Top 16 free advertising sites for your business in 2024

Leveraging free advertising platforms is crucial for reaching a broader audience and enhancing your business’s visibility. To underline the significance of online engagement, Birdeye surveyed over 150,000 customers about the state of online reviews in 2024, and found that: 

• Online reviews have increased by 5% since 2022.
• 79% of reviews now include comments, up from 73%.
• There was a 5.95% rise in reviews with comments in 2023.

These statistics highlight the growing impact of online reviews on consumer behavior, emphasizing the importance of establishing a robust online presence. Free advertising sites allow you to reach a wider audience and establish their authority by showcasing their business acumen, products, and services. 

This guide showcases the top 16 free advertising sites, offering your business a golden opportunity to tap into this growing trend to amplify your visibility without stretching your marketing budget.

What is free advertising?

Free advertising sites empower small businesses to reach their audience without any large investments. Instead, they leverage online directories, guest blogging, and word-of-mouth campaigns for maximum impact. 

Embracing these innovative, solution-driven strategies to navigate the skyrocketing costs of traditional advertising can bypass the costly race to the bottom.

Free advertising sites and their benefits 

Free advertising sites offer small businesses several cost-effective promotional opportunities. Key benefits of free advertising include:

• Zero-cost exposure: Increase brand visibility without high advertising costs on these sites. 
• Wider reach: Access larger audiences and diverse demographics with the right advertising website. 
• SEO benefits: Improve search engine rankings with backlinks. 
• Networking: Connect with potential clients and partners.
• Experimentation: Test different ads for effectiveness without huge cost implications. 

Top 16 free advertising sites 

Below are the top 18 free advertising sites that can help your company reach a wider audience and increase your brand visibility in 2023.

Adpost

Adpost is a free classified ads website akin to Craigslist. You can list products in diverse categories like electronics, home furnishings, vehicles, and clothing. Users worldwide find business services, classes, jobs, and real estate on this website. 

It’s an exciting marketplace to post your offerings for free as the website is known to achieve over two billion page views.

ClassifiedAds

ClassifiedAds is a popular free online advertising site with a vast global user base. You can benefit from high traffic volumes, increasing visibility for your ads. 

Businesses can easily create and manage listings of items for sale or services for hire with its user-friendly interface. Boost sales and generate leads without spending on marketing expenses.

Craigslist

Craigslist is a renowned classifieds platform ranked among the top 30 US websites. You can explore diverse categories for selling products or services.

Most ads are free, although there are some exceptions. Businesses selling commercial real estate, for example, will have to pay five dollars for the listing. For-sale-by-dealer listings also have small fees for ads. 

You might think of Craigslist as the go-to site for consumers selling and looking for items. But business users will find it to be one of the best-classified advertising websites to engage with potential customers and buyers.

Bookoo

This is a free advertising site created by yard sale enthusiasts for people who love a bargain. List your company in the “Businesses & Services” category, especially if thrifty shoppers are your target audience. Bookoo also offers advertising opportunities if you’d like to explore paid banner ads to attract its users. 

eBay

eBay is a veteran free advertising platform that’s been around since 1995. It has an incredibly huge user base, with people showcasing their brands in over a hundred countries all over the world. Individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses all use its platform to reach ready-to-buy and bid customers.

Facebook

Dive into Facebook’s untapped goldmine: the Marketplace. Facebook has 2.9 billion active users and the right advertisement can increase your sales instantly. In Facebook’s Marketplace, you can sell as a user or business, unlock badges, and win trust. 

While Facebook isn’t a website dedicated as a whole to free advertising, its Marketplace is perfect for buying and selling cars, real estate, and retail, not so much for services. 

Facebook allows three types of businesses to list and sell. Those include retail (also eCommerce,) automotive, and real estate. Each requires you to have a Facebook Business profile, dedicated page, and sh

Geebo

Geebo is one of the free advertising platforms that’s more than just a classified site – it’s a thriving community. It was initially created as a space for promoting jobs. But since its founding in 2000, it’s grown to an all-encompassing classifieds site, welcoming individuals and businesses looking to sell. 

Businesses can explore the various merchandise and services categories to list their offerings. Some of the popular business segments include automotive, financial, home services, legal, skilled trades, and events.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is also one of the places that you can use to advertise for your business for free. Businesses can attract new customers by showcasing your unique offerings on Google Search and Maps. 

Studies show that verified Google Business Profiles get about 1800 monthly views, with each view having the potential to generate up to 10 interactions (clicks, calls, or messages) for the business. This makes it a valuable advertising tool for your business growth. 

For best results, personalize your profile with photos, offers, and regular posts to make a lasting first impression. 

Gumtree

UK’s premier online classifieds platform, Gumtree brings communities together in addition to its free advertising services. On this advertising site, you can list almost anything, including jobs, housing, furniture, and more. It’s an ideal free resource to showcase your offering within your local area. 

