I run an event aggregator website and have also worked on SEO campaigns for events. As such, I’ve been exposed to hundreds of event websites over the years and reviewed many.

Event websites are typically small and get the basics right – they don’t underperform because of complex technical problems.

They struggle because small, foundational decisions are overlooked – decisions that directly affect trust, discoverability, and whether someone actually buys a ticket.

An event website isn’t just a place to list logistics. It’s where people decide if an event is worth their time, money, and travel.

…and where search engines, AI tools, and third-party platforms decide how (or if) that event gets surfaced.

This guide focuses on the best practices that consistently make the biggest difference, based on what I’ve seen work across real event websites – with an emphasis on clarity, credibility, and making it easy for the right people to take action.

✅ Key Takeaways

• Clarity beats cleverness at every stage.
• Reduce friction where buying decisions happen.
• Treat speakers, agenda, and FAQs as core content.
• Make intent obvious to users and discovery tools.
• Use structure to build trust and confidence.
• Optimize for real decisions, not just traffic.

Nail the Above-the-Fold Section on Your Homepage

The very first screen visitors see when they land on your event website does a lot of heavy lifting. This is not the place to be clever or vague – it’s the place to be immediately clear.

Above the fold, your homepage should answer these questions without scrolling:

• What is this event? (clear event name)
• When is it happening? (date and time)
• Where is it? (city at minimum)
• What should I do next? (a strong CTA like “Buy Tickets”)

If visitors have to scroll, hunt, or think for even a few seconds, you’re already losing attention and conversions.

Clarity beats creativity (especially for SEO & AI)

Search engines, AI tools, and event aggregators rely on obvious signals.

A clear headline with your event name, followed by supporting details like date, location, and ticket availability, makes your event easier to understand, index, and surface correctly.

From a user perspective, this also builds instant trust. People want to confirm they’re in the right place before committing time or money.

Visual impact matters more than you think

Your above-the-fold design isn’t just for direct visitors.

Many third-party event listing and aggregation sites automatically pull a screenshot of your homepage to represent your event. If that screenshot is cluttered or confusing, your event looks less appealing next to competitors.

A few practical guidelines:

• Use a strong background image that reflects the event experience.
• If the venue is visually striking, show it.
• If it’s a conference, use imagery that reflects the audience or atmosphere.
• Ensure text overlays are high contrast and easy to read.
• Keep the layout simple: headline, details, CTA – nothing competing for attention.

Make the CTA impossible to miss

Your primary call to action should be:

• Visually distinct
• Clearly worded (“Get Tickets”, “Register Now”)
• Visible without scrolling on desktop and mobile

This isn’t just a conversion best practice. A clear CTA also signals that the page has a specific purpose, which helps both users and machines interpret it correctly.

If you get the above-the-fold section right, you set the tone for the entire site: clear, credible, and worth engaging with.

Make Buying Tickets Frictionless

I’ve seen way too many websites sabotage themselves at this step!

Buying a ticket should be obvious, fast, and boring – yet on some event sites it’s oddly hard to even find where to buy.

If visitors have to search for ticket information, compare multiple CTAs, or click around just to understand pricing, you’re leaking sales. When someone is ready to buy, your job is to remove obstacles.

Your main ticket CTA should lead either to:

• A dedicated pricing page that clearly explains ticket tiers, or
• A direct checkout experience
  

Avoid vague “info” pages, PDFs, or ticket details buried halfway down the homepage.

Keep the buying experience familiar

Trust matters most at the point of payment, especially for first-time events.

If you’re selling tickets directly on your site, great. If you’re using a third-party solution, choose one your audience already recognizes and trusts, such as Eventbrite, PayPal, or Apple Pay.

Familiar checkout flows reduce hesitation, improve completion rates, and lower support requests later.

A clear pricing or checkout page also clarifies commercial intent and gives aggregators a reliable destination to link to.

Fewer clicks, fewer decisions, fewer doubts.

Create Dedicated Pages for Your Speakers

Many event websites – especially one-pagers – present speakers as a simple grid of headshots with pop-ups or modals.

That approach is convenient, but it’s a missed opportunity.

Pop-ups rarely provide meaningful context, don’t have unique URLs, and are easy for both users and external platforms to overlook.

A better approach is to treat speakers as first-class content. Create a dedicated speakers listing page, along with individual pages for each speaker, each with its own URL.

On each speaker page, go beyond the basics and include:

• Full name and role
• Company or background
• An expanded bio
• The title of their talk
• A clear description of what they’ll cover
• Who the talk is for and what attendees will learn
  

This does more than make the site feel more complete. It gives your event multiple ways to be discovered – through speaker names, topics, and areas of expertise – rather than relying solely on people already searching for the event itself.

Speaker pages also work as micro landing pages. A visitor might recognize a speaker, discover a topic that’s directly relevant to a problem they’re trying to solve, or better understand the depth of the event.

That moment of relevance can be the final nudge that turns interest into a ticket purchase.

To support that, make sure each speaker page includes a clear next step, even if it’s something simple like “See Ticket Options” or “Attend This Talk Live.”

Build a Proper Agenda / Schedule Page

The agenda is one of the strongest decision-making tools on an event website, and it’s often implemented poorly.

If your agenda can’t be skimmed in 60 seconds, it’s not doing its job.

Common mistakes include:

• Agendas as images or PDFs
• No indexable session content
• No context for users or search engines
  

Instead, create a dedicated Agenda or Schedule page with structured session listings.

Include session titles, times, and speakers (including internal links to your speaker pages – important for SEO).

Create a table including clear descriptions of the topics, who the sessions are for (experience level matters), and what problem it solves or skill it teaches.

