If you’ve designed websites for events before, you know just how valuable they can be for attracting as many attendees as possible. Even if you have a background in event website design, it’s always a good idea to be looking for ways to optimize your event website.
Crafting a website in hopes of getting users to buy tickets and come to an event is a process that requires know-how. To ensure your website converts readers into attendees, you’ll want to make use of some tips that even the most experienced event planning professionals can find valuable. Most importantly, your event website should be using the right kind of event management software to maximize its value.
Common Event Website Mistakes
As you design an event website, be aware of common mistakes that other event websites make. With this knowledge, you can differentiate yourself from the crowd by not falling into the same traps that competitors do. Below are some of the most common mistakes that event websites make:
1. Forcing Keyword Optimization
While optimizing your content with keywords is an excellent way to improve your online content, make sure you aren’t overdoing it. It’s common for websites to force too many keywords into their paragraphs, causing them to read unnaturally. Though more people may click on the link, the content will not look professional, and your website will lose credibility.
On top of receiving a new negative response from readers, a website that over-optimizes keywords can face a penalty from Google, which deindexes sites that engage in link spamming or stuffing. This penalty could be disastrous for your website’s traffic, so engage in keyword moderation.
2. Not Evaluating ROI
When you put together a website and use it to attract audiences to your brand, you’ll want to know if it’s effective or not. While there’s general advice for effective website design, you also have to know your audience to have the most success. You’ll be investing your time, money and effort into designing event websites so you’ll want to be able to gauge how successful they are at driving attendance.
Measuring how many people view your website and tracking where they are going and then whether or not they actually show up at the event can tell you a lot about how effective your digital marketing strategy is. Additionally, the return from individual pages can tell you a lot about what’s working; helping you to make adjustments on your website for the current event and ones in the future. An effective event management software like Configio’s makes measuring ROI easy.
3. Ignoring the Power of Images
People can identify and process images in 13 milliseconds. As such, users can come up with a meaning for the image quickly. To make sure users have the right view of your event in their mind, carefully choose images that will tell users something positive.
For instance, if you upload a picture of people looking bored at your latest event, you will be sending a message to potential event-goers that people have not enjoyed your events in the past. Also, don’t upload low-quality photos as this will cause your company to lose credibility.
Don’t avoid including images because of the potential for this kind of reaction. Even though poor quality images may cause some people to avoid coming to your event, not including any pictures will be just as bad, if not worse. People like to have an idea of what they can expect when they come to your event — pictures do just that.
Incorporating images that will capture the attention of users and complement their experience on the site is a must-have. If you have pictures of past events, you can include them to provide proof of your ability to throw enjoyable, well-organized events.
4. Over Using Calls-to-Action
Some websites will be littered with calls-to-action (CTAs) that be found everywhere as soon as a user clicks on the website. Though you need to have CTAs in your content, you don’t want to have so many of them that you annoy readers. Consider it from a messaging perspective. Overloading users with CTAs can come across like you are more focused on selling your product or service than on providing the highest quality services for customers.
5. Not Keeping Up With the Most Cutting Edge Event Management Platforms
As you design your event’s website, it’s a good idea to be up to date on the latest trends in your industry. One way to stay updated is by making sure you use an event management platform that can meet all of your needs and consistently find new ways to drive attendance, giving you an edge over the competition.
Good event management software will provide you with event website design services, integrated event apps, online registration and payment services, event planning tools and other relevant services. Event management software that can only optimize your event website but can’t assist you in planning and running your events is not worth your time.
Strategies for Optimizing Your Event Websites
While avoiding mistakes will help your website significantly, to take it to the next level, you also need to take into account various strategies of effective website design and implementation. There are several strategies and practices you’ll want to follow. Here are our top event planning tips that should take your event website to the next level:
1. Optimize Your Site With SEO Strategies
Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies that pull web users to your website are crucial in our digital age. With SEO, you can help the people who are most likely to attend your event find it organically. One of the main strategies of SEO is to insert keywords into your content. This will boost your ranking on search engines. A higher ranking will mean that you appear earlier in the search results. Therefore, you will receive more clicks from users.
