The first touchpoint to your upcoming event is when people are scrolling online and come across an announcement or ad. Event planners, vendors, and even marketers must have an excellent event page in order to draw attention and encourage people to want to attend.
If you don’t know how to properly design an event page and are not privy to the search engines algorithm tricks (or the science behind visual aids), you may be seeing little to no conversions.
In an effort to help you increase conversions and sell more event tickets, we’re going to go over some key design components that will help your event posts stand out online. Let’s get people excited about your event and increase your RSVPs!
4 Factors That Help Increase Conversions on Your Event Pages
Page Layout
Here’s a golden nugget…most event planners or event marketers are in fact NOT web designers. So they’ll do the best they can with the templates provided by whichever website host they chose and read a few “how to” blogs to figure it all out. Many of those articles will suggest that you keep all of the event data within the browser window so that viewers don’t have to scroll.
But what happens when your event is a conference or multi-faceted event that has several moving parts like registration, exhibitor info, travel & lodging, speakers, workshops, breakout sessions, etc.? Do you design a separate page for each?
If you jump around to different event pages online to see how others are designing their event sites, you’ll find that they either:
- Jammed too much info in one place
- Have the never-ending scroll going on
Well what’s the happy medium?
Clearly keeping it all on one page is just impossible for most events beyond a dinner party. In cases where you need more than a few lines of event details listed, you should take advantage of the design elements that will cause your viewers to what to explore more. These include:
- A slight gradient that will ease the transition from one block to the next
- An appealing background picture that will guide your viewer to scroll down
- An arrow directing people to read more
Clicks for More
The next factor is where you tie in emotion by making the reader curious to click and play. Sort of.
Creating objects on your event pages that indicate there’s more to see if the person clicks will excite your prospect or at the very least make them want to see more information. The user will have to hover over your clickable objects and click, and they’ll know there’s more to see because their brains are accustomed to do so when they see:
- A shadow when they hover over an image
- An underlined word or sentence
- An animated GIF
Not only will the above-mentioned elements bring excitement to your, but you’ll also have the ability to make your pages less cluttered. You’re creating emotion by using images that invite viewers to click and then redirecting them to another page where you can include more data rather than keep it all on one page.
Mobile Friendly
Think about it. How many people do you walk past on the street who are scrolling online from their laptops? How many are doing so from their mobile device? Exactly. We’re living in a mobile world where it seems as if babies are being delivered with their smartphones at the end of the umbilical cord.
In this instaworld we live in, everyone is on the go and their eyes are glued to their mobile devices as they move. Increasing registration numbers for your event means you have to design your event pages with a mobile-friendly design in mind. Be sure to consider what your event site looks like in mobile mode vs. desktop mode and that includes swapping back and forth to check both versions out.
Simply Beautiful
Simplicity and attraction are two of the most important factors in luring in potential attendees to your event site. No one stays too long on a website that is dull and difficult to navigate. So your aim should be to only include high-quality imagery and entertaining videos that will make their visit to the website a fun experience.
We have a lot of photo tools at our disposal and things like 3-D photos, GIFs, high-resolution, and NO STOCK images should set your page above your competition. People want to feel like they’re going to take part in the event of the year and the realism in the pictures you use will help them visualize that. Stock photos are great for content but not when you’re trying to show people what they’re going to get at your event. Show them exactly what’s true and what has taken place during previous events.
Easy Breezy Browsing: Once you have their attention drawn through your high-res imagery, the next thing you want to make sure is that your event site is easy to navigate. They shouldn’t have to decode anything to get the information they want. We’re not looking to show off your skills in creating complicated mazes, we’re trying to convey the reasons your event is a must-attend and then direct them to how to register QUICKLY.
If this is a destination event such as a conference, expo, trade show, etc. then you want to make sure that your landing pages and homepage include:
- The exciting event highlights
- Features the keynote speakers
- Mentions any possible raffles/activities
- Includes information on amenities and/or local eateries
- Hotel information
- Transportation info/maps
Typically, a destination event involves more spending than attending a local event so it’s important that you showcase why they shouldn’t miss out on attending. Creating FOMO will be your ticket to increasing revenue for the event.
Takeaway
Don’t overcomplicate your life nor that of your prospective attendees’. Keep the main principles mentioned in this article in mind when designing your event site. A key component in wise design strategy is to remember that making a perfect event site will be accomplished by thinking of things that weren’t left to say, rather than the things you could’ve added.
For more details on event planning or more information on our next event, check out our website for more information.
