Building an event website is an intricate process that involves a blend of creative design, clear communication, and technical know-how. Whether it’s a music festival, business conference, or charity fundraiser, your event website serves as the hub of all information and interaction for your attendees.
This article aims to guide you through the essential steps in creating an engaging and user-friendly event website that not only communicates your event’s purpose but also enhances the overall attendee experience. Let’s kick-start your event’s digital journey.
What is an Event Website?
So, what exactly do we mean when we say “event website”? Picture a digital hub where all your event’s key details live — who’s speaking, what’s happening when, where guests should park — you name it.
But it’s not just a glorified event brochure. It’s an interactive space where guests can RSVP, buy tickets, and maybe even start networking with each other.
Plus, it’s a powerful marketing tool, helping to generate buzz and excitement leading up to your event. And when it’s all over, your website can act as a virtual scrapbook, filled with photos, videos, and highlights that guests can look back on fondly.
What Should an Event Website Include?
The Basic
1. A Homepage
The homepage is the main page of a website, and it serves as an entry point to the site’s content. For this reason, it’s one of the most important pages on your website.
Since it’s the first page your visitors will see and as it sets the tone for the rest of your site, it’s prudent to consider its design, your branding, and how it will be represented, including colors, fonts, logos, and taglines.
With a well-designed homepage, you can create a positive first impression and encourage visitors to explore your website further.
A homepage usually contains the following elements:
- A site navigation menu with links to important sections and pages that will allow users to easily navigate your website.
- Call-to-action buttons (CTAs) that will be clearly visible, with a clear call-to-action text that will encourage users to click on it and perform the desired action, like, for example, signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
- Many homepages contain a hero section to immediately catch the user’s attention and nudge them towards performing a certain action.
Note: Common Ninja has a wide selection of call-to-action buttons that you can easily add to your website.
2. An About Us Page
Another important page to have on your website is the “About Us” page. This page is crucial to establishing credibility and building trust.
The about us page often contains information about the organization, its mission, its history, and the people behind it, enabling users to establish a connection with the company and learn more about the organization and its values.
Note: Common Ninja has a great selection of widgets that can enhance your “About Us” page.
3. A Contacts Page
A “Contacts” page is another, very important page to have on your website. It provides visitors with a way to get in touch with the website’s owners or administrators. Typically, it will include contact information about the business (like a contact email address, phone number, and physical address), as well as a contact form that a visitor can fill out and send to contact the website’s owners.
This page helps to further build trust, improve user experience, and enable other businesses to contact the website owners regarding open new business opportunities.
Note: Common Ninja can improve how users contact you via a free and easily customizable Contact form.
4. A Header & Footer
Headers and footers have become an integral part of website design, and anyone building a website should add them to their website.
Having a header and a footer on your website will improve navigation, create a consistent look, support your branding, provide important information, and improve conversion with CTAs.
The header typically includes branding elements (like the colors, logo, company name, etc.), and navigational menus (to other pages, login options, etc).
The footer will also include branding elements, as well as links to other pages, but its design enables adding more links, CTAs, and other information, in an organized and aesthetically pleasing manner.
The Advanced
While the above elements are true for all websites, an Event website requires a few more elements.
Event Details
Think of the Event Details page as the heart of your event website. Here’s where you spell out the who, what, where, and when. It sets the stage for your visitors, giving them a clear understanding of what to expect from your event. This page is crucial because it provides the fundamental information that all attendees will need.
Registration/Tickets
The Registration/Tickets page is where the magic happens – where your attendees commit to your event. Whether you’re selling tickets or just taking registrations, this page plays a pivotal role in turning interested visitors into actual attendees. It should provide a simple and secure process that leaves your future guests feeling excited and confident about their decision.
Schedule/Agenda
The Schedule/Agenda page serves as the roadmap to your event. It outlines what’s happening, when it’s happening, and where it’s happening. This page is key because it allows attendees to plan their time effectively, highlighting sessions or performances they can’t afford to miss.
Note: You can use Common Ninja’s Calendar widget to help you create a schedule or agenda in a lovely way.
Speakers/Guests
The Speakers/Guests page is the perfect spot to showcase the stars of your event. This could include keynote speakers, workshop leaders, musicians, or VIP guests. Providing bios or background information can create excitement among attendees and help them decide which parts of the event they want to attend.
