Google and CVBs agree on the value of special events to improve exposure for your community.

Local events, programs and attraction schedules provide timely content with lots of opportunities to create links from media, social media and other websites. Even if you are not directly sponsoring a special event, you can provide free support by leveraging your website to increase its online exposure to complement its paid media.

There are three important digital marketing actions that will improve exposure to events in your community. Tips on how, follow below:
•    Use redirects from past year event pages
•    Create a specific page on your site for the event using Schema Structured Data
•    Blog about the event in addition to posting on your social media

Redirects from Past Year Event Pages
With recurring events and the specific webpages that you have already created, a key to improving the user experience and gaining higher SEO rank for your 2019 event is to put in place “permanent 301 redirects.” This redirect tool is available in your CMS, like WordPress.

A “permanent 301 redirect” is Google’s preferred method for this action. It seamlessly redirects traffic going to your prior year’s promotional pages to a new page you created for this year’s event while transferring SEO value to this new webpage.

Using a redirect ensures that media sites, influencers and others who have linked to your event page will continue to send potential visitors to this year’s event, even if they do not cover the current event.

Start by using a Google search technique that shows you which pages Google has indexed for your event. If Google has indexed it, this means that Google has chosen the page to display in a search result.

Use this search string in the Google search box   —   site: yoursite.com/eventpage

For example, the search string for the Poker Run, a successful annual event promoted by Lake Cumberland Tourist Commission is   —    site:lakecumberlandvacation.com/pokerrun

The results that display are the webpages that would be redirected when a new event page is available:
•    https://lakecumberlandvacation.com/2018-lake-cumberland-poker-run/

After you have made the redirect, open a new browser and type in the old URL to confirm that the redirect is active. It can take a minute or two.

 

Blog about your events
When blogging about an event, use an editorial calendar and keyword guide to help you develop the story. Avoid repeating the same information. Google, like your reader, will pass over reading the same story twice, so profile the featured performer, the venue, the weekend and always tie the story back to your hotels and lodging to leverage the event to put heads in beds.

Recap
For CVBs, DMOs and attractions, events are a mainstay for drawing visitors to your community.  So, with all the planning for the event itself, be sure to ensure that your website works hard to provide the best exposure.