How To Turn Fleeting Moments Into Timeless SEO Treasures

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

If you are a local business or non-profit agency that frequently sponsors events and you promote those on events on your website, what do you do with the web pages after the event has past? Do you take them down so that they are no longer publicly visible, leaving in the wake a 404 page or a dead end for search traffic? Or do you revise those pages to make good use of them after the event so that future searchers can benefit and increase your influence?

If you answered B then you get a passing grade. If your approach is to take the page down and not replace it with anything then you need to get back to the drawing board. You are losing money and influence in a big way.

Let’s say you planned the Local Charity Ball this year and you put up a page on your website to promote the event to your customers, local residents, and out-of-town visitors interested in the event. The day comes, the event is over, but you still have your web page. No one is interested in that event now, right? Not so fast. If it’s an annual event or you are an active community participant and plan other events for your local area, that page could be very important even after the day is over.

Our recommendation is to keep the page up, but to transform it into an after-the-event informational and showcasing page. Have someone take photos or videos of the charity ball as it is going on and upload those to that page to show future searchers what they missed. Include on that page some information about what happened at the event, who was present, how it was significant to your community, and give future searchers an experience that will have them coming back to your site to see what other community involvement you take on. Just because the event is history, doesn’t mean your web pages have to be.