Friday Finds: Registration Maximizing Event Website Design Trends

With the new year coming up, it’s time to take a look at event website design trends in 2020 that could help maximize registrations. Keep an eye out for these highly effective website design elements in the coming year, and add a few of these to your own event webpages to drive ticket sales.

How to Design an Event Website with 10 Trends That Increase Conversion Rates

Who doesn’t want to increase ticket sales? Use these event website design trends to sell out your next gathering. 

1. Bright Statement Colors 

Supersaturation makes a bold statement. Daring shades of teal, electric purple, and even yellow are making it onto event website designs in the next year because they visually pack a punch. 

And as more and more technology adopts IPS displays (the new and improved LED screens that make it easy to view a wider range of hues and more image angles), we can expect to see this become the norm for most other websites too. 

If you want to apply some powerful color theory that will maximize your event registrations, make sure you consider using bright colors if your target audience is men or soft tones if your target audience is women. 

But if you’re trying to appeal to a wider crowd than that, go ahead and use blues, reds, oranges, purples, greens, and grays, all of which are considered to be among the best colors for websites. 

2. 3D Artwork 

Flat illustrations and designs are so 2019. Next year we’ll be seeing way more playful imagery that pops off the screen thanks to the inclusion of 3D elements on event websites. Whether it’s to provide entertainment, help users view products better, or simply give the users a better site experience overall, 3D artwork is a trend worth taking a second look at. 

In fact, a lot of big name brands have already adopted this graphic design trend for their own websites. And it’s fairly well known that graphic design has large impact on marketing strategy, especially for events who use their websites for registrations and ticket sales. 

Just make sure the 3D artwork you choose to include specifically helps to showcase your brand influence, improve the customer journey, and/or keep the visitor on your site for longer than normal (a key factor in conversion rates). 

3. Video Content 

Vlogs are still going strong thanks in part to the fact that video is the most popular and most engaging marketing content type out there today. In addition to being fantastic for your SEO, video content can be used to provide value to event website visitors in so many different ways. From providing ticket package details to showing highlights from last year’s event to sharing exclusive tips from event speakers, video content is a versatile must have for your event website design next year. 

To get the most bang for your buck, make sure you use the following tips in your web design: 

• Focus on one topic per video. 
• Provide exclusive content they won’t see anywhere else online. 
• Include a video on your homepage (just don’t let it autoplay). 
• Place related CTA buttons directly centered and directly under the video player.

4. Maximized Simplification 

Here’s a trend for web design in 2020 that should bring relief to all of our eyeballs moving forward. That means simpler interfaces, crisper site layouts, fewer navigation or button options, and an overall more streamlined customer journey. Think of it like making your sales funnel tighter, more direct, and far more influential through what you choose to include (or leave out) from your event website design. 

And when you have a clear action funnel in place, you’re almost guaranteed to see higher conversion rates. To pull this off you’ll need to have a firm understanding of your single greatest event value proposition, since this information will determine what does and does not get featured in the final site design. 

5. Broken Grids 

Asymmetry is hot in the web design world next year. And for good reason. The broken grid feature creates a website layout that really packs a punch. Besides being really memorable, this type of site organization elevates an otherwise plain page and infuses it with interest, class, and playfulness. So broken grids aren’t just about looking cool, they’ll also highly functional (when done well). 

To make your broken grid web design look purposeful, you’ll need to take a couple other elements into account. First is typography. The text font, size, and placement can be used to direct attention and punch up your branding. If you’d like to call more attention to the brokenness of your grid, align vertical text with the column seems to add some drama. 

Then there’s layering. What you choose to send back or bring forward will have an impact on flow so be sure to play around with this one until you get the right user journey experience. Typically you want your event name and short details to always lead the way, followed by more in depth information and any imagery you may want to include. Fillers like shapes and frames can hang out in back, adding depth to the overall image. 

6. Voice Assist SEO

Robots haven’t taken over yet (although there’s still plenty of time) so we think it’s safe to say that you’ll be using your device assistants more and more in 2020. At least that’s what website trend experts are projecting for next year. VUI (voice user interface) helps people search for stuff online. You’re already familiar with Siri and Alexa; two ladies who will be key for SEO and event discoverability in 2020. 

Overall, voice assisted website compatibility is important if your goal is to create faster, frictionless experiences, a user-friendly must have if you want to improve your conversion rates. So make sure that you also allow site visitors to use voice assist on your actual site as well. Widgets, premade codes, and some event website builders will make these features easy to add so make sure to use these tools when creating your registration page. 

7. Motion UI 

Motion UI is another fun visual trick to get your potential attendees more engaged on your website. Virtually everyone’s attention spans have been lowered thanks to the accessibility of high speed wifi and other lightning fast internet tools. And in order to adapt your event website to this reality, you’ll want to keep visitors on your site longer with animations that react to site their actions. 

If you choose to include motion UI to show off your product, provide helpful event maps or information, or even just pump up a particularly important segment, make sure you maximize your page load speed so visitors don’t have to wait around to see the special effects. 

We recommend you consider adding this web development trend to your website if you have any interest in the following: 

• Enhancing event stories 
• Regaining visitor attention as they scroll
• Sparking joy through this magical element
• Creating additional engagement opportunities without taking focus away from your registration and ticket sales goals

8. Replacing Contact Forms with AI-Powered Chatbots

Let’s be real for a second: when is the last time you actually used a contact form? Although its still considered a standard edition for business and sales websites, it’s 2020 which means it’s time to embrace the future of web design. That means goodbye contact forms and hello chatbots! 

Chatbots are pretty standard on ecommerce sites nowadays and for good reason. They’re proven to streamline customer inquiries and even increase sales. To get the most out of them, you’ll have to integrate both close and open conversation scripts into whatever chatbot system you use. Other than that, they’ll virtually run themselves. 

And the best part is they’re pretty affordable, even if you do splurge for one with all the bells and whistles. 

9. Typography Centric Layouts 

Typography has made an appearance on this list already but it really deserves its own bullet point because it is both pure eye candy and extremely practical. If you’re truly stuck on how to design your event registration website, consider using typography and building it out from there. 

This 2019 web design trend is still going strong as we look towards the new year because it’s easy to use and fun to experiment with. It also helps web designers take otherwise mundane event details and spice them up for both visual appeal and impact. And, as with most fantastic design elements, it can help increase the amount of time people spend on your website which will, of course, lead to greater emotional investment and therefore ticket sales. 

In fact if you don’t include cutting edge design elements on your website, experts say you actually risk destroying your conversion rate altogether! 

10. Entertaining Microinteractions

Microinteractions are those little magical moments when things come to life on the page or offer an unexpected experience for users. Although they’re hyper short, microinteractions are great for getting your audience excited to your event and fleshing out your brand even further. Ecommerce sites swear by them and even Shopify endorses the strategy. 

Here are some delightful microinteractions you can sprinkle into any event website design: 

• Create sparkle, drip, or pop out effects that make the whole page come alive
• Transform one image into another as users scroll
• Add mini games that entertain, educate, or reward visitors 
• Make floating objects appear over images
• Have interactive graphics wipe away or create descriptions
• Provide pop ups that hover above the page and make clear calls to action

Suggestions for Event Web Design Tech 

If you’re wondering what tools you can use to create a beautiful and action-inspiring event registration website then be sure to check out Cvent’s Flex. The highly intuitive and easy to use platform lets you create stunning websites that are responsive, give you flexible design options, and help maximize registrations. 

For more on driving event ticket sales, check out our secrets for event planning websites ebook plus six more things you need to know about event planning websites before you go live.