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Should you opt for a minimal event registration form that captures only name and email, or dive deep to collect valuable attendee insights?
This dilemma of quantity vs. simplicity is as old as event planning itself.
You’re worried about your event registration forms scaring off potential attendees but want to capture all essential information. We’ve all been there.
Instead of spinning our wheels, we asked registration expert Leanne Velky to share the magic formula.
Turns out, the answer lies in strategic intentionality. And it’s WAY simpler than you’d think.
In this blog, you’ll learn best practices that actually work plus a few cardinal sins you must avoid at all costs for optimal event registration form design.
If you’re not going to use the information, don’t ask for it. We all like to ask about best practices and industry standards and often resort to adopting the same.
But, your event is unique to you and your audience.
No amount of best practices will guarantee success if you don’t weave your purpose in every aspect of your event.
Start with your event registration form. Each question on the form should serve a clear objective.
Some valid goals tied to each question include:
When you start thinking about each question as an enabler to a smaller goal, you’ll finally justify the presence of each form field. This approach respects both the attendee’s time and the event’s strategic goals.
You thought about the purpose of your questions, but you’re still worried about overwhelming your registrants.
You are not alone. After all, information capture shouldn’t come at the expense of user experience.
How many questions are too many? While some advocate for minimal two-field forms, the ideal number of questions depends entirely on the event’s purpose.
Event technology companies have purposely built their software to offer capabilities beyond capturing basic information because event organizers need them. If you’re hosting a webinar, just name and email will suffice.
For complex events like trade shows or conferences, more detailed information can improve the attendee experience. Having the right amount of questions is just one piece of the puzzle. If you don’t present them correctly you’re still at risk of losing people before they finish the form.
As you plan your form put yourself in the attendees’ shoes. Imagine their journey as they fill it out. If you have a registration page stacked with 30 questions, it is an overwhelming number.
On the other hand, asking one question per page is unnecessary. Imagine yourself constantly clicking ‘next’ on the screen after answering each question. It is extremely draining (take it from someone who has filled these kinds of forms – not exactly the best use of my time).
So, how do you find that sweet spot?
The key is not just quantity, but quality and thoughtfulness.
While there’s no universal magic number, Velky suggests keeping registration forms under 25 questions.
People have filled your form and you have accumulated a ton of data. That’s great progress. Use that information to make the attendee journey better.
Registration isn’t just about collecting data—it’s about understanding attendee expectations and delivering a program designed around those needs.
At vFairs, we host a user conference called DiscoverNext. This year’s event was in-person. We decided to adopt a strategic approach when capturing registration.
This simple question allowed us to shape our conference agenda based on their expectation. We were able to:
So how can you do the same for your event?
Leanne has three quick tips for this:
Here are a few more ideas you can implement at each stage of the registration process (before, during and after):
How will your form render on different devices?
Typically, you will have web and mobile versions of the website. Think about the layout and how it’ll look on both.
Velky feels a side-by-side layout with questions and input fields works well for the web. However, due to limited space, on the mobile, you would have a stacked layout.
Your event registration form must be easy to fill on mobile and desktop without disrupting user experience. Consider page length and scrolling experience across devices.
Aim for 5-15 fields per page to avoid overwhelming users and strike a balance.
These ‘invisible’ yet essential enhancements work silently in the background, reducing friction, building trust, and ultimately converting interested prospects into confirmed attendees.
Nothing frustrates registrants more than mandatory questions that don’t apply to them or they don’t want to answer.
In both cases, if they are required to answer, chances are they’ll give inaccurate information skewing your data.
No one benefits from it and you risk ruining user experience. Always give the option to skip questions.
Communication is the number one priority. Make sure to bake it into the registration process.
Keep the attendees informed and provide clear information on the registration website. They must know what they are signing up for and what they can expect from the event.
Provide comprehensive event information upfront. Put the date, location, and time at the top of the website. It must be the first thing visitors see when they open the registration website.
The last thing you want is for your registrants to misunderstand when the event is happening, what it has to offer and how much will it cost. Work with your marketing or events team to deliver this message.
Get people who are not involved in the process to review the website copy and ask for feedback. You want to make sure the messaging is clear and you are not implying something you don’t intend to.
People who attended an event once may come back the next year. But every year do they need to fill out the registration form?
