How to build a successful event website
Your event website is an essential part of your event marketing strategy. It gives your attendees the first impression on your event: consider it as a part of the overall experience. The website generally acts as the core repository for online information about the event. Besides creating awareness, the objective is also to drive registrations to your event.
Whether you decide to work with your in-house webmaster or external trusted expert, keep in consideration that having a knowledge of the event business can really make a difference when designing the event website. Having an effective website will put your event on your potential attendees’ top of mind.
- Provide immediate information
A good website navigation can sensibly impact registration rates. The expected information must be found within a few clicks: if your visitor is looking for the timing of the event, he should get this information, within a few seconds. A typical navigation menu will comprise of:
- An attractive landing page highlighting the value proposition of your event
- Speakers presentation with pictures, biography, links to their social profiles or websites
- Programme agenda displaying the streams, rooms, speakers and highlighting any networking opportunities
- Registration information including pricing and how to sign up
- Sponsors section showcasing your partners logo and links to their websites
- Practical information including date, travel and hotel arrangements
- About section and contact information about the organiser
- Legal information: copyright, cancellation policy and legal terms
- Other optional sections including press and media page or a blog
- Connect with interactive features
- Connect with interactive features
To enable your guests to already network dys before the event, think about including a section that promotes your event app and link the app to the App Store or Android Store where the guests can download it straightly. Another option would be to place a QR code to be scanned on-screen.
Be sure to mention how the participants can connect with the organiser, with social media icons linking to your main social networks for example.
- Create valuable and eye-catching content
The content must be informative and include a sufficient call-to-action to convert an interested visitor. Pictures and video’s form past editions are great opportunities to share the atmosphere of your conference through a past edition.
Once the event has passed, maintain the website updated at all times to keep the conversation going with post-event information such as presentations, video interviews, press coverage and pictures.
- Adjust technical features that will make your good website great
People spent about two and half hours on their phones and an hour and twenty minutes on their computers*. Responsive design – allowing your website to adapt to the device your users are viewing it on – is a must!
While images must be qualitative, consider optimizing their size to reduce the load time. The readers don’t want to wait to get the information they need.
*Source: Digiday