When you’re planning an event, choosing a venue is one of the most important decisions you’ll need to make. Not only does the venue cost use most of an event’s budget, but if you make the wrong choice, your event could be ruined. On the other hand, the perfect venue can help you hold a successful event that is memorable for all the right reasons.
Venue selection is a top priority, but it can take a lot of time to find and research venues to include in the selection process. Fortunately, a venue directory can help by making the process quick and easy. You’ll be able to narrow your search using a venue directory and choose your event’s venue with confidence.
Search Engines Are Not Good Enough
The problem with relying on search engines to find an event venue is that it’s time consuming to look for venues that way, and you won’t find all of the venue choices available to you. In fact, many of the best venues may not even show up near the top of search engine results pages.
That’s because the results on the first few search engine results pages are typically for venues that invested in search engine optimization (SEO) and other marketing tactics to boost their search rankings. That doesn’t mean those are the best venues for your event.
To ensure you control your venue search (rather than search engines), you can use a comprehensive venue directory to find the perfect venue. You’ll also save a lot of time because a good venue directory instantly shows you all of the details about venues that match your specific needs and criteria.
5 Tips to Use a Venue Directory to Find the Right Event Venue
Beware – not all venue directories are equal. To use a vendor directory to find the right event venue, there are some key factors you should look for. Let’s look at five of the most crucial factors in detail.
1. Free to Use
You shouldn’t have to pay to search a venue directory, and venues shouldn’t have to pay to be listed in directories. In other words, if a venue directory isn’t free, it’s unlikely to help you find the best venue for your event.
The reason is simple. If venues have to pay to appear in a directory, then only those with bigger marketing budgets will be included or featured at the top of search results pages – similar to how the venues with deeper pockets are likely to appear on the first page of search engine results pages. This could prevent you from finding the perfect place to hold your event.
2. Variety of Venue Types
You shouldn’t have to settle on a venue. Instead, you should be able to find the right venue for every event you organize. There are so many creative locations to hold an event today, and the best venue directories offer a wide variety of venue types for you to consider.
With that in mind, the directory you use should include traditional venue types as well as outdoor spaces, fairgrounds, racetracks, schools, theaters, conference centers, sporting venues, and more. Events aren’t one size fits all, and neither are venues!
3. Advanced Search Functionality
A venue directory is no more helpful than a search engine if you can’t effectively search the listings in it based on the criteria that matters most to you. Facility size and zip code are nice, but they’re not good enough.
To give you an idea of the search functionality you should have access to, consider the criteria you can use to search for venues in the AttendStar Venue Directory:
- Market area
- Market area population
- Median income in the market
- Median home value in the market
- Population demographics
- Seating range
- Type of venue
- And much more
In addition, the venue directory you use should allow you to combine search keywords using and, not, and/or or, so your search results as relevant as possible. This is another feature that will save you a lot of time by excluding venues that won’t be suitable for your event.
4. Comprehensive Venue Details
A venue directory should enable you to conduct the majority of your early research without leaving the directory website at all. Listings that only include address and phone number are not good enough.
Look for a directory that includes detailed information for every venue. For example, following is some of the information you can find in AttendStar’s Venue Directory listings:
- Types of seating
- Reserved seating availability
- Types of sound and lighting
- Parking lot capacity
- Parking fees
- Performance area size
- Concession information
- Safety and medical services required and available
- Local non-profit organizations that can help organizers with their events
- And more
Imagine how much time you’ll save on phone calls and email messages when all of this information is at your fingertips!
5. Communication Tools
Searching for a facility or location to hold your event can be very time consuming, and it’s easy to get confused about who you’ve contacted already, who you need to reach out to, and who you need to follow up with.
Therefore, the best venue directory includes built-in communication tools, so you can email venues directly without leaving the website – either one-by-one or multiple venues at the same time.
Key Takeaways About Using a Venue Directory to Find the Best Venue for Your Event
If you’re using a reliable and comprehensive venue directory, you’ll save a lot of time and frustration searching for the best venue for your event. Be sure to look for a venue directory that offers the features discussed above, and you’ll be successful in your search.
Do you own a venue that you’d like to get listed in the AttendStar Venue Directory? You can add your venue here.