When it comes to planning an event, driving attendance is often the most difficult part. If only you could show your members all the cool things you have planned!
But alas, they won’t see it until they decide to attend. Did you know that the way your online event registration form and page are set up can actually play a large part in whether a person ultimately registers or not? Use our checklist to ensure that yours are always set up for success:
1. Make your online event registration form match the look and feel of your website. A consistent look helps registrants recognize that they’re in the right place and feel comfortable with the process. Plus, it looks more professional.
2. Have a clearly visible (and friendly!) cancellation and refund policy. People will feel more comfortable registering knowing that there’s some kind of policy in place if something comes up- and something, inevitably, WILL come up for someone!
3. List a name and phone number or email address of a real person registrants can contact if they have questions. Most people won’t reach out, but it’s good to give them the option.
4. Do your best to keep text at a minimum. If you feel the need to provide a lot of instructions, your form is probably too complicated. By the time people hit your form they are ready to sign up so keep it easy and get to the point.
5. Don’t offer too many registration options. If people have to spend time thinking about what to select they may decide to come back later…or never.
6. Similarly, only ask for details that you REALLY need. Registrants may abandon the form if you are asking for personal information they don’t want to give out – and, every field you remove makes the form that much easier to complete.
7. Your event registration page should be advertising-free. After all, the goal is to sell your event, not something else! Ads are distracting anyway, and will muddle up the clean look you’re going for.
8. As best as you can, keep links that lead people away from your form to a minimum. Once you get someone to your form, you want to keep them focused on completing it! If you do feel you absolutely HAVE to include a link somewhere, at least be sure to set it to open a new window or tab.
9. Test your form in different browsers, especially if your members are known to use outdated browsers. (What looks good or works in one may not in another.)
10. Get the least computer savvy person you know, or at least someone who hasn’t seen the form before, to try to register while you watch. You might be surprised by what stops or confuses them.
As important as it is, though, your online event registration form and page setup is only the first of many steps to planning an amazing event! If you’re looking for some extra guidance, we can help: download our complete guide to event planning for more tips, tricks, and best practices.
And, for event planning tips, tricks, trends, and insights sent straight to your inbox every Wednesday, subscribe to the ePly blog – our online event management solution!
