Event Websites Reimagined: 7 Reasons to Build Your Event Website in Webflow in 2024

Introduction

Website builders can often be a hassle to work with. The learning curve can be high, pricing might end up being more expensive than expected, and, oftentimes, they don’t meet your expectations. If you've ever used WordPress with Elementor, you know how much of a pain in the rear these tools can be. On the other hand, Wix or Squarespace might just miss a feature or two that you need to truly make your website stand out. Framer can be a great tool to use, but it's often best suited for smaller projects and websites. So, where do you go from here? How do you plan ahead and ensure that your event website is impeccable in 2024? The short answer is: Choose Webflow. You get what is marketed – the designer is intuitive, and the content editor and CMS editor even more so. For a bit of a longer answer, let’s dive into this article and explore five reasons to build your event website in Webflow in 2024.

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1. Intuitive Designer, Content Editor & CMS System

Webflow allows you to build your event website like never before. In fact, Webflow was built to make your and your team's lives a lot easier. As I stated in my previous post, your website should be an asset, moreover a marketing asset and not an engineering nightmare. In today's day and age, there is no reason for you to build an event website by coding it from scratch with tools like Next.js, etc. Let’s use React & other libraries to build complex web apps and use no-code builders to build stunning marketing websites that primarily serve our mission and vision. Webflow steps in as the number 1 no-code tool in which you can develop large and complex websites with insanely quick turn-around times.

If you’ve had any experience in HTML, CSS & JS, Webflow’s designer will be extremely intuitive to you. If not, however, Webflow provides you with a plethora of fully free resources where you can learn everything about Webflow in less than 7 days. That’s right, in 7 days you can get your website up and running, conduct testing, and see what works best for you. Unless you are Tony Stark, you probably won’t become an expert in web design in 7 days, however, you will understand basic concepts about web design & Webflow. After your event website is built, you can easily update pieces of content through an even more intuitive content editor.

After you publish, the changes will be reflected instantly on the live link. Continuing with the vast benefits of Webflow, your content management no longer needs to be a hassle to manage and maintain. Building complex databases to host data about speakers for your event website is now a thing of the past. All important content about your speakers, guests, sponsors can be easily managed through Webflow CMS, and the setup won’t take longer than 20 minutes. Webflow CMS allows you to easily organize and showcase your events, allowing visitors to navigate through schedules, speakers, and activities seamlessly.

2. Webflow websites are quick & SEO Friendly

You have about 2 seconds to captivate your visitors before they bounce off of your website. That’s right, 2 seconds. This is why loading speed of your website needs to be under 2 seconds, which is not that easily achieved. Main things that cause loading speed problems on your event website are these:

• Large image Files: High-resolution images when not optimized properly can significantly slow down a website. Compressing images to webp format (Webflow offers this natively) drastically helps in alleviating this issue.
• Excessive HTTP Requests: Each element on a webpage, like images, stylesheets, and scripts, requires a separate HTTP request. The more requests, the longer the load time. Minimizing these requests can improve speed.
• Unoptimized Code: When developers are writing code for an event website, usually they will leave a lot of things unoptimized, especially if they are inexperienced. Webflow, on the other hand, writes clean code in the background as you are developing your website visually.
• Too Many Plugins or Add-ons: Compared to WordPress, Webflow doesn’t have plugins at all. Instead, you have apps if you really need to extend some native functionalities, and you probably won’t ever need more than 2 of these apps at a time. This dramatically helps in reducing load times.
• Server Issues: The server hosting the website plays a crucial role. Slow servers are a thing of the past with Webflow.

Here is a small guide on how to quickly optimize your Webflow website: In publishing, make sure that: Minify HTML, CSS & JS are all enabled. In the assets panel, navigate to images, then select all images and click “compress”. This will automatically compress all of your images and convert them into Google-friendly .webp format. In the interactions panel click on “clean up” in the top right corner. This way you can easily clean up all of your unused interactions, reducing your CSS file size. In the Style Selector tab click on the broom icon. You will be prompted with all the unused CSS styles. (You might be surprised how many there are.) Clean them all up.

Ensure your script tags are using async and defer. If you have animations that start on page load, make sure they are only triggered after the page is fully loaded. You can do this in the interactions tab as well. This small guide will help you to instantly see results in performance optimization, however for a more detailed guide make sure you run a lighthouse report on your website which will provide you with a more detailed guide on optimizing your event website performance. Webflow-built event websites stand out in the digital landscape due to their inherent SEO friendliness.

The platform seamlessly integrates essential SEO elements, offering creators a user-friendly experience while ensuring maximum visibility for their content. Meta description & title tags are easily customizable within the page settings which gives you a lot more control over your website SEO performance. Webflow prioritizes the key factors search engines consider for ranking. In essence, Webflow not only provides a canvas for stunning design but also a robust foundation for an event website that effortlessly climbs the ranks in search engine results.

