Of all the genius marketing strategy tools and techniques in your arsenal, the event website or landing page may be one of the most important. It’s the hub where you send all your guests. It’s how you track RSVPs and fill your lead funnel.
However, like any other website, there are some best practices to consider. If you’re not engaging site visitors or prompting them to take action, you’re missing a big piece of your target audience. Today, we’re sharing insights from the pros about how to create engaging event websites. Keep these pieces of digital advice in mind, and make every click count!
UX Design: User-Friendly Navigation Matters
A user-friendly website design is crucial for event planning as it significantly impacts attendee engagement. Intuitive navigation and a clean, responsive design enhance the user experience, making it more likely that potential attendees will complete their registrations and share the event with others.
Incorporating features like mobile compatibility and quick-loading pages also helps accommodate users on various devices, ensuring broad accessibility and maximizing reach. Ultimately, a user-friendly website serves as a powerful tool in attracting and retaining attendees, boosting overall event success.
Don’t Overlook the Essentials
Be sure to include clear and concise information about the event, including dates, location, schedule, and purpose, is vital. A well-designed event site ensures that visitors can easily find essential information, like event details, schedules, and registration forms, without frustration. Your event website or landing page could be visually stunning and dynamic. But if you’re missing the essentials, you’ll lose potential event guests in a hurry.
Visuals Represent Event Quality
High-quality visuals are crucial for an event website as they instantly capture attention and create a strong first impression. They help convey the event's atmosphere and theme, making it more appealing and engaging for potential attendees. Good visuals can also enhance the credibility of the event, as professional images and videos suggest a well-organized and legitimate gathering. If your pics and videos are poor quality, guests might assume your event will be too.
Instead, invest in high-quality visuals to aid in storytelling, helping to communicate the event's message and value proposition more effectively than text alone. This visual appeal can increase user engagement and improve conversion rates, encouraging more visitors to register and attend the event.
Registration and RSVPs Have to Be Simple
Think easy and simplified. Once you get potential event guests to visit your event website, you’ll want them to take the next step. Those next steps have to be quick, convenient, and easy. RSVPs, meal selections, and conference registrations can’t feel like a chore. And they certainly can’t take more than a few minutes to complete. It also goes without saying that not having any method of capturing contact information would be a mistake. Make sure every decision to opt in is breezy and fast to execute.
Local SEO Is an Absolute Must
Because event searches happen online and are usually only prompted by a few keywords, your website has to be rock-solid in SEO. Identify your event by city and if it’s annual, by year to keep it relevant. Incorporate those prominent keywords throughout your event website to signal to Google that your event is important in those searches.
1. Optimize with Target Keywords
Integrate relevant keywords into page titles, headers, content, and alt text. Use terms that event-goers are likely to search for to boost your site's visibility in search engines.
2. Craft Valuable, Unique Content
Develop high-quality content that addresses potential attendees' questions and provides value. Blog posts and FAQs can significantly enhance your site's visibility and user engagement.
3. Ensure Easy Navigation
Design your site with user-friendly navigation, incorporating clear calls to action (CTAs) and mobile-responsive elements to ensure a seamless website browsing experience for all visitors.
4. Generate External Interest and Backlinks
Promote your event by guest posting on industry blogs, directories, and other relevant resources to build external interest. Quality backlinks to your site can improve search engine rankings and drive more traffic.
Social Proof Attracts Event Guests
Don’t forget to include social proof on your event website. Social proof attracts event guests by leveraging the influence of peer validation and positive testimonials. When potential attendees see that others have enjoyed or benefited from past events, it builds trust and credibility, making them more likely to commit. Reviews, testimonials, and attendee photos create a sense of community and excitement, suggesting that the event is popular and worth attending. This form of validation reduces the perceived risk and encourages decision-making, as people often look to the experiences of others to guide their choices.
Make Some Features Interactive
Interactive features on an event website enhance user engagement and provide a seamless experience for potential attendees. Incorporate elements like live chat support, where visitors can get immediate answers to their queries. Interactive maps help users visualize the event location and navigate the venue. A schedule builder allows attendees to customize their event itinerary, ensuring they don't miss any key sessions. Integrate social media feeds to display live updates and attendee interactions, creating a buzz and sense of community around the event.
Content Must Be Relevant to the Guest Experience
Relevant content on an event website is crucial for attracting event guests because it ensures that visitors find the information they need quickly and efficiently. Clear and detailed descriptions of event highlights, speaker profiles, session agendas, and venue details help potential attendees make informed decisions about their participation. Additionally, providing content that addresses common questions, showcases past event successes, and highlights unique selling points of the event builds trust and excitement. Engaging, relevant content keeps visitors on the website longer, too, increasing the likelihood of registration and attendance.
Get Your Surveys Ready
You’re going to follow up after your event for feedback about the experience, right? Make sure those surveys, polls, and experience-sharing opportunities are front and center on your event website. Including polls, surveys, and feedback forms encourages participation and provides valuable insights for event organizers. Making them available on your site before, during, and after the event makes it more likely that you collect the guest insights you need.
Make It Fun and Exciting
An event website should be fun and exciting to visit because it sets the tone for the event itself and creates anticipation among potential attendees. Interactive elements, vibrant visuals, and engaging content make the browsing experience enjoyable, leaving visitors with a positive impression of the event (and the event planner.) This excitement can translate into increased interest and higher registration rates as guests feel more compelled to be a part of an event that promises a lively and memorable experience. Fun and excitement on the website also enhance shareability, encouraging visitors to spread the word and attract more participants.
Find All the Best Marketing Advice at The Event Planner Expo 2024
Whether you’re just starting out as an event planning professional or you’re a veteran looking for a competitive edge, find all the marketing advice you need from the best of the best at The Event Planner Expo 2024! Keynote speakers, panel discussions, networking lounges, and three full days to meet and mingle with pros you WANT to work with all await you this October. Get your tickets now and get in the room with the experts who can help you grow your business to new heights in 2025!
