Recommendations for Political Campaign Websites

I guess it’s that time of year, the past few weeks we have had several exploratory committees and political candidates reach out to us to inquire about web development and social media consulting.  After a few phone calls where I handed out the same advice I figured it would be a lot more efficient and much easier to just reference this blog post as opposed to covering all of these recommendations on a phone call, so here goes… Oh, and these are just a few basic recommendations, if you are interested in learning more or possibly contracting Pleth to handle your web development or social media management, please feel free to contact us to discuss your project in more detail.

Get Started on Your Website Early!

Assuming your campaign is just getting started, one of the first things you are going to want to do is to start the development process for your website.  Depending on the scope of the project. the time required to design and develop a campaign website can be considerable.  You definitely want your website online and functional prior to any fundraisers or media appearances because one of the first questions you will be asked is whether or not you have a website, and you don’t want to ask someone for their vote of confidence and look in any way unorganized or unprepared, of course this is coming from a web developer but I bet there are others from outside the industry that would share my point of view on this.

Another reason you will want to focus on your web presence early is for the purpose of accepting donations and campaign contributions online.  I recommend PayPal a lot to candidates just because of it’s simplicity and because it’s a trusted name in e-commerce. There are other processing services out there and if you have the time to search these out to find the best deal for your campaign that’s great, but for the most part PayPal is a safe bet.

The Web Development Process (How to Speed Things Along)

One of the best ways to ensure that the development process for your website goes smoothly and is launched on schedule is provide your development firm with content, graphics, photography, and video as early as possible.  If you have signage or campaign logos that you are going to use on print campaigns, it’s good to provide these files in a digital format to your web developer.  Most developers are going to prefer higher resolution or vector formats for these files if possible.

The biggest priority for your campaign on the front end should be the creation of a PayPal account.  An account can be setup in just a few minutes by visiting www.paypal.com but the account verification process can take a little longer.  This process ties your online account into your banking account and requires action on your part to complete.

Content Development

Content creation, or copywriting, is probably the biggest challenge for political candidates during the development process. It’s important to take into consideration during this process that anything you publish to the web should be short and to the point.  People lose interest quickly on the web, and your key points should be easy to find as well as carefully worded.  It’s a known fact inside the industry that people don’t read a lot of written copy unless it’s absolutely necessary, they simply skim over the high points and move on.  For this reason I recommend using bullet points and highlighting or bolding key points that you want to make.

Probably the best tool for delivering content today though is by video.  A lot of people get concerned when you mention video because they are concerned with the costs related, but video doesn’t have to be a huge campaign expense.

I recently recommended the Flip Mino on my blog, this camera is ultra portable and can fit in your shirt pocket.  This makes it perfect for shooting video messages on the fly or during campaign events.  The best part, the Flip Mino retails for under $200.  I also recommend sharing video on two video sharing services, YouTube and Vimeo.  Both of these video sharing services are easy to use and they can give your campaign wider exposure across the web, not to mention the videos can be added to your website or blog with just a few clicks.

While these portable video cameras provide a great way to post quick video content to the web, it’s also advisable to add in a few professionally edited videos as well.  In my opinion this can go a long way.  For example, you might consider having a professional videographer prepare a couple of videos in a studio with proper lighting, etc. for use as your welcome video (the first video your visitors see), as well as your platform video, where you state your positions on key issues.  The remainder of your video content can be short, informal clips taken at campaign functions. Video endorsements have also become quite popular and I look for these to become more and more popular.

Website Management

Once the development process is complete and your website is launched, you will want to keep it fresh with content updates. This is more important today than it was in the past because of RSS (really simple syndication).  Instead of making return trips to your website to check for updates, users now just subscribe to your RSS Feed and view your content either on their desktops or software applications called readers.  Another way that RSS is utilized is email.  Subscribers to your RSS Feed can receive email updates each time you post new content to your website.  RSS also makes your content portable, meaning that it can be syndicated across social networks and embedded on other websites.

Social Networking

Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter are extremely important!  For larger campaigns I recommend a full time staff person that just manages the social networking presence for the campaign.  On a smaller scale the task isn’t near as daunting and can be handled with a lot less interaction, but it’s important to follow up with questions and discussions.

Pushing content onto the social landscape can be totally automated, again by using RSS.  I recommend integrating RSS Feeds into both Facebook and Twitter. MySpace is a lot less relevant than it once was and I no longer recommend it to clients unless there are special circumstances, but if you have the time to devote to managing a MySpace account it certainly can’t hurt anything, but be sure to stay on top of it once it’s setup, and keep in mind that Facebook and Twitter are a lot more relevant.

Maximize Your Web Potential…

While on the campaign Trail, don’t forget to promote your website as much as possible.  If you meet a person in passing and don’t have a lot of time to really connect with them, be sure to send them to your website for more information.

In closing, I hope that you have found this information to be useful.  If you are considering a political run in the near future, or are already actively involved in one, and would like to discuss your campaign’s web presence or social media campaign with my partners and I, please don’t hesitate to contact us.  We would love to discuss your project in detail with you.  We can provide every tool needed to make your campaigns web presence a huge success!