Outdoor Events & Advance Ticket Sales

In many cases companies use their home page to promote their own events. Depending on how much information is on the companies web site it might be difficult for your users to get details on your event. The primary purpose for a separate web site is making it easier for users to find event information without having to wade through unrelated information.

The Price is Right
Today domain name registration and hosting prices are very reasonable. There is little reason not to have a dedicated web site for each of your events. Something as simple as a one page web site can suffice for promoting your event. If you have dozens of events it might be worth dedicating a single web site to your event marketing and promotion efforts. For clarification purposes I consider an event something where there are going to be a hundred or more people in attendance. Festivals, Concerts, Sporting Events, and Galas are just a few examples. You need to determine your threshold based on your organization's needs.

The graph above represents a company's web site that is promoting one of their events. Compare and contrast the above statistical data with the graph from User Traffic Trends to Your Event Web Site. Both graphs are from the same company promoting one of their annual events. Notice all of the additional traffic in the above graph before and after the event. The unrelated traffic is looking for information to the company and might be looking for the information on the company's event. Web users tend to be channelized in their search for information. Users traditionally look for one piece of information at a time.

Getting Event Information Lost in Company Information
A big challenge for many users is trying to locate information about a certain event on a parent company's web site. One of the biggest problems is that a company's event information can get lost within all the other information on their own web site.  I personally ran into this challenge myself. A local friend of mine runs a highly respected not for profit organization. I planned on attending their annual holiday gala. It took me over five minutes to find the proper link for additional information on the gala. The gala is one of the not for profits largest money making events, yet there wasn't an easy to find link on the not for profit's home page. Most users don't have a long attention span or high degree of vigilance when it comes to finding information online. If a user can't find information they're off to another web site or task.

Branding Your Own Event
Having a separate web site allows you to brand your event on it's own. The advantages far outweigh the time and cost involved.  Because you have a separate event web site doesn't mean that shouldn't co-brand both your company web site or any other online interest.

Event Marketing and Search Engines
If you choose to setup a separate web site for your company's event remember that it takes time for get established in the search engines. Using your existing web site to transition to your new web site. Create links from your existing web site to the dedicated event web site.  Keep in mind that It takes time for search engines to properly index your page. In some cases it can take 6-12 months to properly index a web site or web page. If you are only a few weeks away from your event, creating a separate event web site might not be the most prudent course of action.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on some of the ideas on concepts presented above. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• How to Get Them To Your Event
  
• Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• Leveraging Your Sponsor's Digital Resources

• The Event Promotion System - Get 'FREE' Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training