A website is the primary source of information about your event. It’s the most trusted place for your event details.
As you’re starting your event, it can be daunting to create a website. You may not have the technical expertise to code one yourself. It may even be an expense that you can’t quite fit into your budget yet.
Luckily, you have options. You can swap sponsorship for website design and creation. You can also use Stride Events to build and host your website for free. (Websites are free for events with paid tickets or registrations.)
Domain hosting costs vary widely. They can go as high as several hundred dollars per month. With Stride Events, you can host your website for free on a custom subdomain. This feature helps you save money and benefit from an official website.
Of course, you can host from your own domain if you prefer.
With Stride Events’ free website builder, you have full control over your website. You can create the content, design, and make updates without waiting on a web designer.
Follow the four steps below to build your free website:
Start with your header and footer because they appear across all of your pages. You can update them as you add more pages to ensure that everything links back and your site is easy to navigate.
Your header is the first impression of your website and your event, make a strong one with an organized header.
Your header should include:
Typically, you’ll want to put your logo in the center or on the left of your header. People need to know they’re on the right website. Your logo is the most recognizable part of your brand, so placing it at the top where it’s easy to see helps establish credibility and trust as soon as people open your website. Add a link to your logo to make it easy for people to get back to the home page.
You’ll also want to place your “Buy Tickets” button on the right side to grab more attention. Be sure to make the button stand out from the rest of your header with an eye-catching color and a large size. The whole point of your website is to help you advertise and sell tickets, don’t make people go on a scavenger hunt for how to buy tickets.
The last element of your header is the navigation menu. As people learn more about your event, its history, schedule, special attractions, etc. they may navigate between pages. It should be easy to get back to the home page or any other page from your navigation bar. You’ll update your navigation as you build out your website with more pages.
People look at the footer of your website to find key information and important links. Include the items below in your footer:
Your logo helps your website footer look professional and reminds people what website they’re on even if they’re scrolled to the bottom of the page.
Including your event address helps ensure that people know where to find your event. You could even include a map or link your address to Google Maps to make it easier for attendees trying to get to your event. If your location is hard to find even with Google Maps, include the specialized directions in your footer.
People also reference the footer to find contact information. Include a contact form, your event email address, or a phone number people can call if they have questions. Alternatively, you can include a link to a separate contact page with that information.
Add your social media links to your footer as “social proof” to enhance your credibility. Credible organizations have social media accounts on various platforms. Including links to these organizations also makes it easy for people to learn more about your event from what you post on social media.
Memberships in associations, accreditations, and awards are other good “social proof” elements to include in your footer. They also boost your credibility. Awards highlight reasons people won’t want to miss your event.
You’ll also want to include links to your other important webpages like your event policies page, about page, calendar page, etc. to make it easy for people to find the details they need about your event. You can add these as you create more pages for your website.
You should also include a copyright statement for your website to help discourage people from copying your official website.
Like your header, your home page makes a big impression on prospective attendees. You’ll want to ensure that it makes an impact.
What to include on your homepage:
Include CTAs to buy tickets several places on your page to ensure that there’s always one visible no matter where people are on the page.
If ticket sales aren’t open year-round, include information about when ticket sales open. You should also make it easy for people to sign up for an email notification the day sales open. You can do this easily on your ticketing page with Stride Events.
Add photos from your event to help people visualize themselves having a great time at your event. You can even include videos to take this visualization further.
In your first year of your event, videos and visuals can present a challenge – you don’t have anything from the previous year to highlight how great your experience is. You need to be creative: Focus your visuals on your location or venue. Reach out to vendors or partners for visuals of the food or services they’re bringing to your event. Be sure to get their permission to include the photos on your website.
Add other key event details like address, when ticket scanning opens (operation hours), and other information that people considering your event should know.
Focus on information that would encourage people to come to your event – maybe you have a special performer coming, a special deal on certain nights, or a popular food truck on a specific day. Highlight this information on your homepage to help encourage people to buy tickets.
Links to your ticketing page are the most important element of your website – your primary revenue driver is ticket sales. So, although we’ve covered this aspect above, it bears repeating.
With your “Buy Tickets” button in your header, a link to your ticketing page will appear on each page you add to your website. On some pages, you may want to add more CTAs based on the page’s topic and length.
Once you have your home page ready, you should publish your website. You can add pages over time and as needed. Search engines give more credibility to websites with multiple pages, so it’s a smart move to add others.
As you consider what additional pages would be helpful to your marketing and attendees, consider the list below:
