An Introduction To Craigslist

Millions of people visit Craigslist every month. Still, many more have heard of it, but are not sure what it is. Below is a quick overview of the primary categories of Craigslist. 

The Craigslist community can be a great asset for buying and selling things, discussing popular topics, or when looking for: information, jobs, friends, mates or dates.  Here are some of the main sections presented in order as they currently appear on the site.

Community

There's a lot of local information that can be found in the Craigslist Community section.  Things that can be found in this section cover events, lost and found even local news and politics, among others.  If you want to look into a specific area then this is one section you will want to take a look at.

Personals

Whether you are looking for casual friendship or a lifelong mate the personals is for you.  You must be at least eighteen years old to use this section.  There are categories for all tastes, including opposite and same sex listings.

Forums

The Craigslist forums are a place where you can keep in touch, ask and answer questions, voice your opinions or exchange information.  The forums contain several different categories.  This makes finding others with similar interests much easier.  You can post to some of the forum categories without logging in, but for others a login is needed.

Housing

If you are looking for roommates, a house swap, an apartment, a house to buy, parking, storage, vacation property, sublets, tenants, commercial or office space then the housing category on Craigslist is the place to start.  It is good for your local area or if you need housing in any of the 450 or so locations covered.

For Sale

The Craigslist For Sale section is for the sale, trade, giving or requesting of physical items.  As with other sections, it is categorized.  If you can find it for sale in a newspaper's ad section you can find it on Craigslist - with the two additional categories of 'barter' and 'free'.

Services

The service category is ideal for business owners who offer a service instead of, or in addition to, physical goods. Just make sure to post in the appropriate category.  If you cannot find the right category then you can post to the small business section.

Jobs

The largest section on Craigslist by far is Jobs.  There are dozens of categories listed to make looking for the right job match easier.  The jobs listed here include full and part time, contracted work, working at the employer's location or working from home.

Gigs

'Gigs' can be defined as short term, one-off opportunities.  There are fewer categories listed in Gigs, but they tend to be more general so they cover just about anything.  If you are looking for help for an unexpected and temporary situation, or a special occasion then post here.  Ongoing positions should be posted in the Jobs section.

Resumes

What if you are looking for work and want to get your name in front of potential employers?  Then post to the Resumes section.  There are no subtopics here, so a headline that stands out is essential for getting noticed.

3 Basic Craigslist Questions

Craigslist is a one stop resource for nearly everything a virtual community has to offer.  Along with a variety of event, activity, service and goods listings are the forums where people can share their opinions on any number of issues important to them.  The fact that Craigslist also gets billions of page views every month shows there are a lot of people who recognize its value.  Still, there remains many who haven't heard of, or fully understand, Craigslist quite yet.  Below are the answers to three basic questions about Craigslist to help those who don't completely understand how to use Craigslist or what it is.

1. What Is It?

"What is it"? Is probably the most basic question asked when people first hear of the site. You can think of Craigslist as a mixture of the classified ads in a newspaper plus the editorial page combined with a job seeking website, and presented online for convenient access. Another definition of Craigslist is of an online community that has an comprehensive classified section. This includes sections for selling many different goods and services, employment listings, posting resumes or even personal ads. In addition, Craigslist offers a discussion forum covering many subjects - whether for sharing information or debating serious issues.

It really is not as confusing as it may sound.  A brief visit to www.craigslist.org makes it clear right away.  It's easy to see useful the Craigslist community is for people looking for all kinds of information, goods or services. Craigslist doesn't just provide all of this information, it does so in a convenient manner.  It divides the information into easy to understand categories all based on one of about 450 different geographical areas.  This makes it easy to find what's available in any given area.

2. What Can It Do For Me?

Even though you now know what the Craigslist site is, you might still be wondering how it can, specifically, help you.  There isn't one basic answer to that question.  That's because any benefits depend upon what it is you are hoping to get from the Craigslist community.  This section covers some ways to use Craigslist for people looking for goods, services, employment, romance or friends.

Craigslist has a section for people wanting to sell or buy items.  People that have something for sale post on the appropriate category to get responses from people that are looking for that item.  Craigslist also has a section where people that are looking for specific items can post a request for the items along with the amount they will pay.

Craigslist is also a great site to visit if you are looking for a job.  There is a section where people can read employment listings along with a separate section for posting resumes.  The flexible employment options (full time, part time, contract work, telecommuting, etc.) make Craigslist ideal for people searching for jobs.

Making friends or finding lifelong romantic partners is also possible on Craigslist.  The Personals section is where people post or view ads searching for friendship or love.  Just like any other dating situations, you need to be careful that any meeting with a potential friend or date is safe.  Always arrange the initial meeting in a busy public place. You can also bring along a trusted friend to make the meeting safer.

3. What Can It Do For My Business?

There are benefits for business owners on Craigslist too.  The fact that Craigslist receives billions of page views on a monthly basis makes it efficient to reach large numbers of people.  The simplest way is to post ads promoting whatever it is your business offers.  You can also Craigslist to research what your competitors are doing to reach potential customers.