The growth of the Internet has distinctively changed the world of advertising. Not only are companies moving their advertising campaigns online for maximum exposure, individuals are increasingly using the web to advertise their private items for sale. The most well known classified web site is eBay, which allows private individuals to auction off their unwanted items to other users of the web site. People from Salisbury can advertise their items to people across the world, within the comfort of their own home!
The process of placing an advert
Classified adverts web sites will differ from one web site to the next, although many will follow the same basic process.
1. The user may have to register an account on the web site, supplying his/her email address and choosing a secure password to use for future visits.
2. Once logged in the member can begin the process of adding an advert to the web site for others to see.
3. The member will visit a page which allows him/her to enter the various details about the item. The details may include the item title (e.g. “Collection of rare stamps”), a description, the price (e.g. “£50”), and the area the item is located (e.g. “Salisbury”). This page may have a feature which allows the member to upload one or more images of the item.
4. The member then submits the item. The member can then add more items to the web site, or continue to browse.
5. Before the advert appears on the web site it will likely have to be approved by the web site owners. Any adverts placed on the web site will therefore be displayed in a password protected administration area for the owners to approve, edit or delete.
6. If the advert is approved it will be displayed live on the web site, and the member will be emailed to make him/her aware. The advert will likely expire after a number days if left on the system.
This list is by no means universal, and different web sites will work in different ways. The main point here is that the advert is added by the user, placed in a queue to be moderated, and then appears live on the web site. Once live on the web site, other members/users can contact the seller of the item.
The administration area is often referred to as the “back-end”, whilst the public web site the “front-end”. The web site should be very user friendly, allowing users to refine a search for relevant items. For example, a stamp collector in Salisbury would likely want to refine his/her search to “stamps” located in “Salisbury”.
Building the classifieds web site
Building a classified adverts web site usually requires the use of a server side language, such as PHP, and the use of a database to store the various advert and membership details (and much more). The web site is designed and created using HTML and CSS (to create the actual appearance of the web site), and then PHP and SQL may be used to process the entered information and communicate with the database (placing data into the database and retrieving data to display on the web site).
As with any web site which processes user inputted data, the web site must have secure code which minimises the risk of any harmful or fraudulent attacks. Allowing image uploads also posses another risk, as we are allowing a file to be transferred onto the server by a user. There are several ways to minimise the risk of file uploads, however.
Examples of classified adverts web sites
ClassicCarsForSale.co.uk – This is a large classifieds web site which allows people to place adverts for their classic cars for sale. Each advert is approved by the team prior to being displayed on the web site. The system is also set up to allow credit card payments for trade dealers.
VanLocator.co.uk – Van Locator allows payments through a customised e-commerce system, allowing both private and trader users to list their vans for sale. The web site is constantly evolving, and has been a huge success.
BoatMatch.com – One of the UKs largest boat brokerages, Boat Match is a classified style web site which has hundreds of boats available for sale. As with all three of the web sites listed here, Boat Match has been constantly optimised for search engines to ensure the adverts appear high in search engine results.
Do you need a classified web site made?
We are a team of web site designers based in Salisbury. We have been established since 2001 and have built many bespoke classifieds web site systems for our clients. Classified web sites usually require a unique approach as each client will have different specifications, not to mention different computing and web abilities. If you would like to discuss things further with us, please contact us.