Venue Information
Picture the Venue Information page as your event’s personal concierge. It’s here to give your attendees a virtual tour of the venue, from parking specifics to snapshots of the space. Maybe there’s a lovely park for post-event relaxation, or a snug cafe nearby for that much-needed coffee?
This page shares those tidbits. With this handy guide, your guests can navigate your event with ease, leaving more time to soak in the experience. So, here’s to our helpful friend, the Venue Information page!
Travel and Accommodation
The Travel and Accommodation page is particularly important for larger events or those attracting out-of-town guests. This page might include information on how to reach the venue, recommended hotels, local transport details, and anything else your guests might need to make their journey as smooth as possible.
FAQ
An FAQ page helps to address common questions or concerns your attendees might have. It’s a great place to clarify any details that might be unclear from other parts of the website and can reduce the number of inquiries your team needs to handle directly.
Note: Common Ninja has a fully-customizable FAQ widget that you can use to create a stunning FAQ page or section.
Sponsorship/Partners
The Sponsorship/Partners page is a chance to spotlight the businesses or organizations that are supporting your event. This not only gives them the recognition they deserve but also shows potential attendees that your event is backed by reputable entities.
Note: Common Ninja’s Logo Slider widget offers an excellent, visually appealing and space-saving way to showcase your partners and sponsors!
Testimonials/Past Events
The Testimonials/Past Events page is where you can showcase the success of past events, whether through attendee testimonials, photos, or media coverage. This page provides social proof that can persuade potential attendees that your event is worth their time and money.
Note: Common Ninja offers a powerful, fully customizable Testimonials Slider widget to make displaying testimonials on your website that much easier.
News and Updates
The News and Updates page keeps attendees informed about any new developments or changes related to your event. This can create a sense of anticipation as the event date approaches and helps ensure attendees feel in-the-loop and valued.
Note: If you don’t want to take up too much space writing up announcements, you could use Common Ninja’s Announcements widget.
Photo and Video Gallery
A Photo and Video Gallery allows you to share visually appealing content from past events, or teasers for the upcoming event. This can stimulate excitement and anticipation, and also provides a way for attendees to relive the experience once the event is over.
Note: Common Ninja has both the Image Gallery widget and the Video Gallery widget, alongside additional image and video-related widgets that you can use to enhance your website.
Volunteer Information
If your event relies on volunteers, the Volunteer Information page is a must. It can provide details on the roles available, the benefits of volunteering, and the process for signing up. This page not only helps you recruit the help you need but also creates an opportunity for community involvement in your event.
Social Media Links
The Social Media Links on your website are like the bridges that connect your online event hub with the bustling towns of your social platforms. This allows your attendees to engage with your event beyond the website, perhaps by joining discussions, sharing your content, or simply following your updates. It also provides a window into the wider community surrounding your event, further fostering anticipation and a sense of belonging.
Note: Common Ninja offers a bunch of social media widgets including Social Media Feeds and Social Media Links widgets.
Press Page
The Press Page is essential for any event seeking media coverage. It can provide press releases, media kits, contact information for your press liaison, and other resources journalists might need. Making this information easily accessible can help to generate more publicity for your event, potentially attracting a larger audience.
Blog
A Blog is a fantastic way to share more in-depth information about your event, such as interviews with speakers, behind-the-scenes insights, or articles on topics related to your event’s theme. Regularly updating your blog can keep your website fresh, improve SEO, and give visitors a reason to keep coming back in the lead-up to your event. It also offers a platform to continue engaging with your audience long after the event itself has ended.
How To Create an Event Website?
Step 1: Choose Your Website Builder
There are lots of available website-building platforms today. How many you ask? Well, there are well over 200 website and e-commerce builders.
Clearly, not all are on the same level or for the same purpose, but the sheer amount is both fascinating and scary. Fascinating because it means that there’s a lot to choose from, and scary because there’s too much to choose from.
Luckily, there are around 20 that truly stand out in terms of the features they offer, how easy it is to use them and their prices. We have a great article about the best website builders out there that you should definitely take a look at.
