Getting Started with IYAN Free Ads

Welcome to the IYAN Getting Started Guide. This guide is intended to help you get started quickly and easily. If you just want to learn how to search and find Ads then the following tutorials are great for getting started.

• Search for Classified Ads by Location and Keywords
• Using the navigation bar

Getting Started Placing Ads

• STEP 1:
  The first thing to do is to register your free account. Just follow the register links from the front page. If you have any difficulty you can follow our tutorial here Registration & Logging-in Guide.
• STEP 2:
  Make sure you have read the Terms & Conditions. There are important restrictions and posting guidelines that you need to be aware of as a member of the IYAN community.
• STEP 3:
  Now you are ready to start creating your Ads. Please make sure you are logged in. You can create an Ad by clicking on the "Create Ad" menu link, or from the "Create Ad" button in the "My Ads" section of the Members Area. The following tutorials can guide you through the process:
  • How to Place a Free Classified Ad
  • Life-cycle of a Classified Ad

IYAN Ads Things to Remember

• Publishing an Ad is a 2-phase operation: Creating the Ad and then Publishing it.
• When an Ad is published, it can take several hours to appear in the listings and up to 24 hrs to be completely deployed. Similar delays occur when "Un-Publishing"

How People Respond to IYAN Ads

Ok, so you've created your Ad - now what? Well, if you provided a telephone number with your Ad, people who are interested in your Ad can contact you directly by telephone.

If there is no telephone then they can use the IYAN anonymous email system to contact you. Such contacts are initiated in the "Contact Form" at the bottom of each Ad and are routed "anonymously" through our system to you. You can reply by following the link in the email, which will take you back to the same contact form where you can enter your reply. In order to prevent spam and the collection of emails, the anonymous email system does not permit urls or emails to be included. The anonymous email system is useful for asking detailed questions, giving address details or providing a contact telephone number when you are ready to make a deal.

It is important to note the following features of the system:

• It is restricted to people physically in the UK
• Our moderation process imposes a short delay in the transmission of emails (15-30 minutes)
• Our moderators will automatically delete mails that are spam or breach the Terms & Conditions

How to Make Your Ads Work for You or Your Business

In the past, classified ads have been thought of as "as short as possible ads". This is because such ads were expensive and priced by the size of the ad. In the new world of the internet these restrictions no longer apply. In order to maximise the response to your Ad, relevant, unique and interesting keyword rich content is the key.

There is a minimum word count of 25 words for each Ad on IYAN and we recommend that your Ad contains a minimum of 100 words to be really effective - you can go up to 600 words! Use this space to answer ALL the questions you think people might ask about what you are offering. No matter what you are looking for, selling, buying, promoting - there is always an interesting back-story or history that can use to add spice to your Ad. Remember to be honest about everything you put in your Ad.

Treat your Ad like a mini one page website. The goal here is not to get the user to go to another place for information - but to have ALL the required information in your Ad and for them to contact you directly either via our email system or by phone. Thus becoming an entirely independant, alternative way for customers to come to you.

Always try to complete the "Alt" and "Title" elements of each image you upload. This text describes the image. The "Alt" describes it for search engines, the "Title" for humans. The text is often similar for each and both should have your keywords in. Sincee the Title text is for humans it should be a clear and grammatically correct statement.

For Local Business - the opportunity is to really connect, using compelling text, images and even video. It allows you to build a more personal relationship with potential local customers 24x7 without ever having to sell to them - and when they are ready to buy they already know you and will be much more inclined to do business with you.

For Local Events - the opportunity is to get the word out about your event and to generate interest and again using images and video to create a compelling story to catch the imagination of vistors and give them reasons to attend your event!

For Local Buying & Selling - with postage and transport costs going through the roof, it is only natural that local buying & selling is the new "big thing". Whether it is a house, car or your favourite armchair - your potential market is generally local and the benefits are massive. No selling fees, no buying fees, no shipping fees and no advertising costs! IYAn allows you to place up to 6 free Ads at a time, each with 4 images. To make your local free Ad work, always try to put as much useful and interesting information into your Ad as possible.