If it’s been a hot minute since you last spent some quality time with your website, keep reading. With literally millions of sites at their fingertips, your customers could be venturing elsewhere. And it’s not that your site isn’t good. In fact, it might be well-designed and stunning. But if you’re experiencing any of these scenarios with your event planning website, it’s time you gave your website a makeover.
1. You’re Not Generating Leads
“I found your website and had some questions about your services.” When was the last time you had a call that started off this way? How many emails are coming in directly from your site? Do you have a funnel set up to channel various levels of interest to keep people on your site? Your event planning website should be working non-stop to pique interest, drive clicks, and generate leads. It’s your window to the world and your welcome mat to your New York City conference clientele. If it’s falling short or not delivering as it once did, it’s probably time for a refresh.
2. Your Analytics Are Trending Downward
Whether you use Google Analytics or other tools, the data will tell you precisely where your event planning website needs work. Sit down with the metrics and review how frequently people are finding your site via SERP (search engine results page.) And once they get to your website, use the data to tell you where they spend their time. If they’re losing interest too soon or not clicking through to other pages, it could be a sign your site needs improvement. And if today’s metrics are trending downward, with less engagement now than in months past, you’ll want to identify the problem.
3. You Aren’t Updating Your Content
When you first crafted content for your website, the events industry probably looked a little different. Take the time to read through your site and make sure your message still resonates with your brand and your vision. Maybe your site needs more compelling content or stronger calls to action. Perhaps your online forms are outdated, or your blogs are stale. And if it’s been a while since you’ve uploaded videos and images from past events, you’re not offering anything new and valuable to your site visitors.
4. You’re Not Using Landing Pages
For those New York event planners who routinely leverage email marketing and other outreach strategies, are you using dedicated landing pages? If you’re sending those email recipients to your home page, and your home page isn’t set up to funnel them through to the next steps, you’re losing business. Instead, send those targets to dedicated landing pages within your site to answer their immediate questions and prompt them to take action. You’ll immediately see far better results for both your marketing campaigns and your website traffic.
5. It’s No Longer User Friendly
When you first developed your site, you likely had a few budget constraints that limited your UX/UI design. That’s ok. But now that you’re successful and growing your business, spend some time evaluating how user-friendly and interactive your website really is. Get insights from colleagues and friends about what they think about your site. Is it easy to find answers to questions? Does it load well on a mobile device? Or is it too static, with yawn-worthy graphics? You don’t need to overspend or invest thousands to make improvements in user-friendly elements. But not making any improvements at all will ensure customers are leaving the site.
Your event planning website should be a dynamic pillar of your overall marketing strategy. Consider some of these signs as your red flag that yours might be ready for a refresh or makeover entirely. If you still need more inspiration about how to improve your New York event planning business, check out our ongoing blog series. And get in the room this October with some of the events industry’s biggest names at The Event Planner Expo! Reserve your exhibitor space or sponsorship while openings are still available!
