"position":2},"title":"Taking A Page Out of Realtor.Com’s Absurd Playbook, Craig’s List Offers FREE Showcase Listing Package!","author":"Ryan Hartman","date":"May 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I generally don't get involved in causes. I don't vote. I try not to step on toes. I truly think doing something trippy drippy nuts absurd is a more productive use of time then taking a real side or a position on anything. But this MIBOR\/NAR deal really has me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Craig's List Showcase Listing","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/craig.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2687,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2687\/speaking-in-tongues-making-professional-looking-craigslist-ads-even-if-you-dont-know-how-to-code-in-html\/","url_meta":{"origin":9375,"position":3},"title":"Speaking in tongues: Making more-professional-looking CraigsList HTML ads — even if you don’t know how to code in HTML","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"[I've amended this post somewhat based on our recent experiences with CraigsList, which are discussed in the comments. The point of this post is not CraigsList, but, rather, learning how to extract HTML from existing code, this as a means of learning to write HTML on your own. In the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1150,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1150\/recovering-addict\/","url_meta":{"origin":9375,"position":4},"title":"Recovering Addict","author":"Kris Berg","date":"March 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":">Do I really need single-property websites? >Which is better, Postlets or VFlyer, or why can't my website template provider just give me a darn feed to my property pages so I can avoid the whole mess altogether? >Does Dustin have a ponytail? (I like to think so, but it is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2853,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2853\/listing-real-estate-the-bloodhound-way-the-full-chetson-everything-we-do-to-list-a-higher-priced-home-for-sale\/","url_meta":{"origin":9375,"position":5},"title":"Listing real estate the Bloodhound way: Everything we do to list historic, architecturally-distinctive and luxury homes for sale","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a detailing of the things we do to list a home for sale. We don't do every one of these things on every home. For example, we know that if we list in a newer tract-home subdivision, much of the noise we try to make will fall on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9375"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9378,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9375\/revisions\/9378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}