9 Ways to Build a Dynamic Campaign Website

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Every company, cause, organization, and even government agency has their own website, and political campaigns are no exception to that rule. All candidates need to have a presence online to spread their message and present themselves to voters, and that starts with a website.

On local campaigns, however, many candidates don’t use their websites to their fullest potential. These pages are static, featuring (at best) a few lines of text describing the candidate’s positions, a few photos, and maybe a place to sign up for email updates. These websites do nothing to harness the full potential of digital media and actively reach and engage 21st century voters online.

If you want to use a dynamic campaign website to set your candidacy light years ahead of the competition, follow these nine top tips.

1. Custom Domain

Nothing screams “unprofessional” like a web address that reads: joesmithforcitycouncil.wordpress.com. Free platforms like WordPress or Blogger are great to use, but if you want to come across as a professional and serious candidate, spend $10-15 and get a custom domain. It will integrate into your free web platform, and give your website an added boost of professionalism.

Once you have your custom domain, don’t forget to include your photo on your homepage, and make sure the district you’re running for is visible (if applicable).

Pro tip: Pick a domain name that people can easily remember, and one that isn’t too long. For example, joesmith.com is good, but smithforpurcellville.com is even better!

2. Campaign Logo

Even though your campaign is a short-term endeavor and you aren’t selling a product per se, you are still building a brand around your candidacy. As such, your campaign logo is one of the most important parts of your online presence, since it should be what people think of when they see your campaign.

Spend some time designing a visually compelling logo, and then put it on everything, including every page of your website.

Pro tip: If you don’t have a graphic designer who’s willing to design it for free, try your hand at www.canva.com, a FREE graphic design program that anyone can use.

3. Professional Layout

Believe it or not, political candidates have only been using websites for two decades. We’ve come a long way since the Clinton/Gore 1996 campaign (check out their old website here), and now a mere presence online doesn’t cut it—your website needs to have a professional website and be incredibly easy to navigate.

Two of the current 2016 presidential candidates—Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders—both have excellent web layout that is engaging and easy to navigate. I found this article published on slate.com very helpful in analyzing the top presidential websites. Check it out.

Pro-tip: Don’t pay for a website template. There are so many free ones out there that you can take and customize for your own needs.

4. Fundraising Page

Ben Carson, Bernie Sanders, and Rand Paul all dominated the fundraising field in terms of individual donations, many of which were made online. Take advantage of this new market and set a donation page up on your website.

The key to successful online fundraising is, once you make the page, make sure that each of your web pages, emails, and sometimes even social media posts feature the donation link. This allows people the opportunity to give to your campaign every time they interact with your online material.

Pro tip: When designing your page, keep in mind that the more clicks there are, the more likely people are to not follow through on a donation. Make sure you collect all the necessary information, but also keep it simple.

5. Email Signup Page

While your website is a valuable tool, email is still king, and the more you can use email to recruit volunteers and fundraise for your campaign, the better. A great tool to use for your email list is MailChimp, a free (up to a certain number of subscribers) platform that allows you to manage subscribers and create signup forms that can integrate into your website.

Pro tip: It’s always best to build an email list organically, rather than buying or selling lists. If you have email addresses for people who might be interested, send a one-time email inviting them to subscribe, and add the people who do subscribe to your email list.

6. Volunteer Signup Page

A successful local campaign needs volunteers to canvass neighborhoods, make phone calls, and wave signs at polling places. While you can probably find many volunteers through word-of-mouth and through your own personal network, you will likely find many people through your online platforms, including your website.

Put a volunteer page prominently on your website, and direct people to that page right after they sign up for email updates. Make it easy for people to volunteer—they are the lifeblood of your campaign.

Pro tip: Make your volunteer pages simple: ask for their name, email, phone, and that’s it. That forces you to follow-up with a personal touch to find out more information and get to know them better.

7. Events Page with RSVP Option

In a presidential race, voters count themselves lucky if they get five seconds with the candidate. In a local race, one-on-one time is expected. Thus, your website should have a page where voters can find out where your upcoming appearances are, and how they can meet you in person.

This page doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be up to date—make sure you remove past events and keep adding upcoming ones until Election Day. And if you can, put an RSVP button for each event, that way you can collect attendees’ email addresses and send them a reminder the day of.

8. Photo Galleries

Your campaign is not just about you—it’s about your community and the people around you. You want to show people that you are engaged with them and that a vote for you is a vote for themselves. Add a photo gallery, featuring photos of you with voters to show that wherever you go, people are there ready to listen to and support you.

9. Social Media Integration

In the 21st century, this should go unsaid, but many people forget to integrate their social media platforms into their websites. Websites created WordPress feature great ways to plug Facebook and Twitter into your site, but there are other tools you can use as well.

If you are going to do one thing on your site, do this: make sure every page has a link to like you on Facebook and follow you on Twitter. That way, if people find you online, they can follow you to social media.

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