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Many refuse to believe it, but your event registration form could be the difference between success and failure. Think about it. Every attendee that lands on your site has probably bought something online in the past. They’ve grown accustomed to smooth and straightforward routes to the checkout, and will expect the same from your registration process.
You’ll need something that appeals to the user, removing all barriers to their purchase of tickets, VIP access, sponsorship packages and other items. The questions should be simple and the loading quick. Otherwise be prepared for some ghastly rates of abandonment.
Five main qualities define a good event registration form, and they are:
Customisable fields
Every event is different, so you’ll want a form that gives you exactly what you need, rather than what the technology is capable of gathering.
Conferences often ask the attendee to reference their subjects of interest in order to tailor their email communications. If it’s an awards evening, they might ask if the attendee has any dietary requirements that could influence their choice of meal.
Put simply, if you have a customisable form, you also have the information you need to customise each attendee’s experience.
Whitelabel framework
Away from your text, you need to be able to put your own stamp on the design. Whitelabel solutions earn their stripes by putting the emphasis on their clients, rather than their technology.
Ideal for events that realise the importance of building a brand, their registration pages are fully customisable, right down to the colourway and theme. It creates a consistent user experience and one that gives greater assurance over the security of information.
Template options
Need a way of launching multiple editions of the same type of event? Then templates are the way forward.
Not so long ago, organisers would have to create a fresh event registration form whenever they had something to launch. Thanks to improvements in technology, we can now adapt an existing form to supply new information and take some of that work away. For events that happen every year, the template format is a no-brainer.
Reliability
Number four actually has less to do with the event registration form and more to do with the engine running it. Nevertheless, you should never underestimate the sheer damage inflicted by a faulty page.
We’ve seen events anticipate around 1,000 requests for tickets and end up with ten times that amount. It’s then a question of whether their website can handle thousands of clicks to the same page or if it will crack under the pressure.
Perhaps your form has issues with accepting certain information, or it takes too long to complete. Organisers should always go through the process themselves before handing it over to their attendees. The journey should be fast, smooth and void of any technical dramas.
Real-time reports
Regardless of which event registration form you use, it’s important to have a way of collecting data on how it’s performing.
You could have thousands of people heading to your website. But if you can see that they’re abandoning the process at the same point, you’ll know there’s something wrong with your pages.
Certain technologies go above and beyond to give you a complete overview of your performance. We find that one of the most important features is the ability to create real-time reports. This enables you to assess the impact of any changes you make to your form, without delay.
Still using spreadsheets to register your attendees? Read our blog, “Why Technology is the Key to Improved Event Registration”, and see where you might be going wrong.
