Unlocking Success: The 11 Best Free Advertising Sites

After you’ve spent so long choosing a website builder and then creating your perfect website, it’s time to get your marketing hat on and find yourself some visitors. But why? What do you have to gain from advertising your online business?

Boost your brand and website awareness – People need to know that you exist if you want to sell things, which is where promoting your website comes in. But most also want to know your story, values, vibe, credibility, and how your business operates. You can get this across even in the simplest of ads.

Find your customers – Most customers buy because they’re getting something on an emotional level. Advertising online lets you spread your reach, and if you’re unique, you’ll find your target audience. It’s like a really unusual, vivid profile on a dating app – if you really stand out, no holds barred, the ones that do get in touch really like you.

Give people more value – Potential online customers have so much choice and are bombarded with up to 10,000 ads a day. And that doesn’t include all the content from friends and family! Differentiate yourself from your competition by adding value to your customers’ lives, not just with your products but with other needs you might be able to fill, such as information, tips, recommendations, and collaborations with others to help meet new needs. They all add up and help build loyalty.

Make more sales – The traditional holy grail of advertising. You want to be able to pay your bills. And statistics on digital marketing ROI show how advertising pays, with SEO marketing averaging an ROI of 22:1, or a whopping 2,220%!

Guide them through your annual cycle – Businesses pivot and try seasonal and new promotions. Advertising helps you announce there’s a new reason to check you out. You can lead customers to whatever new funnels you’re adding along the way.

Maybe you’re now a little intrigued by what advertising can do for you. And that ROI sure seems tempting, but your budget can’t cover an upfront expense. So let’s look at the best free advertising sites!

First up, what do we mean by “free advertising sites?” This article doesn’t cover general sites that you can use for free advertising, like WordPress or Instagram or Quora or a host of others. What we mean in this context is sites that are specifically built to drive advertising, most of which is free, for a customer base.

Before we get into our list of the best free sites to advertise your business, let’s take a second to look at whether it’s right for you. Free advertising sites do bring an online business owner benefits, but it also brings challenges:

Pros

• It’s free, so budget isn’t a problem
• You don’t have to limit how much advertising you put out (usually)
• You can use analytics to check whether they’re effective and adjust future ads

Cons

• Lots of competition and noise
• No quality control so audiences have to wade through subpar campaigns
• Some free sites don’t have the resources for moderation from attacks or fixing mistakes

The good news is that most of these challenges can be solved with ads that are written well for a target audience.

Find Out More

• Discover our top Digital Marketing Tips to help your ads go further!

All free advertising starts with research on the site’s terms and conditions, what you’re selling, and who your target audience is. Which categories do your products feel at home? What do your competitors’ ads (both the good and the ugly) look like?

To help you get a better idea of what site works best for you, here are 11 of the best free advertising sites and why they work.

#1. Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is easy to use, and brings an audience of 1 billion people a month who spend a lot of time on the platform. It’s not for businesses that sell luxury or high-priced goods and services. Marketplace is seen like a thrift shop and there’s a huge amount of competition.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t display your business’ information where it’s easily seen which makes building a brand tougher.

But if you sell one-off items and prefer to sell locally, this is a good option for you. To set up, click on the Marketplace at either the top or bottom of the screen, and have a look through the categories. Once you’re ready, click on the profile option, and fill out your details and info on you and your products. Like Craigslist, it works best locally. It’s truly free.

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Facebook Marketplace is great for local searches.

You can find anything on Facebook Marketplace.

A specific search brings up huge variety.

#2. Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business)

Google lets you freely advertise by posting your business profile on Google searches and Google Maps. It’s a successful platform – Google Business Profile means you’re 2.7 times more likely to be considered reputable by Google users, plus your chances of customers visiting your site increase 70%, and they’re 50% more likely to buy from you. Impressive stats indeed!

It favors businesses with a physical location, but if you’re strictly online, it’s still worth filling out a profile. You can also create all kinds of content – posts, DMs, offers, promotions, etc.

