property website

HOW_RU

I have set up a local property website (wont post the address as thats against rules i think)whereby users can advertise their home for sale/to let privately without the need for an estate agent.It's a modern website with all the features of the big well known websites:cool:
I have had business cards made and have posted to homes with their own private sale boards up,i had a few advertise .....is there a better way to advertise on the internet for free because not many sellers know of my website.Users can advertise their house for free and i have payed listings available,i'm just tring to make extra ££'s but it's not taking off and there is a lot of people tring to sell privately so there must be some sales that could be made.What could i do next for free if poss as it's just a hobby for now:beer:

max2009

You need to pay for quality advertising to get your website known.People are not going to pay if you do not advertise well.

Richard_Cocks

so what you're saying, is that you want something done well, and you want it done for free.

You need to consider whether you really have a USP before you sink money into this though. Why would someone list with you when they could list themselves on gumtree for example.

Also, given the vast sums involved in house sales/purchases, people are unlikely to avoid agency fees because it risks them not getting as much for their property, the difference of which could dwarf any such fees.

But in reality, you need to consider how sites like this take off. Buyers aren't going to visit if you don't have a large listing of houses in their area, and sellers aren't going to list their properties without a large number of visitors to the site. (They can't observe this directly but they can make judgements based on other things, including how many properties are listed!)

The two biggest players, Rightmove and FindAProperty (I think that's it's name?) both spend a lot on TV advertising to maintain their reputation as a place to visit.

FindAProperty still hasn't taken off massively, while Rightmove took off because it had a base from which to expand, consider this: [From Wikipedia]

The Company was created in 2000 as a joint venture between four of the UK's largest property agents: Halifax, Countrywide plc, Royal & Sun Alliance, & Connells under the name Rightmove.co.uk Limited.[1] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2006 at which time it became Rightmove plc.[2]

What can you offer to compete with that?

Unfortunately due to the way the web works, unlike in traditional consumerism, there isn't much demand for a diverse system of small user-generated content sites. Look at how many sites have tried to emulate eBay, they offer all sorts of reasons why they could be better than eBay, but people will keep going back to eBay because of all the people there! The only people who've been able to even slightly dent eBay are otherwise established (and large!) retailers such as Amazon.

We're dealing with people who are trying to sell assets worth over £100,000; Why would they trust that process to a site run by someone who treats it as "just a hobby".