This helps search engines and AI tools understand the focus of your event, and makes it easier for attendees to judge value.

It also reinforces who the event is – and isn’t – for, which improves conversion quality.

Remove Friction With Helpful FAQs & Travel Info

For many attendees, buying a ticket also means planning a trip.

Flights, hotels, transport, time off work – the more uncertainty you remove upfront, the easier it is to say yes.

Too many event websites stop at “Here’s the venue” and leave everything else unanswered.

Anticipate real attendee questions

Cover practical details such as:

• Hotels near the venue (across price ranges)
• Nearest airports and transport options
• How to get from the airport to the venue
• Things to do in the city before or after the event
• Food, sightseeing, and local highlights
• Accessibility, visas, or entry requirements (where relevant)
  

This information directly affects buying decisions, especially for traveling attendees.

Use an FAQ-style format

Present this content as clear questions and answers, for example:

• What are the nearest hotels for [Event Name]?
• Which airport should I fly into for [Event Name]?
• How do I get to the venue from the airport?
• What is there to do in [City] during the event weekend?
  

This format is easy to scan for website users, and ideal for both search engines and AI systems that surface direct answers.

Better info = higher conversion rates

Every unanswered question is a reason to delay – and delays often turn into drop-offs. Good FAQs reduce uncertainty and make the decision feel simpler.

Use Comparison Pages to Help Attendees Decide

People compare events, especially when ticket prices are high. They compare speakers, agendas, locations, and overall value.

If that comparison doesn’t happen on your website, it happens somewhere else – without your input.

There’s no shame in comparisons

Comparison pages aren’t aggressive marketing. They’re a credibility play.

They help people understand:

• Who your event is best for
• How it differs from alternatives
• Why it may or may not be the right fit
  

Honesty builds trust, and trust sells tickets.

Think beyond your local area

Attendees often compare events across cities, countries, or even continents. Your comparison pages should reflect how people actually make decisions.

I am a good example myself – I travel regularly and work remotely. I am always on the lookout for industry events that fit my travel schedule or even spark ideas to visit places I’ve never been to before.

What to include on event comparison pages

A strong comparison page can cover:

• Target audience and experience level
• Core topics and depth
• Speaker formats and profiles
• Event size and networking style
• Location and travel considerations
• Price range and what’s included
  

Keep the tone factual and balanced.

The SEO and AI upside

Comparison pages naturally align with high-intent searches like “Event A vs Event B” or “best conferences for [niche].” They also provide structured relationships that search engines and AI tools struggle to infer on their own.

Make sure each page clearly answers who should choose your event, what makes it uniquely valuable, and what the next step is (tickets, agenda, or speakers).

Further Reading: Shape How AI Sees Your Brand with Comparison Content.

As a bonus, you may start showing up for niche searches related to competing events – searches made by people who are already in decision mode.

Showcase Social Proof From Past Editions

If your event has run before, this is one of your biggest advantages – and many organizers barely use it.

Photos, videos, and testimonials from past editions do more than make a site look nice. They reduce uncertainty and help potential attendees picture what it would actually feel like to be there.

First-time visitors usually arrive with a few unspoken questions in mind:

• Is this event legitimate?
• What’s the atmosphere like?
• Who actually attends?

Content from past editions answers those questions immediately, without asking people to take your word for it.

Instead of hiding this material in a footer link or a single photo carousel, give it proper space. A dedicated “Past Editions” page works well, but highlights can also be woven into your main homepage.

Include a mix of:

• Photo galleries that show real attendees and venues
• Short videos or recap clips
• Attendee testimonials
• Brief summaries of previous editions (what happened, who attended, what made it memorable)
  

Make this section visually engaging and easy to scroll. This is where storytelling matters more than polished marketing copy.

From a practical standpoint, past-edition content also adds depth and context to your site. It shows that the event is established, recurring, and grounded in real experiences – not just a one-off sales page.

For higher-priced events or events that require travel, this kind of social proof often becomes the deciding factor. Seeing real people, real venues, and real moments lowers perceived risk and makes committing to a ticket feel safer.

If you’ve already done the hard work of running a successful event, make sure your website reflects it!

Show Who’s Behind the Event

People don’t just buy tickets to events – they buy into the people running them.

This matters even more for first-time attendees, higher-priced events, or events that require travel. In those situations, visitors aren’t just evaluating the agenda; they’re deciding whether they trust the people behind it.

Yet many event websites hide the organizer in the footer or skip this entirely, which leaves an unnecessary trust gap.

Make the organizer visible and human.

At a minimum, your website should clearly show:

• Who is organizing the event (individual or company)
• A short background or bio
• Why they’re qualified to run this event
• Relevant experience, such as past events, industry roles, or community involvement
  

This information can live on a dedicated “About the Organizer” page and/or in a visible section on the homepage – especially if the organizer is a known name in the space.

Photos help here. A real person builds trust faster than a logo alone.

This isn’t about self-promotion. It’s about reducing uncertainty for people who are deciding whether to commit their time, money, and travel plans.

Turn Your Event Website Into a Marketing Asset

A high-performing event website isn’t the result of hacks, trends, or clever design tricks. It’s the outcome of clear structure, thoughtful content, and removing friction at the moments that matter most.

When your website clearly explains what the event is, who it’s for, and why it’s worth attending – while making tickets easy to buy and information easy to find – it stops being a brochure and starts working as a real marketing asset.

Most event websites get some of this right, but rarely all of it. Small gaps in clarity, structure, or prioritization tend to compound, quietly limiting discoverability and attendance.

If you want a second set of eyes on your event website – whether that’s a focused review, help identifying what’s holding it back, or guidance on applying these best practices to your specific event – feel free to get in touch.