UX for Event Profs: The Beginner’s Guide

A website’s UX, or User Experience, is make or break for your event company. If a website isn’t easy to use and understand, then most visitors will leave the page (and might not come back). Lots of event professionals make UX mistakes and don’t even know it. Keep your website— and business— running smoothly with a smooth UX strategy. Kristy Glassick, UX expert and founder of GlassickUX, lays out the basics to UX for event profs below.

What is UX? How does UX Affect my Event Business?

UX is defined as the “overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.”

At its core, UX strategy is all about designing products with the user in mind. When an individual uses a product– whether it’s physical or digital – it should be easy (and enjoyable) to use. Before UX was at the forefront of design, website users often had to deal with clunky, frustrating websites. These sites hadn’t been designed for easy use. Now, it’s a different story. If your website isn’t easy to use, a web visitor no longer has to suck it up and deal with it.

How To Build the Best Event Business Website

Instead, they’ll go visit your competitors’ sites. And that’s something you definitely don’t want.

Most potential clients will visit your event website before becoming paying customers. For lots of them, your website will be their first impression of your event company. This is why you need to put your best foot forward. You portray yourself as a polished event professional in person, so the same should go for your website! Your website is an opportunity to show them who you are and what your business stands for.

Investing in UX for event profs is a good idea because:

  • There’s a low barrier to entry.
  • You’ll see a high return on investment.
  • There are always opportunities for improvement.
  • It’s accessible to everyone.

Let’s get started!

The 4 Guiding Principles of UX

1. Design for the user, not for yourself

You and your event team may have internal language you use in regards to your inventory. You may think a certain website layout “just makes sense.” However, you need to make sure that your decisions are centered around what will make sense to the user.

2. Be consistent throughout

When you’re consistent with colors, design, and layout on your website, the user knows what to expect. This builds trust and makes your website much easier to navigate and use.

3. Be as clear as possible

Don’t make the user guess what something means! You don’t want someone to hesitate clicking a button or submitting a form. While creative language can have a place on your website, it should not be used for any functional elements. These functional elements include labels, CTAs, buttons, and navigation menus.

4. Keep it simple

Because most visitors to your website will only skim it, you want to make sure your website is easy on the eyes. Less is more! Having too much going on can cause people to get overwhelmed. Keep your website clean, without long paragraphs or tons of flashy imagery.

We’ve also created an easy-to-follow infographic for 6 actionable steps you can take today to improve your website’s UX:

6 ways to improve my website's UX infographic

UX for Event Profs Made Easy

When someone comes to your website, you want them to breathe a sigh of relief and think, “Now THIS is what I’ve been looking for.” With a better understanding of UX, you can revamp your business and website strategy to bring in new customers and grow your event company.

Now that you have a beautiful, easy-to-navigate site, it’s time to make sure you’re getting traffic! Want to brush up on your SEO knowledge? Check out our complete starter guide to SEO for event profs now.