Klaus Gapp, serial founder of classified ads sites has agreed to tell TameBay about his latest venture, Locanto.
Klaus previously founded and operated OpusForum.org, a local classifieds site for the German speaking market. OpusForum.org was bought out by eBay in 2005 and was then merged with the classifieds site Kijiji (now eBay Classifieds) in 2006.
How Locanto started
Locanto Classifieds is one of three local web applications, including the local Q&A community askalo and Yalwa, a local business directory. All three sites are operated by the Germany based startup Yalwa – The Local Internet Company, founded in 2006 by Klaus Gapp.
Locanto was launched in July 2006 in the United States and expanded to where it is today with a total of 5 languages (English, Dutch, French, German, and Spanish) for more than 1600 cities in 40 different countries worldwide.
What Locanto do
Locanto offers a free classified ads platform for users to advertise or search for products and services locally. Anyone can search, browse or post ads in categories such as jobs, used cars, real estate, pets and for sale. The Locanto platform has traffic figures of approximately 50 Million page views per month worldwide with India and Mexico being the largest markets.
How sellers can incorporate classified ads into their sales strategy
Sellers are able to incorporate Locanto into their sales strategy with the inclusion of the Locanto Widget on their own website or blog. Users who operate their own website can add a free widget that allows them to embed their classified ads from Locanto onto their own personal website or blog. This will provide them with a larger audience and prospective buyers for their products or services. Sellers can also edit and manage their ads at any time with the creation of an account.
What makes Locanto different from other classified ads sites
There is a lot of websites to choose from in the UK when it comes to creating a free classified ad, but unlike competitors Locanto is a young and dynamic business which is able to adapt to the needs of the sellers. Locanto is not closed off to any categories, such as personals which may be vital to certain companies and individuals. The business is customer oriented in terms of fast, professional, and personal support. Locanto aims to provide a fast and reliable service. Locanto offers sellers and buyers a privacy protected on-site messaging system as well as the ability to create simple and highly customisable ads thanks to HTML.
