You would have come across many blogs depicted about how to create a classified website. Even myself too. Yet, I find it hard to know the complete aspects involved in creating or starting a business based on classifieds.

Classifieds sites have been and will have a sparkling future until people use the internet to search for a product or service nearby.

So, here you are going to know the complete ins and outs of how to create a classified website.

Classifieds Ads Portal

First of all, let us know about classified ads portal.

In the current generation of an endless digital era, classifieds ads platform are a gold mine. These portals allow individuals and business people to post ads of their own product or service.

As a matter of fact, it is highly critical for businesses to enlarge their niche. Every business needs a wide base of customers to succeed.

According to the research done by Statista, the revenue in the Classifieds segment amounts to US$20,055m in 2018. The revenue per Internet user on 2018 amounts to US$6.74. It is also said that the average revenue per Internet user currently amounts to US$7.17.

The above research points out to the pros that the classifieds ads are a great opportunity to do business.

This made me study the business model, features, and revenue model of popular classifieds ads platforms in detail.

During my research, I discovered that the following aspects may help entrepreneurs create a classifieds ads portal. But before proceeding, let’s first understand about the 5miles.com a Texas-based classified business.

What is 5miles.com?

Launched in 2014, 5miles.com is an online marketplace. It allows buyers and sellers to trade goods in a simple and secure environment.

For any user, it is an easy, safe, and fun way to discover great classifieds in their native location. It doesn’t only provides a great opportunity to buy and sell their stuff. It also does help in finding a place to live, hire local services, or get a new job – all from the comfort of the user’s phone.

The creators of 5miles say the reason to find the organization is that of spammers and fakers. They experienced distress with the online marketplaces that are hard to browse. They do not want a marketplace which charges expensive fees and are full of spammers.

To find if the above is true, we need to get back a little bit to know the history of online classifieds.

History of Classifieds Websites

So, we know that the launch of 5miles was in 2014. But when was the first online classifieds website launched?

Any Guesses..?

Yes, of course, it is Craigslist. The launch of Craigslist was in 1995 by Mr. Craig Newmark. Email distribution list amongst friends was the major purpose it had. Craig posted the majority of earliest posts on his own and made it as a non-profit organization.

As a result of word of mouth marketing, the number of both postings and subscribers grew. More categories added in response to the user demand for the users in 1996.

In 2004, it became a profitable website by charging a fee to post job openings in selected cities. This made Craigslist a Billion dollar organization.

Beholding this, the Internet has had few more websites like Wallapop.com, Gumtree.com, letgo.com, offerup.com which provided advanced features to the users and made their way to industry leaders till date.

As you may find from the above, letgo.com and 5miles.com are the most recent classified businesses who topped as the industry leaders in a very short period.

Recently letgo.com has also raised an enormous amount of $500M at over a $1.5B valuation which clearly denotes that investors are keen to invest in businesses which are commenced using letgo clone.

5miles.com is also among them yet it has its own unique features and specialized functionalities which will be revealed as we wrap.

Even though the traits may be varied a little, the business model of every classified business remains the same which was very common and you may find it below.

This was the business model used by every classified business and the one obvious formula to succeed in this business is

 

“The Mystery lies here: More User = More Transactions = More Revenue.”

And thus the 5miles.com followed the action plan of classified business and started their own marketplace of an online classifieds website. 5miles are working to create the best experience for local buying and selling online.

So, I guess now you may have known about

• What is Online Classified Business?
• History of Online Classified Business.
• Industry Leaders of Online Classifieds Business.
• And most importantly, What is 5miles.com?

As the most important aspect of a business is Revenue, now let us dive into how classifieds websites make revenue.

How do classifieds platforms make money?

Have you used a classifieds website to post any job opportunity or any product for sale?

If yes, then am pretty much sure by now you would have known that most of the classifieds websites avail their services at free of cost.

Of course, the majority of classifieds businesses provide their core services for free. But, have you wondered how they generate revenue?

If you are looking for the answer to this question. Below are a few revenue-generating modules of a classifieds business.

Money Making Modules

?   The regular posts will be showcased in general visibility resulting in a delay in the product sale, as the priority of product listing goes based on the time of post. Some people may like faster response and happy to pay for that too. To attract these kinds of people, you can boost their ads by getting a small fee which connotes as Sponsored Listings.

?   Classifieds websites also allow to pay and display their product or services through attractive banner ads. This module is what know as Paid banner ads.

?   You may use classifieds websites to take advantage of Google Adsense. With Advertising Opportunities from Google, you may place Google ads on their own platform. So, in the end, the revenue will improve.

?   One of an authentic and result based modules is Pay Per View. In these modules, the businesses will only pay for the ads which got viewed by a user. This involves relatively low risk as well.

?   The more specific and targeted business modules are Pay Per Lead. Here, the businesses will only pay for the ads which get converted into a sale. Eventually, this would make more revenue.

Using the power of your mobile phone, 5miles has made everything easy. Selling as simple as taking a selfie, buying as easy as commenting on one and free for everyone to use.

So now, you might be aware of the 5miles.com business, how it works, industry leaders and how does it make money. Let’s dive into creating a classified Website.

How to create a classified website

If you have enough knowledge of codes and technologies, you may create classified website in the comfort zone of your home. You just need to know a few basic requirements to this question how to create a classified website,

Online Requirements to create classified website

• Domain
• Hosting
• Email
• SMS service provider
• Online Marketing
• Classifieds Script
  • Find an IT firm which provides a readymade classifieds Script and reach them to create classified website.
  • There are lots of open source providers available in the markets now. Some of them are even free and some of them are premium sources. It’s up to you to find which one is good for you. “Free” is something you can simply assume that you cannot expect the best out of it.
  • When you go for the premium source of classified script, the suggestion is to find the best in quality, performance, and price of course.

Make sure the script has an elegant mobile application for Android and iPhone users. As mobile users are increasing mobile phone models are increasing too. So it’s mandatory to make sure that the app should support all the devices.

Offline Requirements create classified website

1. Business Plan
2. Business Registration
3. Offline Marketing.

Also, find the major aspects to be kept in control of to create classified website in the below image.

Features for a 5miles Clone

A perfect classifieds ads platform incorporates the essential features of a classified business. A 5miles clone script must have the necessary features which help buyers and sellers to efficiently perform their business.

Here are a few most wanted features for an online classifieds app :

Homepage Features:

• Business
• For sale
• Property
• Jobs
• Services
• Community and
• Pets.

Seller Features:

• Post an Ad
• Verify Phone
• User profile.

Buyer Features:

• Search
• Favorites
• Map Integration
• Report.

These were the pretty much most important features that a buy-sell script should avail. There are also a few other interesting features which can be included for a business.

Furthermore, you may find the complete features list which can be added to a classifieds script here.

There are some other important aspects which should be considered once you create a classified website.

• Things must be remembered after Creating a Classified business.
• What are the best techniques for promoting the new classified website?

I will come up with the separate blogs to cover the above two topics.

Final Words

The above all information provided is just an overview or a hint to trace all the aspects of the online classifieds business. Hence, it is up to the readers to decide on covering every aspect to create classified website.

Consequently, it requires thorough strategic planning to create a classified website that shines. So, it is requested to every business proprietor to research, analyze and implement each phase of the task accordingly. Else you may have a hard time competing with your rivals.