Every event needs a website. The reason is simple. Potential ticket buyers are practically guaranteed to go online, search for your event, visit the results they find, and decide whether or not they want to buy tickets based on what they find. Therefore, your event must have a great website so you can maximize ticket sales.
You have a few options when it comes to developing an event website. If you have a large website that supports a variety of things your organization does, you could add a page or a few pages to that website that provide information about your event. However, those pages are likely to get buried in your larger website. Event organizers who choose this method to develop an event website typically learn it’s not the best choice to sell the most tickets.
Another option is to create a dedicated landing page for your event, so it’s easy to promote that page for people to find all of the information they need. This landing page can use the same domain name as your event or redirect to the same domain (e.g., myorganization.com/tickets or myorganization.com/eventname), so it’s obvious that it’s part of your organization’s larger website. The problem is it’s hard to fit all of the information that people need to decide if they want to buy event tickets on a single landing page.
A final option that we’ve found over the years works best for most events to maximize ticket sales is to build a dedicated event website – even if it’s only four pages. This allows you complete control and optimal tracking to get the best results.
Did you know if you sell event tickets using the AttendStar ticketing platform and generate $25,000 or more in ticket fees, the AttendStar team can design an event-specific website of up to four pages for you at no charge? This exclusive service is only provided to 45 events per year, so the earlier you sign up, the better your chances you have to get a free website for your event.
What to Include in Your Event Website
At a high-level, there are four major things to consider as you’re creating your event website with a goal to maximize ticket sales: design, content, development and technical, and ticket sales. Let’s take a closer look at each one and dive into the specifics in more detail.
Design Considerations
The layout and visual appeal of your event website has a significant effect on whether or not people will buy tickets. A poorly designed website leads people to believe the event will be poorly designed as well. You don’t want that to happen to your event, so make sure you invest adequate time and money into designing a great-looking event website.
Some of the most important things to keep in mind as you design your website include:
- Fonts: Make sure you choose fonts for the text on your website that are easy to read on desktop and mobile devices and for the age group of people who will buy tickets. We recommend not using fonts below 12-14 points.
- Images: Use high quality, professional images that reflect the quality of your event.
- Videos: Include videos from prior events, of artists performing, or a teaser video of what people can expect to experience at your upcoming event. Videos are very effective at building excitement and tapping into the fear of missing out (FOMO).
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Content Considerations
Your event website should be well-written. This is an area where you should invest in hiring a talented and experienced copywriter, because the words on your website can help you sell more tickets – a lot more.
At a minimum, the copywriter should write content for the following sections of your event website (and your ticket sales page):
- Description: Write a great event description focused on the benefits of attending, and be sure to offer details about food, merchandise, and activities as well as performers, speakers, artists, or exhibitors.
- Buy Tickets: Include an easy way to purchase tickets with copy creates a sense of urgency and piques the fear of missing out (see the Ticket Sales Considerations section below for more information about the ticket sales section of your event website).
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Put together a list of frequently asked questions and include them with comprehensive answers.
- Logistical Information: Write content that explains all of the logistics for the event, including directions, parking instructions, and tips for attendees (e.g., what they can and can’t bring to the event).
- Contact Information: Your contact information is an essential part of an event website. Always provide multiple ways to contact you, and if you offer a phone number, make sure a live person answers when people call. Events are a people business!
- Keywords: To help with search engine optimization and boost traffic to your event website, include relevant keywords in your web page copy (see Development and Technical Considerations below for more details).
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Development and Technical Considerations
Development and technical considerations impact your event website behind the scenes. If your website doesn’t work properly and if it’s not set up correctly, you’ll miss opportunities to maximize ticket sales.
Here are several technical things to address as you develop your event website:
- Page Load Time: Every page on your website should load quickly on desktop and mobile devices. Don’t make people wait or you risk losing them.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is critical for events, because people will use Google or their preferred search engine to look for events like yours. With that in mind, follow SEO best practices to get each page on your event website to rank high in search engine results pages.
- Google Analytics: Integrate Google Analytics with your event website so you can track visitor behaviors, returns on marketing investments, and much more. There is no better way to determine what works and what doesn’t work to boost ticket sales than reliable data about your website visitors and their behaviors.
- Social Sharing: Include social media sharing buttons on every page of your event website so it’s as easy as possible for people to share links, images, and videos about your event on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. This is free word-of-mouth marketing that you don’t want to miss!
- Opt-in Form: Some people will visit your event website and won’t be ready to buy tickets yet. Include an opt-in form inviting them to subscribe to your event newsletter so they’ll hear about event updates like new performers, activities, and so on. This is a great way to continue to build excitement and motivate people who aren’t sure if they want to attend the event to finally buy tickets.
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Ticket Sales Considerations
#1 Tip – Use a BIG Buy Tickets Button: This button should link directly to your ticket sales page, and it should be the largest button on every page of your event website. No one should miss it!
The ticket sales section of your event website is where you provide details about buying tickets. It should give an overview of ticket options and prices, along with a reminder of the date, time, and location of the event.
This information will be provided again on the ticket sales page, so in this section of your event website, you’re just providing an overview that captures people’s attention. Remember, this is your big chance to motivate people to click the buy tickets button and make a purchase, so drive them to take action (click the button) with irresistible copy.
Key Takeaways to Develop an Event Website to Maximize Ticket Sales
Developing an event website that effectively increases ticket sales is critical to the success of your event. Don’t skimp! Instead, use the information and links provided in this article to create a visually appealing and well-written site that turns every visitor into a ticket buyer.
Need help maximizing your ticket sales with an event website and the best ticketing platform? Contact Gary Bradshaw at AttendStar (615-223-1973) or use the Contact Us Form and let’s get started!