How To Launch Your Political Campaign Website
In the business world, the terms ‘soft launch’ and ‘hard launch’ refer to two different techniques for introducing a new product or service to the market. A soft launch is more subtle, for when a business wants to make a gradual roll-out. A hard launch, on the other hand, is designed to generating buzz right away.
The same techniques apply to websites. Often an organization will do a soft launch, and they may have a limited number of users try the service before it is rolled out to the general public.
It’s typical for a candidate’s website to have a ‘coming soon’ page in the days or weeks prior to an official candidacy announcement. Then, when the time is ready, the site goes live for voters.
All excited about the launch, an announcement is made to friends and supporters.
But when they search Google for the candidate’s name, they find – nothing.
Surprise! The site isn’t listed in Google at all.
Here’s why: If you look for Google to have your site listed in the search results immediately after a brand new site goes live, you will probably be disappointed. It takes time for search engines to index a new website.
However, there are ways to speed up the indexing process. An early soft launch is one method.
By doing an early soft launch of your site, you may not attract human visitors, but it may attract search engine spiders. Spiders are the search engine software that crawls the web looking for new or updated content. Simply having a few links from your social media accounts is enough to trigger a spider to visit and index your website.
Another benefit to a soft launch is that you can have a few trusted users go through the site first. They can give you feedback and point out any errors they find before the whole world sees them.
You may think that you’re going to lose all the buzz from a hard launch with a soft launch, but that’s not the case. A soft launch is only to a small group of individuals, so plenty of opportunity remains to drive awareness through a hard launch.
Some candidates may not have the option of a soft launch. Some judicial candidates, for example, cannot start campaigning before a particular date. A live website may put them in violation of local election laws.
Political Website Launch Checklist
Use this checklist to make sure your site is ready to go live for the public.
Fill out your site settings
The Site Settings page in your Online Candidate admin covers all of the major website configurations, including form settings, page options, disclosure options and custom code insertion. As we’ve added features over the years, the page has become longer, but we’ve found it’s easier to keep everything in one place. Make sure you have all the sections configured the way you want before you go live with your site.
Titles and meta data
When creating your site pages, the page title is the most important element for SEO and is also important so that users know what’s on the page. Make sure your page titles are different on every page and that the title relates to that page’s content. The meta descriptions should also be short and to the point.
Proofread your content
Once you have your site content ready to go, check it over. Even if you’ve already read it, read it again. Then get someone else to read it. Someone will usually find an error. Streamline your text as much as possible. Break up large text blocks into shorter paragraphs. Add clear headings throughout, and use lists so that readers can easily scan the content. Don’t forget about dynamic text too, such as quote and alert boxes (which you can add by applying a style in the page editor).
Make sure your spelling and grammar, consistency and tenses are correct. Again, have someone you trust give your content a final read.
Call to actions in place
Don’t assume that your visitors will know what to do after reading a page on your website. They won’t. All of your pages should have a call to action. For most pages, this will be a reminder to vote on a primary or Election Day. Calls to action also include volunteer or donation requests.
Check your links
Don’t just assume all the links in your site content work. Check them out by clicking on them, especially links to outside websites. Sometimes people don’t copy the links properly for external sites.
All Pages Added To Navigation
When generating your site, be sure to add any new pages you’ve created to your website navigation.
Search Engine Accounts
To ensure that your site is indexed quickly, you should create webmaster accounts on Google and Bing. You will need to verify your site ownership by adding a small amount of code to your site header. Setting up search engine accounts will give you access to additional search engine tools and site information.
Set Up Analytics
Add your analytics or other tracking code to the “Sitewide analytics or tracking code” box under Custom Code Insertion section in the Site Setup. Google Analytics is free and simple to set up after you have a Google Webmaster Account, but you can use whatever tracking service you choose.
Additional instructions on how to set up search engine accounts and analytics can be found in the Online Candidate Site Administration.
Verify Your Email Accounts
Send a test message to all of your email address to make sure the accounts and forwards are working properly. Make sure the proper email addresses are assigned to your various forms, as well.
Refresh When You Go Live!
Once you go live with your campaign website, the temporary page will be replaced with your actual website. If you still see the temporary page after regenerating the site, try refreshing your browser. If that does not work, hold down the shift key while reloading the page. Sometimes browsers may cache a page for display and you need to force a reload.
Online Candidate offers a Site Launch Packages and a Site Launch and Social Media Setup option with our website packages to help you get a leg up with your own site launch.
Why a Facebook Page Is Not Enough for Your Political Campaign
“Everybody’s on Facebook. I can just run my online campaign through my Facebook Page.”
We’ve heard that idea before.
Bottom line: Running a political campaign through social media alone is not a strategy. It’s a dangerous dependency. A Facebook Page can support your campaign, but it should not replace your official political campaign website.
At Online Candidate, we’ve seen candidates make this mistake. They promote the Facebook Page, print it on campaign materials, post updates there, and assume voters will keep up. Then they discover that social reach is very limited and hard to control.
These days, social media is important for political campaigns in creating an online presence and building support. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and other platforms can all help candidates reach voters in different ways. Facebook provides tools for candidates to promote events, share video, post updates, stream live events and build awareness. Meta’s advertising system can also help campaigns reach targeted audiences, but political advertisers must follow the platform’s current authorization, disclaimer, and ad policy rules.
