Websites for Event Organisers: Selling Tickets Online

On this page

1. One clear page for every event
2. Choosing how to sell tickets
3. Payments, ticket delivery and check-in
4. Schedules and venue information
5. Refunds, transfers and terms
6. Sponsors and partners
7. Staying fast when tickets go live
8. Before and after the event

Concerts, conferences, comedy nights, workshops, marathons and exhibitions all have one thing in common: people pay before they turn up. That gives an event organiser's website a different job from a portfolio. It must answer every question about the event, take payment smoothly and stay online when everyone tries to buy at once.

If you plan weddings and private events for clients, see websites for event and wedding planners. This guide is about public, ticketed events.

One clear page for every event

Each event deserves its own page with a permanent URL, not just a poster on the homepage. Include:

• Event name, date, start and end times, and when gates open
• Venue name and city, visible in the first screen
• Ticket tiers, prices including fees, and what each tier includes
• Line-up, speakers or performers, with short bios and photos you have permission to use
• Age limits, dress code and entry rules
• An FAQ section and a "Book tickets" button that stays within reach on mobile

Write the key details as real text rather than only inside images, so search engines and people using screen readers can read them. Event structured data can also help search engines understand the date, venue and ticket details.

Choosing how to sell tickets

Option	Good for	Watch out for
Third-party ticketing platform (link or embedded widget)	Big launches, quick setup, ready-made check-in tools	Platform fees, their branding, limited access to buyer data
Tickets sold on your own WordPress site (ticketing plugin or WooCommerce)	Recurring events, workshops and conferences where you want to own the customer relationship	You manage capacity, hosting, payments and check-in yourself
Hybrid	Your site for information and early-bird sales, a platform for peak demand	Keeping prices and availability consistent in both places

Whichever you choose, keep the event information on your own website. Those pages build search visibility and audience trust across every edition, while a platform listing disappears when the sale ends.

Payments, ticket delivery and check-in

• Offer UPI, cards and net banking through a reliable gateway; see choosing a payment gateway
• Show convenience fees and taxes before checkout, not as a surprise at the last step, and ask your CA how GST applies to your tickets
• Set a capacity limit for each tier so you never oversell
• Email tickets with a QR code or unique ID, and consider a WhatsApp or SMS confirmation as well
• Plan check-in: a scanning app or a list your gate staff can search on a phone
• Offer group, student or corporate bookings and early-bird prices with clear end dates

Test the full purchase on a phone, including a failed payment and the confirmation email, before you announce the sale.

Schedules and venue information

For multi-day festivals and conferences, publish the schedule by day, stage or track, and update it as sessions change. For online or hybrid events, show the time zone next to every time.

A good venue section answers the questions that otherwise flood your phone on event day:

• An embedded map, entry gates and parking
• The nearest metro, bus stop or cab drop-off point
• Access for wheelchair users and older visitors
• Bag policy, prohibited items, food and water, and re-entry rules
• Weather plans for open-air events

Refunds, transfers and terms

Unclear terms lead to angry messages and payment disputes. Spell out:

• Whether tickets can be refunded, transferred or changed, and until when
• What happens if the event is postponed, cancelled or the line-up changes
• How refunds are processed and roughly how long they take
• Entry conditions and when entry can be refused

Keep these consistent with any ticketing platform's own terms, link them from the checkout, and have a lawyer review them; see website terms and conditions.

Sponsors and partners

• Show sponsor logos by tier on event pages and on a dedicated sponsors page
• Add a "Become a sponsor" page with your audience profile, past editions and an enquiry form, so the site sells sponsorships as well as tickets
• Include exhibitor or stall booking details for expos and fairs
• Use only logos you have permission for, and audience figures you can back up

Staying fast when tickets go live

The moment a sale opens is when your website is most likely to struggle. Prepare well before:

• Cache event pages and serve images through a CDN so information pages stay quick
• Remember that cart and checkout pages can't be fully cached, so check your hosting can handle many buyers at once
• Remove heavy sliders, autoplay videos and unnecessary third-party scripts from ticket pages
• Announce the exact sale time, and don't make big website changes on launch day
• Keep a fallback ready, such as a short notice and a backup ticket link, in case something fails

Selling through your own store? See WooCommerce speed optimisation.

Before and after the event

• Collect "notify me" sign-ups before tickets open, so you can email fans the moment sales start
• Use focused landing pages for ads and social campaigns, one per event
• After the event, add a gallery, highlights video and recap, then point visitors to the next edition

Planning a ticketed event? I build fast event pages and WooCommerce ticketing setups that hold up on launch day; see landing page design and WooCommerce development.