Harnessing Google’s powerful search algorithms can drive organic traffic to your website and put you in touch with thousands of potential attendees. But, how exactly do you get your event listed on Google?
Google Event Listing is the answer.
It’s all down to the eye-catching events listing that Google prioritises over other search results. So when people search for a conference, exhibition or trade show, they’ll see all the events that match that description in their area.
So how exactly do you take advantage of Google’s Event previews?
How to Promote your Event Using Google
What’s great about listing your event on Google is that you’re automatically added to other Google products. For example, your event will automatically appear on Google Maps.
So, at a stroke, you’ll amplify your marketing reach. And you can promote your event to more people through event calendars, Knowledge Panel listings, mobile searches and more.
These three options will make your events eligible to appear in Google Event Listing:
1. Edit your Website Code
If you have HTML editing skills, Google lets you use structured data for direct integration with its platform.
This involves editing the HTML of your event pages to include specific event data (such as date, time, venue and event description), which Google can then showcases as an event listing .
2. Use a Plugin
If you use a CMS such as WordPress or Shopify, check for a plugin that can add the structured data for you.
Or, you could use the Data Highlighter that lets you tell Google about your events without the need to edit your HTML.
3. List with Registered 3rd Party Event Platform
If you’re already using a third-party website to list events (such as Eventbrite, Meetup etc.), check that they participate in Google’s event search experience.
To check whether your third-party site integrates with Google, search for an event on the platform and see whether it shows up in search results. If it doesn’t, you could suggest the third-party site gets set up with Google structured data markup.
Best Practices for Getting your Events Featured
Even if you’ve implemented event markup using one of the methods above, you should review it to ensure it meets the guidelines. That means:
- Using the Google guidelines to ensure that event details are high quality. For example, the description field should include more details of the event rather than repeating information like location and date.
- Using the developer guidelines to ensure you include all recommended and required properties.
- Using the Rich Result Test as a tool to help you preview and test structured data to ensure it meets the guidelines.
Monitor your Search Performance
Search Console is an easy way to check whether people are interacting with your listings:
- First, get your Performance Report using the Search Console API to pull off the relevant results. This report details all the view data for your events postings in search results.
- Next, view the Rich result status report in Search Console. This data will help you understand how Google reads your results, helping you troubleshoot any errors.
Not Sure How to Showcase your Event on Google? We Can Help!
If you want to attract more visitors to your event, getting your event listed on the top page of results can make a huge difference. With Google Event Listings, you can achieve unprecedented levels of visibility for your event.
If you’re struggling to implement the required markup for this, please get in touch with Search Hog – we are professional SEO consultants that can help your event appear higher in the search rankings.
Check out our SEO guide for event marketing or more tips and advice!
