When your event listings are clear, attractive, and easy to find, more people will read them. When more people read them, more people will come. Here are five simple things you can do to improve your listings and attendance.

Submit early

Make sure your event is submitted as far in advance as possible -target 3-5 weeks in advance, and a minimum of 72 hours.

Make sure it’s complete.

Don’t skip important fields, especially date, time, and place! Do not rely on posting logistics in a flyer, or on another site, like a Facebook event page. And selecting the event type will make your event easier for people to find.

Choose a good photo

Good event photos are simple, with a clear, close crop. A person’s face or headshot works well, a scan of an event flyer does not. Read more about photos in the event calendar.

Write a short, clear title

Keep in mind that many people will be looking at your event on a small screen, and the title will likely be cut off. Make sure to front-load the important stuff and leave out filler words. In feeds and on event listing pages, titles will be truncated, so instead of “USC John Smith Center for Research presents Jane Doe addressing points of interest in Current American Politics in a lunchtime discussion” try “Brown Bag Lecture: Jane Doe on Politics”

Keep your description short

Keep your descriptions short and sweet – the best descriptions are 25 – 200 words (about 150 – 1000 characters). The goal is to get people to the event, so your description does not need to be exhaustive. Treat it as a teaser, not a transcript.