5 Simple Steps to Creating a Great Event Website
Last week we talked about event email marketing to drive event registration but perhaps we should have started with the most important first step in getting the word out there about your event...your event website. If you haven’t sent a potential delegate or attendee an email promoting your event and the site, this could be the first impression they get of your event. You may have a lot of information that you need to get across which can often dissuade visitors. So what makes a great event website? These are our 5 simple steps;
1. Attractive, clean, clear event webpage
Web design trends are focused on the minimalistic look and feel, which is a long way from what event websites just a few years ago looked like. A number of event sites still follow the old-school event marketing techniques where everything on the page is fighting for attention. What ends up happening is nothing stands out. Creating a clean-looking webpage with all the key event details up front, along with concise copy as to what the attendee can expect is essentially all that’s needed to give a great first impression.
2. Simple navigation
With this being said about over-the-top content, content that relates to your audience and the event theme or topic is an asset that you should utilize, perhaps not on the main event page. Include simple navigation that either takes visitors to another page within your event site or links back to your main website where people can find out more about your brand. Just remember if you’re taking potential registrants away from your event website, to include a call to action at the end of your related content in order to get them back to your event website to register.
3. A strong proposition
So many events fail to provide a proposition that clearly lays out the purpose and value to the delegate/attendee without simply pushing your event key messaging out there. Planning a successful event starts way before you put the content on the website with your target delegate or attendee. Articulating why they should care about your event needs to come through loud and clear. You’ll find that with a strong proposition a delegate is more likely to buy in to the event.
4. A clear call to action
The registration price (if applicable) shouldn't be hidden in copy or found on a separate page. Registration options and pricing should be accompanied by a clear call to action to register.
5. User-friendly registration form
Well done! You’re doing all the right things to get your website visitors to the registration page. If you’re noticing a drop-off from here, revisit your registration form. Does it take longer than 90 seconds to complete? Have you marked every field, even the ‘nice-to-know’ questions, as mandatory? Are you asking too much? If you've answered yes to these questions, then it’s almost certainly your registration form discouraging visitors to register.
The only old-school technique (that was clearly ignored in previous years by some event websites) is KISS - “keep it simple,stupid” or “keep it short and simple” if you’d rather skip the insult.
Creating event websites can be a big task depending on whether you are creating your own template, attempting to personalize a pre-made template, or even instructing a designer. Our philosophy is to keep the things that need to be simple, simple. We’ve created a...you’ve guessed it...simple event website template that you can populate with your event details. If you want a little more in terms of design, we’re enabling full customization of event sites, without the web designer price tag.
You can explore the platform for free (we don’t request payment details on signup) and you can even use the platform for free depending on your event registration price. You’ll won’t be surprised when we say that we’ve kept our pricing simple! If you’re looking for more, and would like to see the fully branded and customizable platform and dashboard, we’d be happy to show you around.