If you're promoting an event, it's important to consider the role of search engines in your marketing efforts. For example, if you want people to find out about a big event on your website — like a tradeshow or a conference — it's helpful if people can quickly find that information when they're looking for it online. That means making sure your website is search-engine-friendly, which means spending some time optimizing its content so that it ranks well in search results. Here are some steps you can take to make sure this happens:
#1: Start with good keyword research
Before you do anything else, make sure you define your keyword research. You need to know what words people are searching for when they want to find information about the event or topic you’re talking about. Once you know that, it’s time to start planning how your event is going to address their needs.
A lot of people get hung up on what other people are doing and trying to compete with them. But tailoring your content specifically for the audience that cares about what you have to offer makes way more sense than trying (and failing) at competing with someone else’s audience base.
#2: Optimize your page titles and URL
- Page titles are the text that appears in the browser tab. They should be keyword-focused and short, but not too short to be meaningful.
- URLs are the text that appears in the browser address bar when you click on a link in an email or text message, or on your own website (you can see this by hovering over a link). Your URL should also be keyword focused and short, but also memorable so it sticks with people once they land on your site.
- It's important to ensure that both of these elements are unique as well – don't just copy/paste one title into all of your pages!
#3: Use <h1> tags for section headings
The next step is to use tags as section headings. Tags are the most important heading tag and should be used for your page's title and any other major sections on the page. The H1 tag can also be used for subheadings, but it's best to include an H2 for sub-headings (or even more appropriately, an H3 or H4.)
#4: Use search-friendly HTML markup throughout the page
Search engines such as Google can read the HTML markup on a webpage, and they use this information to understand what the page is about and how it should be ranked. For example, if you use HTML markup to bold text or italicize text in your content, search engines will know that these words are important and give them more weight when deciding how to rank the page.
Using appropriate HTML markup also allows people with disabilities (such as those who are visually impaired) to access your content more easily by allowing them to hear or see the text that helps convey meaning in place of complicated formatting instructions.
#5: Add a meta (search engine) description tag to describe your event's content
Meta description tags are a great way to communicate the most important information about your event. They're usually short, so it's best to pick out the most relevant keywords and phrases for your event and use them in a clear sentence that describes what attendees should expect.
A good rule of thumb is that if someone was just looking at buying tickets online without seeing any other information about your event would feel compelled enough based solely off of this text alone.
#6: Link to other pages on your website
Linking to other pages on your website will help with SEO and user experience. Let's go over how to do this in three easy steps:
- Add links to your event page, either within the content or directly below it. These can be links to other pages on your website, which will then bring users back on track if they navigate away from the page for some reason.
- Make sure these links are working! The worst thing that can happen is someone clicks on a link only to be disappointed when it doesn't work. That's not good for anyone—especially you, since it means less traffic and fewer conversions.
- To check whether or not your links are working, use a tool like Link Checker by Ahrefs or Screaming Frog SEO Spider, which will let you know if there are any broken URLs across your site (and give you advice on how best to fix them).
#7: Write friendly, natural content that uses your key phrases seamlessly and accurately
The best way to write friendly, natural content that uses your key phrases seamlessly and accurately is to focus on the topic at hand. Don’t worry about SEO too much while you’re writing—write for humans first and foremost, not search engines.
But don't overdo it either. You can still write keyword-heavy content if you do it naturally. But make sure all your copy includes relevant keywords in a natural way; don't stuff them into your content just because they're there or because someone else told you to use them!
Also, avoid creating content solely for SEO purposes—it might be tempting when building links back from other sites will help boost your rankings, but doing so will only hurt users' trust in what they read online by obscuring what's really important: quality information from trusted sources.
#8: Make sure your site is well-linked internally
Search engines love links. The more you can get, the better. A great way to increase your link count is by including internal links. This means linking from one page of your website to another page on your website, which tells search engines that those pages are related and should be indexed together.
Then link back to this post from other posts with similar content on your site (or even external sites if possible). That way when people search for terms like “how-to promote events” or “five ways to SEO” or whatever else you happen to have used as keywords, you'll show up in their search results.
#9: Consider using Google AdWords to bid on search terms related to your events
One of the most effective ways to get people searching for your events is through Google AdWords. As a paid search advertising service, AdWords allows you to bid on keywords related to your events and then drive traffic from those keywords straight to your website. It’s also used for promoting your events so that people who are searching online will see them in their searches.
Pay attention to SEO when you're promoting events
Did you know that search engine optimization (SEO) is an important part of marketing events? If not, it’s time to get up to speed with all the reasons why.
SEO makes your event more visible on search engines like Google and Bing so that people can find you when they’re looking for something related to your topic. For example, if someone searches “Seattle events” or “Seattle concerts” on Google, a page showing upcoming Seattle events should appear near the top of the results page. You want your event to be listed there so people will see it and attend!
These days most people find out about things through online searches rather than word-of-mouth or advertisements—and this includes things like concerts, festivals, and conferences. If an event isn't getting enough attention online then no one will learn about it unless they find out directly from organizers who are advertising their own work (which isn't always possible).
Let's get started!
The bottom line is that SEO for events can be a powerful tool for getting more people in the seats of your event. If you don't have the time or money to hire an SEO expert, there are plenty of free tools and guides online that can help you get started.