Set up a business account on google.com/business and create your profile. Fill out all the details, link up to your website, and continue to add postings. It’s totally free – there are no hidden fees.

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Google Profile can help you find businesses when you're visiting somewhere.

If your customers want to get dripped out, try Google Profile.

Google Profile can lead your customers to delicious experiences.

#3. Craigslist

In Craigslist everything is categorized so you can easily target your audience. And the community discussions allow word-of-mouth to further help get the word out. The best businesses that do well are local businesses (because categories are broken down by location) that provide goods and services for their community.

Be aware that although the advertising is free, if you sell you’ll pay a fee. Your posts last 30 days.

Craigslist provides an ad forum that talks you through everything you need to do, including how to write effective Craigslist ads and how to find your posting. When you advertise, you’ll start with the “New Posting” selection. Include SEO in your ad, keywords in an attention-grabbing title, visual content when possible, and reasons for selling help too.

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It's not fancy to look at, but it's easy to navigate categories on Craigslist.

Need someone to help with your online business? Craigslist has a jobs section.

Want someone to make music for your content or website? Craigslist has plenty of composers.

#4. Yelp

Yelp free advertising attracts many small businesses because it pushes your ads to secondary sites which are partnered with Yelp. 90 million people look to Yelp for business information each month, and 97% make a purchase. Yelp-friendly businesses are local, such as bars and restaurants, professionals like doctors and lawyers, home/auto services and maintenance, beauty, and health and fitness.

On Yelp you register your profile and fill out as much of your business’ information as possible. You can ask your network to add honest reviews on your profile too. On the free plan, you can respond to messages and reviews.

Its upgrades are very affordable – for a dollar a day you can keep competitors’ ads from popping up on your page or add a call to action button.

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Yelp's profiles give your customers a chance to sing your praises.

Yelp advertising covers spaces too, not just services and products.

You can offer appointments and discounts right in your Yelp search result entry.

#5. eBay

eBay’s an extremely popular site boasting 135 million eBay customers browsing 1.7 billion listings. The most popular categories are electronics (and electronic accessories), automotive, health/beauty, and sports/outdoors. And if you sell internationally, you’ll do better – 50% of its gross purchase revenue comes from international sales.

Selling on eBay works like an auction site (though you also have the option to sell outside of an auction). While you create your listing remember that targeted keywords are vital. You can use the listing page as blank space for your brand – introducing backgrounds colors, even a paragraph on or link to your business.

You‘ll have a limit on your free ads, and will be charged a final valuation fee upon the sale. This rate depends on whether you’re a private lister or a business.

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eBay gives businesses a chance to let customers know a little more about them.

eBay gives customers criteria to shop and lets them know how many specific items are available.

Customers have the chance to see everything you're selling at all once.

#6. Oodle

At first glance Oodle is a great place for simple, locally-based classified listings. But it brings a lot more than that. You know that person in your life who introduces you to lots of different types of people? That’s Oodle. A connector. It works by not accepting ads directly, but by indexing and showing your ads in one place.

Customers can set notifications so if your ad matches what they’re searching for, you’ll both be in luck. Like many of the other sites it favors local transactions, but you can still sell to further regions.

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Oodle is great for matching customers with locally-based listings.

Got an online business selling events tickets? Oodle's a great place, no matter how high the price!

Oodle's Facebook requirement for identity is another security step for legitimacy.

#7. Locanto

The businesses that do very well on Locanto are those that enjoy a big local following. Businesses that advertise classes, ticketed events, entertainment, talks, and any local events are heavily promoted.

Posting an ad is really easy – even simpler than eBay because you haven’t got to verify or provide business financial information. Simply click on the link and get started right away..

Keywords/SEO and a good headline will get attention. Your ads will stay around for 60 days and are totally free if you’re in the right location (always check first!).

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Locanto is a great place to sell concert tickets.

Locanto lets you advertise services of all kinds.

