If your website is not as simple as the image above…you might want to rethink it.
Building an attractive and effective event website is no easy task. It takes careful thought of the design, content, and user experience to ensure that you are making a positive, strong and lasting impression. But more than that (pay attention here, because this is really important!)…a great website has the unique ability to attract visitors with what interests THEM, while guiding them to take the actions YOU want them to take. So here are a few tips to help you accomplish just that.
There are three basic rules to building an effective event website called the Three E’s.
1) EASY – Your website should be easy on the eye, easy to understand, easy to navigate and easy to use. If the user cannot understand, in the least number of words, what your website is about, how to get around, and where to click to take the next step, then you need to rethink your design and navigation structure to grab the attention of the visitor and get them to take action. Look at the image above. Do you have any doubt of what to do with the button and what would happen if you clicked it?
2) EXCITING – Build your website to give the user a sense of excitement. If possible, post a fun video, slideshow or pictures from your past event that gives them a sense of really being there. Promote contests, special guest speakers or celebrities, networking, schedule of events, social media links and anything that may be exciting to participants. Motivate visitors by showing them what they would miss by not attending. Look at the image above. What would you be passing up by not clicking it?
3) ENGAGING - Probably the most overlooked but most important of the three is engagement. Without this, everything else you do goes to waste. To increase engagement you need to follow a simple golden rule. NEVER build a page with a dead end. Always give the visitor somewhere to go or something to do. Samples of engagement include action buttons, links, share buttons, download buttons, contact us, register, become a sponsor, reserve a booth, add to cart, print, send email, leave comment, etc. Look at the image above. What action do we desire you take?
To help you envision how these concepts might look on an actual event website, we have created a couple templates to demonstrate the Three E’s. As you look at each element on each page…think about how the Three E’s apply and what you might be able to incorporate into your own website.
What other ways have you increased user engagement on your event website?
