Use the web to make the most about what is written about a candidate – or their opponent. Here are a few simple tips to promote news stories and build your online reputation at the same time.
Use a headline an summary. Whatever you do, don’t reproduce the text of articles on your website. That’s plagiarism, and it can come back to bite you. Instead, summarize the article in a short paragraph. You can even editorialize if you want.
“… turnout at our fund raising event was a great success. To learn more about what happened, read the article above …”
Don’t just link to material that talks about the candidate, either. Feel free to link to articles or editorials about your opponent – particularly if they are critical. Simply use them to reinforce your own position.
“… as you can see from this article, [opponent] is still having problems with …”
Linking out to third-party articles in this case serves two purposes. First, it provides a point of reference that lets you back up your statements. It also allows you to promote selective information that is good for your campaign and not so good for your opponent. (After all, why would you promote positive things about your opponent? That’s their job.)
Not only should you link from your campaign web site, but you should also bookmark articles about the candidate or campaign on social bookmarking services. Those include Delicious.com, Diigo and Propeller.
From a search engine point of view, the more links a web page has, the higher it is likely to be ranked in search results. If you’re lucky, when a voter does a search for the candidate’s name, not only will the campaign website come up, but also some top favorable articles about the candidate as well.
On the other side, by bookmarking and linking content critical of an opponent, that material may apply when someone searches the opponent’s name! With a little work, this tactic can be very effective, especially with smaller, local political campaigns that are covered by a local newspaper that posts articles online.
Finally, alway use target of blank or new when linking to outside content. This will force open another browser window or tab when the user clicks, keeping your website available when the visitor wants to return.
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Tags: campaign advertising, general campaign tips, website tips