How to Prevent Ghost Posting on Craigslist?

What is Craigslist ghost posting?

As a business owner who’s recruiting through Craigslist job posting, you should be aware of the problem of ghost posting on the platform. Ghost posting is when any Craigslist advertisement that you have placed on a website that’s visible from your Craigslist profile and email is not visible on the category listing page.

A ghost post differs from a flagged advertisement because the latter appears on the platform but is removed when users flag it for different reasons. Getting flagged on Craigslist can lead to subsequent ghosting of ads, just like any violation of the platform’s Terms of Use. A Craigslist job posting that seems to be spam, for example, due to inappropriate content, use of excessive symbols, and broken HTML codes, can cause ghosting.

Here are some ways to prevent ghost posting on Craigslist.

Always verify your posting

When you publish Craigslist job posting ads without logging into a profile, you should verify your listing by clicking on the link emailed to you when you saved the posting. The listing verification process authenticates the email address you provided to Craigslist as well as reduces the chances of spam/ghost posting. Your posting will not show up on people’s search results page until you verify your listing. So, you always keep an eye on an email sent by Craigslist if your posting does not appear within 30 minutes.

Always follow Craigslist’s posting regulations.

To prevent ghost posting on Craigslist, you should always follow the platform’s terms and regulations for posting an ad. Craigslist job posting ads are reviewed manually before appearing on the search results page. The review process removes any questionable content or ads that do not follow service terms and are not properly categorized. Keep an eye on the control panel of your Craigslist dashboard to know if any of your postings are removed by the platform for any non-conformity to its regulations.

Know what triggers the flagging of Craigslist posts

There are flagging tools that you will find on the Craigslist panel. These tools allow the general community to spot any problematic Craigslist job postings. You can flag postings that are spamming different boards. Such spamming occurs when postings are published on multiple boards at a time, re-posted beyond permissible limits, categorized incorrectly, or misleading. It would be best if you always published your job postings in the proper category to reduce spamming and, ultimately flagging. You should note that prohibited ads, or any listing that’s prohibited by Craigslist’s terms of use, have a high chance of being flagged. Craigslist will remove a posting once it receives multiple flags for a specific problem.

Be aware of the posting duration.

Lastly, you should be aware that your Craigslist job posting may look like a ghost posting if expires. As such, the posting duration is critical here. The duration for which a posting appears on a particular section of the platform varies depending on the location as well as the category of the ad post. Always check your control panel to know if your post has expired.

Follow these tips to ensure you do not lose out on potential leads due to ghost posting on Craigslist.

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