Event Search Optimization

Using SEO strategies in event search can help attract attendees and increase PR, especially for recurring events. A good example to consider are music festivals, where unlike concerts, people are typically searching based on location rather than artists.

A first step would be to identify target keywords based on the location of the music festival, especially long-tail keywords, which do convert better. For the example (Newport Folk Festival), this could look like “live music in new england 2025”.

Search Marketing for Events

Most events don’t invest in content marketing to the extent of producing content on a blog or videos for YouTube SEO, but this strategy could be vastly helpful and profitable. Videos of performers at music festivals often go viral, but it can be difficult to tell which festival to book tickets to for those who see the video and want to be a part of the experience, unless it’s a highly popular event such as Coachella.

User-generated content could boost social proof and word-of-mouth PR. This could look like the Newport Folk Festival asking to use and repost attendees’ videos, or collaborating with the artist lineup ahead of time to promote the event on their social media. If there’s one thing festival-goers love to have as a part of their concert experience, it’s posting about the event, so there’s no shortage of user-generated content either on Instagram or short form video platforms (TikTok, Youtube shorts, Reels). Promoting a brand hashtag for the event could help keep track of the content to use in marketing for subsequent years, and knowing what people are saying about it could help fine-tune SEO keywords.

As discussed in class, building quality backlinks is a surefire way to amplify whatever content is being produced to promote the event. Newport Folk Festival should collaborate with other music events and event-focused websites to get backlinks and coverage.