Free classified websites: are they worth it? A major part of Search Engine Optimisation is building the number of links to your site. With most free classified sites enabling you to include your website when posting adverts for your products or services, it has become a popular way of generating links. Simply put, the more links you have, the better search engine position you hold and therefore the more web traffic you will get. Below is an overview of how beneficial the classified sites are when it comes to link building.

It's important to remember that not all links are the same. The search engines apportion 'weight' to the link according to how important the website is that provides it. A site like the BBC's ranks highly because it has an abundance of useful information and stories that people link to. In fact there are over 3.7 million links pointing to the BBC's UK website! With so many links, the BBC's website is regarded as a heavily weighted link if they were to link to your own site. The link from the BBC acts like a vote of authority, and a very important one at that.

At the opposite end of the scale, it would be very kind of someone to put a link to your website from their blog. Problem is, if no one is linking to their blog, the 'weight' of that link is not very influential. Consequently, you could have 10 links from a blogger but the single link from the BBC could greater influence your rankings in search engines.

This brings us neatly on to free classifieds websites. Popular free ads sites such as the likes of Gumtree allow you to have a link to your website alongside your advert. These sites rank well so would it be safe to assume they would give you well weighted links? Unfortunately, that would be too easy! The problem with these kinds of websites is that they are spammed a lot. The search engines are well aware of this and consequently reduce the weight of links from free classified websites. This is also the case for website forums and comments within blogs.

You may now be thinking that perhaps it's not worth the effort. However, due to these sort of websites ranking well in their own right, do not become disillusioned with links when the ultimate goal is - of course - traffic. You may find some positions you are aiming for are already held by a Gumtree page. By being on that page, you have a chance of getting the visitors you're looking for.

With most free classified sites being regional, it does offer the opportunity to submit an advert to all of these separate areas. The same ad can therefore generate many links. The catch being that the adverts will expire (generally after 30 days) and will need re-submission. We feel it's a price worth paying for as a trouble free way of generating links alongside standard practices.

Top Tip Sadly, not all links are what they seem. Many classified websites use re-direct links which means you gain no linking benefit. Before submitting a site, check out an existing advert first to see what happens when you hover over a hyperlink. If it doesn't go directly to the website, you know it is a re-direct.

Popular free classified websites include...

> Gumtree
> Vivastreet
> Hallo London
> Ad Trader
> Adzooks
> UK Classifieds

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