Name of your website?bigmarket.gr
Your name?
Michail Papatheofrastou
Your Location (city, etc)
Athens
When did you start your website and why?
Development started late last year and we were finally "live" on 28 May 2007. We wanted to make a trully bilingual site for free classified ads and bids in Greece. Freedom is very important for us so we require no registration from the user, not even a name, just an email.
Please give us a short summary of your website, business model, etc
It is a website for free classified advertisements & bids in Greece and Cyprus, and the countries around, for everybody and … everything. We want our customers to be able to sell and buy today, immediately, using a platform easy and fast, with no registration or other commitment. We offer real estate, cars, jobs, meeting people, electronics and many more. From an island to a laptop!! We get our income from a small percentage of paid classified ads for better visibility and promotion through the site and from the advertising banners which are minimal, two, per page.
What has been the most difficult part of creating and running your website?
Marketing, how to attract users.
What has been the easist part of operating your website?
Developing the site, you know our developers are great. Easy to cooperate with and surprisingly effective even for IT standards.
What was your biggest mistake?
Not to create and launch the site earlier.
Who maintains your website and why?
We have developers, marketing and support personnel to assist in the everyday run of the business. It is not possible to become continuously better and adapt to the needs of the consumer otherwise.
Tell us how your business has benefitted from your website?
The website is the business.
What are your views on ecommerce and the future of the internet?
We at bigmarket.gr believe that ecommerce has a great future ahead and prospects especially in Greece.
What are your views on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
It is difficult to accomplish and requires big funds if you want to keep up with changing prices of popular keywords.
What are your views on Search Engines? Have they helped or hindered your website?
I think they have helped it but not much. It is early to say anyway.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Word of mouth.
What method has been least successful for promoting your website?
Internet advertising. Puting an ad on popular, mainly news websites.
What would you like to see change with respect to the internet?
Better speeds and greater availability of more ADSL connections in Greece.
What is your business vision and your business mission?
Visio: Accessible and user-friendly online market for anyone, from anywhere, at anytime. Mission: bigmarket.gr aims to be the leader in online trade, enabling customers to engage in a win-win situation where they can sell or purchase goods and services, easily, quickly, at fair prices
What is your website address?
bigmarket.gr