What if they didn’t need to? Once they reach the registration page, they get a form with pre-filled fields based on past information. They can modify whatever is necessary. They’ll be in and out in no time.
A small enabler like this adds personalization and efficiency to the process. You can make it happen only if you use the same registration software for recurring events.
Velky highlights the importance of thinking about the attendee experience when choosing an event registration software especially when you’re thinking about switching vendors.
Are you thinking about repeat attendees and how that’ll disrupt the experience the second or third year they come back to register?
Registration forms are often 2-3 pages long. Registrants may start a form but get pulled into something more urgent.
Don’t make them come back and refill information. Give them to option to save the form if it’s incomplete and come back to it later.
They’ll save time and you’ll increase your chances of conversion instead of frustrating a potential attendee.
It may seem like an obvious question, but many organizers don’t ask people about dietary restrictions. If you have food at your event, choose a menu that provides alternatives.
If you have a fixed menu, make sure you have placards with core ingredients and allergy information. This would minimize health hazards and give your guests a chance to enjoy the food you’re serving without worrying about what’s inside.
Are you making an intentional effort to host an inclusive event?
Then, make your attendees feel valued and seen.
Capture information to understand the diverse backgrounds of your attendees. Ask yourself if your event program is culturally appropriate. If you are expecting to see various ethnicities at the event, make sure the content and speakers are from the relevant communities.
Similarly, ask them if they require accommodations at the event to make sure people with disabilities can attend easily. Your onsite venue must be inclusive of people with disabilities (think: ramps for wheelchairs and accessible toilets).
If you are using tech, your event software should be compatible with accessibility needs like color contrast, closed captioning, and more.
Sometimes you need to log into an event registration portal multiple times to provide additional information after you have registered for the event.
As a user, it is not ideal.
An exhibitor who has registered for an event needs to log in to provide information about their sales reps or book meetings.
Many events match exhibitors with potential prospects based on their preferences. The booking opens a few weeks before the event. This adds multiple steps in the process for them before the event.
Ideally, they should be able to get this all done when they register but in most cases, attendees are now registering in the last month of the event while exhibitors sign up a few months prior.
Both Velky and Younas admit that minimizing follow-up information gathering and log-ins is tough but something worth thinking about.
Be mindful about what someone registered for the event. While you can’t accommodate everyone’s requests, do consider common patterns you’ve picked up about their interest in the event.
Suppose your attendees tell you they want to network at the event. This is your cue to build conducive environments that are quieter allowing people to talk to each other.
Reduce the number of sessions during the event or offer a dedicated time for networking. Consider doing a pre-event meet and greet to offer a dedicated networking experience.
Here’s an infographic to give you a quick summary of all best practices for designing the optimal event registration experience:
The tips shared above cover do’s and don’ts but we’ll very quickly recap some of the biggest mistakes you must avoid:
No conversation is complete without talking about AI and its potential use cases. Is there space for AI to improve the event registration experience or process?
Velky acknowledges the speed and intensity at which AI is being used.
One way she is using ChatGPT is to format agendas by giving specific instructions. It saves her time ensuring the formatting is just the way needs it to be without spending too much time fixing it on Excel.
However, she believes AI isn’t capable of fully automating complex registration site creation.
There’s a lot of back and forth while building a registration site. You’re diving into the event itself, understanding the attendees and the experience you want to build.
The human element required to understand audience nuances remains irreplaceable but you can improve productivity and automate some repetitive tasks with AI tools.
Remember, a great registration form doesn’t just get people in the door—it builds excitement for the journey ahead. Craft it with care, empathy, and strategic thinking. Trust me, you’ll be off to a great start.
Don’t treat your event registration as an afterthought. Be intentional with the questions you ask to reduce friction in the attendee experience and increase your chances of conversions.
Use the information you capture to build an engaging post-registration journey for them. Make sure you’re bringing your attendees along for the ride.
Keep their excitement levels high by sending them follow-up emails with updates and reminders about the event.
Make it extremely easy for them to announce they are attending the event on social media platforms. Share a link or send a media kit. This will get them talking about your event with their network, increasing event reach and registration count.
Each small optimization – from an intuitive form field to a progress-saving feature– compounds to create a registration experience that attendees actually enjoy completing.
Want to go a little deeper into how to create a registration form step-by-step? Read this guide.
Sarah Shaukat
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