craigslist posting toolYou might have noticed browsing around Craigslist the past couple days, that all the previously well styled listings from professionals like yourself are all gone and all the listings now look the same.  Craigslist, without any notice to their users, made a massive shift in their posting policies which affects all Craigslist users.  They now prohibit embedded images, text markup, colors, backgrounds, and pretty much everything that would make a professional looking ad stand out from the crowd.  Companies in Florida and Texas, where these changes took effect  first are dubbing this policy change as “Hurricane Craig”.

Nobody is clear on Craigslist’s motivations behind the changes.  They made them by surprise with no announcements forewarning of these changes.  If these changes effect you negatively, the only way to express this to Craigslist is through their feedback forum.

We temporarily took our Craigslist posting tool offline on November 6th, since it was no longer effective using the old styles.  Today, we’ve replaced the old tool with a new tool.  The new tool complies with the limited amount of styling that Craigslist now allows.   Here’s what to expect:

  • No embedded pictures.  Craigslist no longer allows pictures to be automatically published.  Everybody now has to use Craiglist’s upload tool.  PRO TIP:  put your property pictures into a folder sorted by property, then hold down CTRL while selecting images to upload multiple images at once.
  • Limited fonts.  All fonts are now either Courier New or Times New Roman.
  • No links.  Craigslist no longer allows links to other websites, online applications, etc.
  • No tables or positioning.  Craigslist removed table, div, and span support, which is used to position image and text on a page.

The new tool makes the best of what Craigslist now allows for styling, and will still save you time when posting listings since the ad text and property details are pre-formatted and ready for Craigslist’s form.  Since Craigslist stripped most of the styling options from their listings it is more important than ever to publish amazing content so your listing continues to stand out from the crowd.

Tips for a successful listing:

  • Use great pictures!  Bright colorful picture of the best features of a property is going to be vital.  Upload the most compelling picture first as it will show as the largest image on Craigslist when a tenant opens your listing.
  • Quality content. For the property description write concise, quality content.  Be careful not to be too wordy otherwise your text will flow onto a 2nd page which often does not get read by tenants skimming through all the (now similar looking) listings.
  • A clear call to action.  Define how you want your prospects to contact you.  Is it by phone, website, or coming by your office.

The new tools is in the same location as always.  Right-click on the property, go to Marketing Info, then click Craigslist listing in the lower right.