When we think of SEO, we normally think of it in terms of drawing traffic to a particular website. Anywhere that text appears, SEO can be included in that text in order to make the site come up higher on search engine searches. Sacramento website design company Peak Design say that a great website certainly takes you a long way, but then you need to make sure that people can actually find it.
Normally, successful SEO takes a while to realize. It needs to be employed consistently in order for the content being optimized to eventually be picked up by search engines. A great deal of research needs to go into the proper keywords to use as well, and it is also especially important to avoid keyword stuffing. All of this might make it seem rather strange then that SEO is also important for events, which are of course temporary things.
Nevertheless, it is not only possible, but it is important to optimize event marketing with SEO. Furthermore, SEO for events brings with it its own range of tips and tricks to really find success and make sure the event is well-attended, and by the right people.
SEO for Events
Of course, some companies are actually all about organizing events, and many websites for these companies are there simply to facilitate event marketing. In other words, events often have an online presence just like ecommerce sites and blogs – and SEO is therefore also vital for such sites.
However, when we talk about SEO for events, we need to make a distinction. It’s one thing optimizing an events organizer’s site for SEO (which follows many of the same rules as optimizing any other site for SEO) and SEO-optimizing the event itself. In the latter case, the problem posed by the fact that online “events” are only online until the event has passed needs to be taken into account.
As it happens, search engines are today advanced enough that they have specific SEO rules and features specifically for events. It is possible for the search engine to know that it is returning searches for an event.
Specifically, the search engine features geared towards events are known as the events carousel and the events pack. These are both features of Google specifically, but what are they?
The Events Pack
When Google recognizes that a user is searching for events, it will display three or four results above the typical organic results in what is known as “position zero”. Events which come up in position zero (the events pack) have an even higher click-through rate than those results that appear the highest organically.
As you might have guessed, the goal here is to get your events in Google’s events pack. There is a specific mark-up which Google recommends for events, which you can use to have a chance of your events appearing in the events pack. You should consult this.
The Events Carousal
This is another Google result return which sits above the highest organic results, and features 16 results in panels, all linked by a unifying factor such as “events in New York”. You want your events to appear here too, and there is a page mark-up to follow in order to achieve this.
Beyond these specific search engine features that you should aim to exploit, good event SEO is all about continuing to follow the usual tips and optimizing all your event information to appear as high as possible on search engine results. Combine both tactics, and your events have an incredibly good chance of being seen by as many relevant internet users as possible.