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3. Collaboration is Easier Than Ever Before

Let's be honest; chances are, your page won't be solely managed by you. You'll likely have a team collaborating on it. Perhaps, you'll need two content editors and a designer to handle the design elements on the page if you have one on your team. In any of these scenarios, Webflow comes to the rescue, making your life easier. Simply navigate to the "Team" tab in the settings panel. From there, inviting guests to your workspace becomes a seamless process. These invited team members can effortlessly contribute to content and design changes, ensuring your website remains dynamic and operational around the clock.

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4. No code? No Problem! 

Not a coding expert? No problem at all! Webflow has your back with its fantastic no-code approach, making the process of creating a stunning event website a breeze for everyone, whether you're tech-savvy or not. Forget about the intimidating world of coding complexities. With Webflow, you step into a user-friendly space where creativity flows without the need for intricate code knowledge. It's like having your personal website-building superhero handling the technical stuff, leaving you free to focus on bringing your event vision to life. Whether you're a coding pro or a complete novice, Webflow's no-code feature ensures that building your dream event website is a smooth and enjoyable ride.

Why should you choose Webflow over any other code or no-code tool? It simply saves you time and money. You might achieve some obvious cost savings by using JSON files to manage data and deploying websites on Vercel, but consider this: your developers invest time in building your event website. Consider their hourly rate. Calculate the hours it takes to build and deploy such a website. Multiply that time by their hourly rate. This is the cost of building a website by coding it from scratch.

You might argue, "But they are volunteering on this project, so technically I can get my event website up and running fully for free." Well, even if you have volunteers working on this project, the fact remains that they will prioritize their paying jobs over a passion project they're working on in their free time. Naturally, they won't be as invested in your project on the same level as you. Let your volunteers focus on more impactful tasks in your organization, and leave the technicalities to Webflow.

And let’s say that they are fully invested in the project, and they are willing to work completely for free, it still takes their time to build this website for you, which otherwise they could be spending on paid freelance projects.

While Webflow is marketed as a "no-code" tool, and it certainly can be, once you start building projects, there is usually some small level of coding involved to get things just right. And that's completely fine; it's still much easier than coding the website entirely from scratch.

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5. Plethora of Integrations 

I’m not gonna beat around the bush and I will get straight to the point. Although Webflow doesn’t have plugins you can still have third-party integrations on your website. You can integrate these through the Webflow app marketplace, Webflow custom code embeds, or Zapier. With Zapier, you can manage your attendees in something like Hubspot CRM, for example. You can track your conversion rates as well. To better understand your traffic and what they are doing on your event website, you can use Google Analytics.

Optimizing your website for search engines is easier than ever before because of Semflow. Also, you will probably be selling tickets to your event. This point of sale should definitely occur directly on your website. You can easily sell tickets through third-party apps like Ticket Tailor, WeTicket, etc. See what works best for you. If you would like to chat with your audience as they are browsing through your event website live, you can do that as well by embedding Hubspot chatbot. The list of helpful integrations goes on and on; you are hardly limited by anything in Webflow.

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6. Budget-Friendly Brilliance

Webflow is extremely budget-friendly considering the possibilities and nearly unlimited opportunities this platform offers. Pricing is very transparent and it’s available at: Webflow Pricing. I myself am using their freelancer workspace plan as well as CMS plan for this very website, and so far it has served me better than anything else I’ve ever used.

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7. The Webflow Wow Factor

What sets Webflow apart? The "Webflow Wow Factor" is the game-changer that propels it to the top choice for event websites in 2024. Webflow empowers you to construct an immersive digital space that elicits a resounding "Wow!" from all who experience it. Consider the ease of building animations in Figma; Webflow mirrors that simplicity. Ever marveled at those exquisitely designed websites with intricate 3D elements that seem to move seamlessly as you navigate? Achieving such sophistication is a breeze with Webflow's native spline integration. Spline, a tool facilitating the creation of stunning 3D scenes, seamlessly integrates with Webflow through a simple spline scene link. Imagine the lasting impression this "wow effect" can have on your visitors. It's not just about being flashy; the Webflow Wow Factor is your key to standing out from competitors like never before.

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FAQs

These are some of the most common questions I get asked from my existing customer base. Feel free to read through and I might answer some questions that you have.

1. Can I customize my event website without learning to code?

Absolutely! Webflow's no-code approach lets you customize your website with ease, turning your vision into reality.

2. Will my event website look good on mobile devices?

Yes, indeed! Webflow ensures your website looks fantastic on every device, providing a seamless experience for all attendees.

3. How does Webflow help with SEO for my event?

Webflow has built-in SEO tools that guide you in optimizing your content, making your event website more discoverable.

4. Are there any hidden costs with using Webflow for my event website?

Fear not! Webflow offers budget-friendly plans, and you can explore the costs upfront, ensuring no surprises down the road.

5. Can I connect my event website with other tools I use for event management?

Absolutely! Webflow's integrations make it a breeze to connect with other tools, streamlining your event management process.

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Ready to elevate your event with a dazzling website? Feeling like I haven’t answered some of your questions regarding building event websites in Webflow? Feel free to shoot me an email at: business@zlatkomarjanovic.com. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.