Five Tips For Your Campaign Website

Enhance your website with something that will help you create a memorable brand

An old pal of the blog, Eric Hogensen, is a campaign professional, currently freezing his ass off in Wisconsin while working in Matt Flynn's gubernatorial campaign. He has 5 tips to offer for candidates-- at any level-- who want to make a successful campaign website, calling it a "great way to interact with voters and allow them to research your positions" and cautions that "there are many things to keep in mind when designing your website." Key phrase there: "allow them to research your positions." The DCCC suggests to their candidates to not include controversial positions and to keep issues pages either entirely off a campaign website or to keep the issues as vanilla as possible. That's why the DCCC keeps losing elections and why there are dozens and dozens of fewer Democrats in Congress today than there were in 2008, just one decade ago. Eric is way, way too polite to say it, but rule number 1 for all campaign websites should always be: ignore the DCCC. They're the biggest losers in politics and they can only win races in wave cycles.

1. Take advantage of modern website creators:

Gone are the days when you need a dedicated web designer to create the perfect page for you. There are numerous places that make website creation simple and easy, like Squarespace and Wix. Do some basic research and find a provider and site that works for you.

2. Keep it simple:

As with most things in campaigns, it is easy to get carried away with all the bells and whistles that come with the modern website creators. Your website needs to allow voters to learn about you, contact you, and support you. A simple and clean design achieves those purposes.

3. Make sure your domain is easy to type:

Once again simplicity is the key here. If you plan on putting your URL on a palm card or piece of mail, make sure it is easy to read and type in. Voters aren’t going to spend extra time if they are struggling to type in a long, confusing URL.

4. Make it easy to find anything:

If a voter wants to find something out about you, your website is a place they will often look. Don’t make it difficult for them to find something. This is doubly true for contributions. You should always be able to get to the donation part of your site with one click from anywhere on the site.

5. This is your chance to use details, don’t abuse it:

Your website is the one place where you can spell out details in their full glory. The problem is many candidates forget is the rule of being concise. Make good use of the phrase “click to read more.” You want to make it easy and simple to read about any issues, and then give people the option to read the detailed plan.