Locanto helps customers find what they're looking for - you!

#8. Geebo

Geebo is another classified site with a difference – safety is the USP at Geebo. Geebo provides its sellers a list of common scams for protection and education. Though they have a small team of three people in their office, they manage to get 2.5 million page views/month.

It’s really easy to make an advertisement – click on the post button on the homepage, choose your category, fill in some details, add photos, and you’re off. Steer clear of looking for employees on Geebo – they charge at least $75 dollars per employment ad.

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Geebo makes writing listings so easy.

Geebo takes its commitment to safety very seriously.

Geebo wants customers to feel safe using its websites.

#9. ClassifiedAds

ClassifiedAds is a small startup run by 20 people with 3 million unique visitors a month. It runs similarly to Craigslist – a simple sign-up and post. Customers will search for your product, and ads as well as listings will come up. You’ll also get to add a link to your website and provide contact forms for better communication.

It’s free to post ads, fully browse the site, and get in touch with sellers (which your buyers will love). But note that because there aren’t photos on the search results page, keywords and an eye-catching title will be essential.

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It doesn't matter how fancy the object that's sold. It's getting on Classified Ads.

Classified Ads is good at providing info on how long the product has been listed and how many times people have checked it out.

You can find all kinds of stuff on Classified Ads.

#10. Nextdoor

Are you a local business kinda person? Then Nextdoor is for you! It’s a totally unique platform that lets you network with people around you. Right now, it operates in over 300,00o neighborhoods worldwide but still helps you focus on the customers in your vicinity.

You can advertise products or services, join groups, and even receive recommendations for businesses that are close to you. Anything that builds your community and local connections! Yes, this platform might limit your global outreach, but if you’re eager to keep things close to home, Nextdoor is the perfect solution.

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Nextdoor thinks the local angle is the most important.

Nextdoor will hook public agencies and local organizations together.

Nextdoor gives small businesses useful instructions on maximizing mobile potential.

#11. AdLandPro

This is another classified ad site for you. It’s easy to use and has a broad reach so it’s a great starting point. Not only is it versatile, but works for a huge variety of businesses such as e-commerce stores and freelance service providers.

You can reach a large audience without spending a cent, interact with potential customers directly, and post ads in various categories. Plus, it has an affiliate programme if you’re up for collaborations. However, it is worth knowing that, because there are so many ads, you’ll need to stand out.

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Like any good classified ad site, AdLandPro has lots of categories to choose from.

AdLandPro advertises from the get-go what kind of benefits you get from their affiliate program.

AdLandPro gives you a chance to do a little local networking.

Maximizing advertising results on free advertising sites requires a strategic approach. Here are some tips for creating effective ads and optimizing their placement and targeting.

1. Creating Effective Ads: Firstly, keep your ads concise and clear. Use compelling headlines and include the most important information upfront to grab attention. High-quality images or graphics can make your ad more visually appealing and engaging. Be sure to include a strong call-to-action that motivates viewers to take the desired action, such as visiting your website or contacting you directly.

2. Optimizing Ad Placement and Targeting: Free advertising sites often have categories or sections where you can place your ads. Choose the most relevant categories for your business to increase the chances of reaching your target audience. Experiment with different ad placements and monitor which ones generate the best results. Some free sites also offer demographic targeting options, so take advantage of these to reach the people most likely to be interested in your product or service.

3. Tracking and Measuring Performance: It’s crucial to monitor the performance of your ads to understand what’s working and what isn’t. Use tracking tools like Google Analytics to measure click-through rates, engagement metrics, and conversion rates. If the site doesn’t offer built-in analytics, you can use UTM parameters to track how your ads are performing.

Free advertising sites certainly provide a lot of opportunity for online business owners. Written well, for the right target audience, they bring you a new audience and customer base, let people know about your brand, bring your customers value, and sell more.

Once you figure out which sites work best for you and use their best practices, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of something that takes very little time or resources. It’s all about finding the right place for you and your online business to thrive.