There is an art to proper keyword implementation, and it can be very time consuming for novices. Luckily, there are companies that will assist in growing your web presence with SEO strategies. They can ensure the highest keyword performance. Also, they compare keyword results against one another and test a variety of keywords to find the best results. While they do this, you can focus on making the event as entertaining for your guests as possible.
Configio knows all about the need for proper SEO strategies and how it can be difficult for event planners to implement them effectively. As such, the software has built-in SEO optimization, so as soon as you publish your website, it’s ready to be found by search engines. As a result of search engines picking it up, you’ll have a better chance of end-users finding the website organically.
2. Design Your Website With Mobile in Mind
Today, most people own smartphones, and they expect to be able to access your website easily with their phone. Worldwide, more users access the internet from their mobile devices than their computers. Due to this, your website should be built to look just as good on mobile devices and have the same access to features that users would receive on desktop.
3. Find the Right Words, Fonts and Color
As you design your website, consider what message the text and the appearance of the website say about the event’s personality. How you write about the event will influence the way that users view it. Consider your target audience and try to determine how they would prefer to be communicated with. Do they want humorous copy, or do they want something straightforward? Do they care if you use slang, or do they want you to keep it formal?
After you’ve established your ideal customer and made a point to communicate with them the way they prefer, you can move on to the visuals of the text. It’s best to use fonts that are easy to read and attractive to users. These font types are largely up to your judgment, but do some research on popular, attractive fonts in use today.
Finally, when you choose your colors, you’ll need to be aware of the connotations that they bring. For example, red has been linked to feelings of passion and excitement, while blue generates feelings of peace and stability. Depending on the sort of event you’re throwing, you may want to choose a particular color scheme for your website that mirrors the general feel of the event.
4. Ensure the Software Can Integrate Into a Variety of CRM and AMS Systems
When you create your event website, you’ll want to choose event management software that has robust integrations. They should integrate with customer relationship management (CRM) and association management systems (AMS). Using this kind of software, you can seamlessly pull data from your database to track returning attendees. You can also record all interactions with your members or clients into your database, including their registration through Configio.
With this valuable data at your fingertips, you can tailor the marketing efforts of your event to winning strategies of the past. For example, if you have had customers access your website and attend a similar event, you’ll know about it and can target them to attend more events. Since you can keep track of previous attendees with an integrated system, you’ll be better equipped to craft a website that will attract repeat attendees.
5. Use Event Management Software
As you host an event, you’ll want the registration to be as seamless as possible for users. Dedicated event registration and management software make the registration process simple for users. It provides you with in-depth analytics and other useful tools to reach more people for your event.
However, not all event management software is created equal. You’ll want to find the right kind of event management software that can handle all your needs. It should assist you while you design an attractive website, plan the event, hold the event and collect data to improve your event marketing efforts in the future.
Programs like Configio’s will make event registration and marketing easier. When you choose an event management software, you’ll want it to offer the following benefits:
Wider audience:
With the right registration software, it will be easy for more members of your audience to find and register for your event. Configio comes with SEO tools that make it possible for more people to find your event organically. Along with SEO tools, the program includes automated email marketing tools that send emails to users who need an extra push to commit to the event. For example, they will send reminders about an abandoned cart or additional product upsell.
Attract the right audience:
Along with reaching more people, the SEO-targeted software can focus on only attracting the type of people you want to be at your event. You can target those who you think will be most likely to attend and enjoy your event. For example, if you’re designing a sports event website, you want to target people interested in athletics.
Simple registration:
A complicated registration process can cause users to close the browser without completing registration. No one wants to be confused or have to go through multiple hoops to attend an event. An event registration platform will allow for a simple process that only takes a few clicks. Along with a quick registration process, Configio offers easy one-time group registration and roster uploads, allowing attendees to sign up large groups of people quickly.
Manage payments:
You need a convenient way to track all of the registration payments and provide an easy to use ticketing system. Additionally, customers will be sure to appreciate a secure payment processing system. With Configio, you can compare data from past years, evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and monitor registration totals with a reporting dashboard.
Interested in Adding an Event Management Platform?
If you’d like to add a software program that helps you bring more people to your event website and convert them into attendees, Configio’s robust platform provides everything you require to manage your events. Configio has been innovating and developing online solutions that can take your event website to the next level.
Request a free demo to see the program in action. Feel free to send us a message or give us a call if you’d like more information.