Great Website Builders for an Event Website
While the above gives you a broad overview of website building, here are some website builders that could be great for building an Event website:
Wix
With Wix’s robust versatility, your event website becomes a virtual ticket booth that never closes. Its intuitive drag-and-drop editor makes crafting a website as exciting as planning the event itself.
Wix’s vast library of customizable templates gives your event the grand entrance it deserves, while integrated event management tools—like ticketing, RSVP tracking, and email marketing—help you keep the party organized. Wix promises an all-in-one platform where your event’s information, promotion, and management intersect.
WordPress
Considered a stalwart in the website-building world, WordPress is a powerful tool for creating event websites. Its flexible nature, enriched by an array of plugins, transforms your site from a mere information booth to a full-scale event hub.
With plugins facilitating event scheduling, ticket sales, and audience engagement, WordPress becomes your backstage crew, ensuring your event runs smoothly. Its robust blogging capabilities make it a great choice for sharing event updates and engaging with your audience.
EventCreate
EventCreate is like a skilled conductor, orchestrating every facet of your event website with precision and ease. Specifically designed with a focus on events, this platform intuitively aligns with your needs—think of it as an event planner that speaks the language of the web.
With a suite of tailored features such as custom event landing pages, ticket sales, and RSVP management, it seamlessly streamlines the mechanics of your event. EventCreate isn’t just about crafting a website; it’s about curating an experience and making the management of that experience as effortless as possible.
Squarespace
Squarespace is where style meets substance in the world of event website building. Its stunning, professionally designed templates provide a visual spectacle that befits any event.
But Squarespace is more than just a beautiful facade—it offers comprehensive functionality to manage event schedules, share location details, and even sell tickets. Coupled with its excellent blogging and SEO capabilities, Squarespace ensures your event not only looks good but also reaches the right audience.
Weebly
As a reliable ally in the website building landscape, Weebly shines for its simplicity and functionality. Its straightforward design tools make creating an event website a smooth journey, perfect for those who value ease-of-use.
With Weebly, integrating e-commerce to sell tickets or merchandise is a cinch, and the platform’s built-in SEO tools ensure your event gets the visibility it deserves. It’s like having a digital event assistant ready to help at a moment’s notice.
Choose a Hosting Plan (Optional)
Depending on what website builder you chose, you may have to get a hosting plan separately. We have a great guide on the top 10 hosting providers available on the market. Mind you that many of these offer the option to get a domain name, too.
Choose a Domain Name (Optional)
Depending on what website builder you choose, and on what hosting plan you choose, you may have to get a domain name separately.
Step 2: Start Designing Your Website
Choose a Template (Optional)
Some website builders offer pre-made templates that you can choose from for specific website types. This is a great way to save time on design.
Choose Color Schemes
Color schemes are super important in website design and branding. They’re not just for show—colors can really affect how we feel and react. If a brand chooses the right colors, it can guide our eyes where they want, make us feel a certain way, and even get us to take action.
This is where color theory comes in. It’s basically the science of how colors work together and how they make us feel. For instance, blue usually makes us feel calm and trustful, red stirs up energy and passion, and green symbolizes growth. So, when a brand chooses colors that match its vibe and the feelings it wants to evoke, it can really boost its recognition and trust with customers. Super cool, right?
Choose Fonts
Font pairing is like the secret sauce in website design and branding. Just like colors, the fonts you choose can really set the mood and deliver your brand message. You’ve got to think about the vibes different fonts give off. A fancy script might feel elegant, while a bold, all-caps font can scream confidence and power.
The trick is in finding fonts that complement each other without clashing or looking too similar. That’s why we do font pairing. You want your headline font to grab attention, but it needs to work well with your body text font, which should be easy to read. So, for instance, you might pair a decorative font for your headers with a simple, clean one for the body text.
Get it right, and you’re on your way to a website that looks super professional and keeps your visitors reading. It’s a bit like a good music duo—each part’s got to be good on its own, but together they create a whole new level of awesome!
Add a Hero Image
The hero section of a website is like the opening scene of a movie—it sets the stage and grabs your attention. It’s that first big chunk you see when you land on a website, often with a big image, a catchy headline, and a call to action. It’s there to quickly show you what the site or the brand is all about and, hopefully, make you want to stick around.
Choosing the right elements for your hero section is key. A stunning image or background can draw people in, while a powerful headline can spark interest.
