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Classified ads are usually regarded as less effective in producing affiliate sales than other advertising. Under certain circumstances, however, classified ads can help you increase your number of visitors and enhance affiliate sales.

Your first priority in creating a classified ad is to make it no more complicated than necessary. The ad is intended to promote visitors to your site and not direct sales. The best place to begin is at the beginning, with the headline of the classified ad.

The way you want to make your headline get noticed is to use words in it that get attention from your readers. Using a psychological trigger can help you get more clicks to your ad. Some particular words- "cheap", "free", "proven", "shocking"- are certain to get your audience to do as you ask and give you clicks. You need to know which of your ads have been most effective, so make sure you track each individual ad.

A template for the URL you should use if you use more than one at the same site would be yourdomain/?=trackingcode. (The tracking code should be a 3 or 4 number code.) In a safe place, write down the tracking code that corresponds to each ad. It is best to use random numbers with no special significance as your tracking codes. This way, you won't be confused. Always use the same tracking code for its assigned ad.

Composing the first line of your ad is the next major task. Quite a few people have concluded that an ad becomes more interesting if you include a clear positive result of your product in the top line of the ad. The reader must know right when he reads that first line that this product will help him. This can be best done by explaining precisely what the product will do for the reader.

Explaining an especially useful feature of the good you're selling ought to be done in the third line. This can be a unique selling point. You need to keep the reader clicking onward to the end, where you show the physical details of the product and what you're charging for it. The ad should say what is necessary and nothing more. With classified ads, the more words you use, the less likely you are to close a sale.

The more words and diagrams you include in your advertisement, the less likely it is to result in sales. Writing flowery, verbose prose is counter-productive.

Once you've completed your advertisement, you must get it to where people will see it. The criteria here is to find places that will allow free classified ads that get large amounts of traffic themselves. The sites Craigslist.org and Yahoo! Classifieds satisfy both of these important criteria.

Both of these sites will allow you to post your classifieds for free if you place your ads under the CORRECT TOPICS. Don't even think about doing otherwise. If your ads are wrongly posted, they will be removed- and your registration could be as well. And always read the terms of service before posting to these sites.

Follow these instructions, and your online sales will prosper. The results can be more effective exposure for your affiliate promotions and an increase in affiliate sales for your company. Clicks and revenue are sure to follow once you finish producing and placing your ads.