Hoobly

Hoobly Is a versatile free advertising platform available in over 30 countries, including the United States. Businesses can sell industry-specific equipment, office supplies, art, clothing, jewelry, real estate, or vehicles within the site’s well-defined categories. 

Local independent chambers of commerce

Local independent chambers of commerce can be your go-to resource for referrals and connections. Join your local chamber and ask about available free resources for increased brand exposure and advertising. 

Most of these organizations will also offer paid advertising and sponsorship opportunities. But the cost-free business boosting potential is huge, with networking events, community involvement, free email blasts, and free online member listings. 

Locanto

Locanto is another free advertising website catering to 1.9 million monthly visitors. Sell a diverse range of products, from arts and crafts to electronics, in your local area. Businesses can create free listings with the user-friendly site, prompting for basics about your product, category, and selling points. 

OLX

OLX is a versatile platform boasting marketplaces in over 30 countries. Experience seamless advertising, from cars to apartments, at no cost to you. Tap into markets such as Brazil, India, Portugal, and South Africa, and boost your visibility across the globe with OLX’s free listings.

Oodle

Oodle is a marketplace-style platform hosting free classified ads geared toward entrepreneurs. Attracting 1.7 million monthly visitors, Oodle’s user base predominantly consists of those aged 45-64. The site promotes itself as a “network of online marketplaces,” meaning listing your products or services here has incredible reach potential. Popular categories include merchandise, automotive, rentals, real estate, and more.

PennySaver

PennySaver, the high-traffic, free advertising platform reaching over 11 million Americans weekly, can benefit local businesses. Simply click “Place Free Ads” on their homepage, use their intuitive ad builder, and easily publish. It’s the community periodical businesses use for a hyper-targeted approach to reaching local customers. Real estate, home services, retail, and brick-and-mortar brands enjoy the best results on this website. 

Sales Spider

You can expand your advertising reach with Sales Spider, a unique platform boasting over 2.2 million members and collaborations with retail giants like Walmart, Macy’s, and Amazon. Businesses enjoy completely free registration and access to sales leads, prospect lists, business directories, and forums. 

Free advertising sites: Risks involved

Beware of the risks involved in using free advertising sites. Many have limited features that may hinder your ability to stand out, while reduced control over branding and messaging might dilute your business identity. 

Major potential pitfalls of relying solely on free advertising sites include:

• Attracting the wrong-fit customers
• Not effective enough to outpace your paid ad competitors 
• Some free listings only allow text (no imagery)
• Risk over-discounting your products or services
• Limited audience engagement

Still, despite these challenges, free advertising can effectively help budget-conscious small businesses reach potential customers.

How to scale your multi-location business beyond free advertising sites? 

Free advertising is a good starting point for any business. But you need more as your business grows with many locations under your wing. So here are a few things you can do to keep your multi-location business going: 

1. Invest in a listing and review management tool. Growing businesses must focus on online reputation management and accurate listings, active review solicitation, and review management are crucial to the process. 
2. Work with tools that enhance customer experience with unified messaging solutions, easy payment solutions, and feedback surveys. No advertisement can do what great word-of-mouth marketing can do for your business. 
3. Capitalize on the goodwill you build by running referral campaigns with attractive customer rewards. 

Selecting and using free advertising sites: some best practices

Be just as selective with choosing your free advertising platforms as you are with your paid platforms. Even free ads require strategy, work, and analytics. Apply your methods similarly with free sites, including identifying your target audience and choosing free outlets that reach them. 

Additionally, research the sites you choose so you know how to properly optimize your profile, pick the best-fit category for your listing, and select the right region. 

Follow these other best practices to improve your free ad placement results:

• Use high-quality images with your listings.
• Be thorough with your descriptions.
• Choose ad platforms that offer easy-to-use interfaces.
• Monitor reviews and ratings.
• Track and manage your metrics and results.

Free advertising sites – Easy tools to grow your business

Free advertising sites can provide access to your target audience and help you grow your business without any substantial investment. However, it is important to make the right choice and optimize your profiles so that you get the best results.

Choose the right free advertising site for your business and start your journey to growth today!

FAQs about free advertising sites

Take your business to new heights with Birdeye 

Running a business is a monumental task, and entrepreneurs will stop at nothing to ensure their brand gets in front of potential customers. Free advertising sites are an excellent way to gain initial visibility. But once you get that going, your business needs a lot more than just advertising. 

Businesses that invest in reputation, customer experience, and social media management see higher rates of customer retention and rake in more revenue. However, these can be overwhelming processes adding to the strain of running a successful business. 

Birdeye’s comprehensive solution can simplify those for you and help you attract, delight, and convert customers from a centralized dashboard. But that’s not all – our automation capabilities work behind the scenes to streamline every aspect of this process, freeing you up to focus on what matters most. 

Watch a free demo to know more.