Then there’s the call to action, which could be a button or a link, nudging you to do something—like shop now, sign up, or learn more. So, think of the hero section like your website’s elevator pitch. It’s got to be punchy, engaging, and super clear about what’s on offer. If it’s done right, it’s like a friendly welcome mat that invites visitors to come in and explore more.
Add CTAs
Calls to Action (CTAs) on a website are like your friendly tour guides. They tell you where to go next and what to do. You’ll often find them as buttons or links with words like “Buy Now”, “Sign Up”, “Learn More”—you get the idea. They’re super important because they help guide your visitors and encourage them to take the actions you want them to.
But here’s the thing: all CTAs are not created equal. A good CTA is clear, concise, and compelling—it tells you exactly what you’ll get and why you should click on it. And where you place them can make a big difference, too.
You want to position your CTAs where they’ll be noticed, like in your hero section, at the end of a blog post, or even in a pop-up. So, think of CTAs as your website’s friendly nudges, steering your visitors in the right direction and getting them to engage, interact, and hopefully, become customers. It’s like having a good salesperson right there on the page.
Step 3: Publish The Website
When you are done setting up and designing your website, publish it. And that’s it.
How To Enhance Your Event Website?
Enhance Your Website With Powerful Widgets
While many of the website builders we recommended are great for building your Event website, they are somewhat limited in the features and tools they offer, and, in a competitive world, every additional feature that you can add to your website can be a game changer.
That’s where Common Ninja comes in to save the day.
Common Ninja offers an extensive, ever-growing collection of professional and reliable widgets that will help you save time and money and improve your website beyond what your current website-building platform offers.
Common Ninja’s widgets are free, fully customizable, perfectly responsive, and easy to use (just check our YouTube guides), so be sure to check them out, and greatly improve your website.
Common Ninja — The Only Collection of Widgets You’ll Ever Need
Content
Content is an important part of any website, no matter what niche it’s in. Content can include anything from text, images, videos, and other media that informs, educates, or entertains the audience, and we highly recommend that you add good content to your website.
It is crucial for several reasons:
- It provides value to visitors — good content, can provide value to users, whether these are guides, service or product comparisons, tips, tricks, or other equally helpful content.
- It builds trust and credibility — by creating good, well-written, and well-researched content, you can increase trust in your brand and improve its credibility.
- It improves SEO: Search engines like Google prioritize websites with high-quality, relevant content, so by creating content that includes relevant keywords and provides value to your audience, you can improve your website’s search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
- It drives conversions — well-written content that addresses pain points, with strategically placed CTAs can drive conversions, such as sign-ups, purchases, or inquiries, up.
- It establishes your brand’s voice and identity — the content on your website is an opportunity to establish your brand’s voice and identity. Consistent and high-quality content can help your brand stand out and create a memorable impression on your audience.
Optimization
Optimizing a website is essential for improving its visibility on search engines, increasing traffic, and improving the user experience. Here are some effective ways to optimize your website:
- Remove unnecessary distractions
- Improve page speed
- Optimize for mobile
- Optimize forms
- Write good copy
- Write good CTAs
- Define and communicate your value proposition
- Localize content
Promotion
Promoting a website is essential for increasing its visibility and driving traffic to it.
It requires time & effort, and here are some ways that can help you promote your website:
- Social Media: Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are great for promoting your website, building a following, and driving traffic to it.
- Email marketing: Building an email list is an effective way to promote your website, reach your audience directly, and keep them updated on your latest content or products.
- Paid advertising: Paid advertising through platforms like Google Ads or social media ads can help you reach a larger audience and drive targeted traffic to your website.
- Collaboration: Collaborating with other websites in your niche can help you gain exposure, drive traffic to your site and improve your SEO via backlinking.
- Incentives: Offering incentives like discounts, free trials, or giveaways can attract new users to your website and encourage them to share it with others.
Conclusion
In the whirlwind that is event planning, an event website can be your anchor, keeping everything organized and your attendees informed. But beyond its practical uses, it’s also an opportunity to showcase the personality and spirit of your event.
So whether you’re planning a music festival, a charity fun run, or a professional conference, an event website might just be your new best friend. It’s time to step away from the spreadsheets and step into the digital age of event planning – and we promise, you won’t look back!
