How important is an event registration page? Well, a registration page is really one of the first impressions that someone will have of your event. It is the last place that someone lands before they enroll — which means it is the last chance you have to convert visitors into attendees, and it’s their last chance to change their mind and leave.

A registration page couldn’t be more important.

Yet, so many registration pages are dull or crowded or unpredictable, so much so that they actually leave visitors a negative impression of an upcoming event.

With registration pages being such an essential part of the attendee experience, it is critical that they are compressive and user-friendly. An attractive, easy-to-navigate page can have a noticeably positive effect on an event’s registration rate.

Don’t Skimp on the Design

Since registration pages are temporary, it is often tempting to make it look temporary, too. Don’t fall into this temptation. You’re trying to convert a visitor into a buyer, and making a strong impression will go a long way toward achieving your goal.

You want to ensure that the entire page design ties into your branding. The last thing you want to cause is confusion, and that’s precisely what can happen when visitors land on a webpage that doesn’t meet their expectations – especially one that is asking for information.

Make sure the page is clearly branded with your company’s colors and/or logo and that it ties seamlessly into the event.

Keep it Simple

Registration for your event should be quick and straightforward. Yes, you need to gather information from your attendees. But, ask yourself, how much of it do you really need then and there? Is there anything you could collect at a later date?

Every additional second that someone spends on the page before clicking “register” is more time for them to change their mind. Keep your bounce rate low by keeping your questions to a minimum.

Make the Page Mobile Responsive

According to research from Stone Temple Consulting Corporation, 63 percent of all online traffic is from mobile devices. The research indicated that mobile use will likely reach two-thirds of all traffic by the end of 2018.

With this in mind, it is essential that your registration page (and the entire event website) needs to be viewable – and responsive – on any device.

A page that is mobile responsive is different from one that is mobile friendly. Mobile responsive means that the site automictically adjusts to the size of the screen, text size will shift, and some images may be removed for a clean mobile experience. You can test for responsiveness on a desktop by changing a web browser’s window size. If the images and text change, the site is responsive. Whereas, a design that’s mobile-friendly looks the same across all devices and doesn’t adjust in real-time to fit the screen.

There’s nothing wrong with a site that is mobile friendly, but mobile responsive pages will deliver a superior experience (it also costs more to create). If you expect the majority of your page’s traffic to come from mobile devices, it is advisable to utilize a mobile-responsive design.

Enable Social Media Sign In

It has already been mentioned that the simpler you can make registration the better – especially when it comes to the number of questions you have people answer. Registration numbers increase as the amount of busywork decreases.

Well, it is possible to make registration even easier by enabling visitors to sign in using social media. By including a button that reads “Register Using LinkedIn,” “Register Using Facebook,” etc., you can dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes for a person to sign up while still gathering all the necessary demographic data. It can also make a visitor much more likely to sign up. A study by Agora Integrated Marketing found that adding a social media sign-in increased their signup rate by more than 20 percent.

Make Social Sharing Simple

Your page also needs to make it easy for someone to click a button and share the fact that they just registered with their followers. The second someone finishes signing up, they should be sent to a thank you page that includes the ability for them to easily share their registration on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Every social media share is free promotion for your event, and if colleagues see that your industry event is getting traction – and attendees – from people they follow, they are much more likely to sign up.

Photo Credit: Lander

Don’t Let Incomplete Bookings Sit Idle

No matter how easy you make it, not everyone who visits a registration page is going to commit on the first visit. But, they did land on your page, which means there’s interest. You should not let that person get away, and the way to do that is by subtly reminding them of your event. How do you do that?

Retargeting

You’re familiar with retargeting, even if you’re not aware of it. Have you ever browsed an ecommerce site and put a product in your cart without buying it? Then, just a day or two later, you’re perusing another site when you glance at a banner ad and see that it’s featuring the very product you neglected to buy. You’ve been retargeted.

Retargeting works by placing a cookie (a piece of code that web servers use to put information on someone’s browser) on a visitor’s computer. It’s this little bit of information that enables sites to direct targeted ads to one specific person when he or she visits other websites. Creating a retargeting campaign will help you keep your event top of mind for those interested, yet uncommitted, parties. 

Run Your Registration Page through the Ringer

The importance of testing your registration page cannot be stated enough. You are at risk of losing attendees with a busy or confusing or ugly registration page, but imagine the number of people you will lose with a broken one.

You need to test every single aspect of your page. And not just you, but other people in your company, too, and see if you can recruit someone from outside, as well. Check all of the information boxes to make sure they are lengthy enough to handle long names and email addresses. Make sure there is no lag or areas where the page gets hung up. Double check that all the links work.

Only after you’re sure that every aspect has been checked and rechecked, then you can go live.

And once you’re live, keep checking to make sure everything is going smoothly.

Final Reminder Email

 Now that you’ve gone through all this work and people have registered, don’t let up. Keep communicating with your attendees, making them aware of key events. Your job is to keep this event top of mind for all the attendees by building anticipation and excitement.

Then, a couple of days before the event, send a reminder with critical information, like where to pick up badges or travel advisories or directions from the airport. Whatever your attendees will find most useful – include it.

For more tips or help creating the perfect registration page, give Event Architecture a call at 972-323-9433.