Event registration links: from first invitation to the final update
Plan event links for booking, waitlists, cancellations and arrival information, with a launch checklist that checks the whole registration journey.
An event link should answer the visitor’s question right now: can I book, what happens if it’s full, and where do I go on the day? A working redirect alone doesn’t answer that. Set up the registration page, and the pages for what comes later, before you send invitations.
This guide uses a made-up two-hour community workshop with 24 places. The numbers are examples for planning, not real results. Links can send visitors to pages you already have and gives every link a QR code. It doesn’t create registration forms, hold places, take payments or check tickets.
Define the promise of each link
Give the invitation one main action: register for the workshop. The destination should show the event title, date, start and end times, the time zone if needed, the venue address or online format, the language, the price if there is one and a contact for the organizer. Say when registration closes and where to find cancellation and accessibility information.
Let your registration system handle places and confirmations. Keep an event information page available for people who already booked. Directions for the day may need their own link: someone at the venue shouldn’t have to dig through a closed booking form to find the right room.
Prepare the destinations for each event state
Plan what a late visitor will see before anyone shares the link. You create and look after these pages elsewhere, and change the link’s destination in Links when needed.
| Event stage | What the link should open |
|---|---|
| Registration open | The right event form, with places left and a confirmation |
| Full | A clear “sold out” note; a waitlist only if one really exists |
| Cancelled or moved | A dated update with contact details and next steps for people who booked |
| Finished | An “event ended” page with the promised materials or the next date |
Don’t quietly swap a cancelled workshop for an unrelated offer. Keep information for people who booked easy to reach, and handle messages, refunds and booking changes in the systems built for them. Changing a short link doesn’t notify people who already registered.
Separate distribution from the event-day task
Create the links under the right identity in the Links app. If you want to compare where people find the event, use one link for the library poster and another for the newsletter, both leading to the same tested registration page. Use a separate link with arrival information in confirmation messages or on signs at the venue.
Write down each short link, where it’s used, its destination, its owner and when you’ll check it next. Put the real date in the invitation text so people can recognize an old poster. For campaign tags, follow the UTM guide: add the full parameters to the destination, not to the short link. A QR scan and a normal click go through the same link.
Rehearse a complete registration before launch
- Open each real short link while signed out, including from the messaging app you plan to use.
- Check that the right event, language, session and date are still selected.
- Make a test registration in the way the registration provider supports, including a test payment if there is one.
- Check that the success page and confirmation message explain the next step and how to get to the event.
- Test what people see when the event is full or closed, and give them a way back to the event information.
- Mark or remove test entries so they don’t count as real bookings or make demand look higher.
On a phone, check required fields, readable instructions and any accessibility needs with the form provider. For posters, scan a full-size print in real conditions and add a readable web address next to the code. The QR print guide covers the physical checks. A preview on your screen doesn’t prove that a printed sign works.
Assign launch and change responsibilities
Before invitations go out, decide who checks that the links work, how many places are left and that the paying account has credits. Each counted click uses credits (see the current pricing), and if the shared credits run out, the links pause. A 24-place event can get far more than 24 clicks, because people come back, compare details and share the invitation.
When the event fills up or changes, update the destination of the existing link, check every rule and test the shared link again. Write down the old address so you can switch back. These changes are manual: Links doesn’t expire links on a schedule or know when your event is full. The team handover guide helps you pick a backup person.
Close the campaign without abandoning late visitors
After the event, move the link out of prominent places on profiles and posts you can edit, but keep the shared link useful. Point it to an “event ended” page for old emails and posters instead of deleting it. Keep promised materials available for as long as you told attendees.
Look at clicks separately from confirmed registrations and attendance. Links can’t tell you either of those; use your booking and attendance records, without the test entries. Links keeps the address easy to manage, while your registration system and event updates keep the promise to visitors.