Newspaper Classified Want Ads: Print, Online, or Both?

The classic way to advertise for help is through a listing in the classified want ads of your local or regional newspaper. And in fact 28% of AllBusiness.com readers surveyed say they use only print classifieds for recruiting.

If you want to try out online recruiting, one way to dip your toe into it experimentally would be to buy an online version to go with your next print classified. (Many of our readers currently do just that.)

Rates for print job ads vary by paper. In major cities a three-line print-only job ad for the Sunday edition can be about $350; for a full week, add $200. In a smaller paper, the prices may be half this much.

Smaller papers will automatically list your ad both online and in print. The large urban papers often charge a separate fee — often an additional $150 to $200 — to list in both; buying a print listing won’t also get your ad in the online edition.

Some major newspapers — but few smaller papers — offer online job listings separately. The Chicago Tribune, for example, has partnered with CareerBuilder.com to offer combination print-online classifieds, and will also sell you an online-only ad by way of their partner. The San Francisco Chronicle offers online-only listings that start at prices just a little lower than job listings with the big for-fee job boards (Monster and Yahoo! HotJobs). When a paper offers online-only ads, the advantage over  the print-online combo (besides a lower price) may be the extra space: the online-only ads often allow unlimited word count.