However, a social media profile is not a substitute for a real home on the web. Social media does not provide the features that a campaign website provides. For example, websites convert better for important tasks such as email signups and accepting online donations.
Facebook may be the most common example, but the same issue applies to Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Threads, and any other third-party platform. These platforms are useful outreach channels. They should not be your campaign headquarters.
If that’s not enough, here are a few other reasons why Facebook alone should not be the hub of your online campaign:
Not all voters are on Facebook
Believe it or not, there are people who do not use Facebook, and there are others who refuse to use Facebook due to privacy concerns. If you operate your digital operations entirely within Facebook, then you’re placing your campaign behind a wall. If someone comes to your page and wants to interact, they’ll need a Facebook account to do so.
If it’s a potential donor you turned away, that can cost you money. If it’s a potential supporter, that could cost you a vote.
The same problem exists across other platforms. Not every voter uses Instagram, watches TikTok, or follows political discussion on X. Your official campaign website gives everyone the same place to find your message, donation page, volunteer form, and voter information.
Facebook is a ‘pay to play’ platform
A regular Facebook Page post will usually reach only a fraction of your followers. Because of the Facebook post algorithm, many of your fans won’t see your posts after they ‘Like’ your page. The exact percentage changes over time, but the larger point does not: organic reach is limited and unpredictable.
We’ve had candidates ask why their Facebook posts are not reaching more people. In many cases, the answer is simple: liking a Page does not mean someone will see every update. Without engagement or paid promotion, campaign posts may reach only a small part of the audience.
That is, unless you pay to promote your post. In that case, your update will reach many more people.
Even then, targeting matters in reach and cost. We’ve seen campaigns struggle when ads are aimed too broadly. A local campaign does not need to reach everyone in a county, state, or media market. It needs to reach the right voters in the right district with the right message.
A campaign website gives those ads a better destination than a general Facebook Page. Instead of sending voters back into a feed, you can send them to a donation page, volunteer signup form, issue page, or voter information page.
Of course, if you want to reach more people the next time you post, you will need to pay again … and again … and again.
For many campaigns, this can eat up a lot of advertising dollars. For those with limited budgets, it’s best to promote only important news, specific fundraising posts, and get-out-the-vote reminders before Election Day.
If you want to keep supporters up to date, an email list or SMS program can provide more reliable reach.
Social media can help you find supporters. Your website, email list, and SMS program help you keep them.
You don’t control the platform
Your Facebook page ultimately operates under the terms and conditions of Facebook. If the rules on Facebook change, you’ll have no choice but to accept those changes. If someone reports your page, post or even your advertising for ‘bad behavior’, valid or not, there is little you can do if Facebook takes action. You don’t own your space on Facebook. What Facebook gives, Facebook can take away if it decides that you have broken its terms of service.
This isn’t just a Facebook problem. Every major social platform controls its own rules, algorithms, verification requirements, political ad policies, moderation systems, and account restrictions. A campaign can lose reach, lose access, or have content limited at the worst possible time.
You also don’t control the full voter experience. The platform controls the layout, recommendations, comments, notifications, and what voters may see before or after they interact with your content.
Knowing that, do you really want to base your entire online presence on a platform that you do not control?
Social media is outreach, not your campaign headquarters
Social media platforms all have campaign value. Each one can support a different part of your online strategy.
Facebook may help with local awareness, events, community visibility, and older voters. Instagram and TikTok can showcase short video, campaign visuals, and behind-the-scenes content. YouTube can host longer videos that can be embedded on your website. X may help with journalists, activists, and political observers. LinkedIn can reinforce professional credibility.
But none of these platforms should replace your campaign website.
Your website is where voters should find your biography, issues, endorsements, donation link, volunteer form, contact information, press materials, disclaimers, and voter information. Social media should point people back to those assets. It should not be the only place those assets exist.
Your campaign website gives you control
Now, don’t take all this the wrong way. Facebook is a great tool for politicians and campaigns to gather new supporters and reach voters. The same is true for other social media platforms when they match your audience and campaign goals. When you have both a campaign website and a Facebook Page, both can appear in search results. Filling the search results with listings that you largely control is a smart strategy for online reputation management.
A campaign website also gives you one official source for your message. Voters, donors, volunteers, reporters, and endorsing organizations can all be sent to the same place.
Social posts disappear quickly in a feed, and they are lost and quickly forgotten. Campaign website pages remains organized, searchable, and easy to reference. This matters for local campaigns, where a small budget has to reach a specific district, ward, town, city, or county.
Integrating social media into your website and posting items from your site to social media is the best approach to online campaigning. That way you can reach your followers no matter where they are.
To paraphrase a common expression, “Don’t build your campaign on someone else’s land.”
In the end, you should have control over your medium and your message. That starts with having your own domain name and political campaign website.
5 Misconceptions About Online Campaigning
Q: My political campaign is very small, it will be over fairly soon, and our voter turnout is low. Do I really need to bother with online campaigning?
A: Absolutely. In fact, online campaigning can be more important for smaller, local elections. Using the web to get out the vote can make all the difference when a race is decided by a handful of votes.
Even so, there are candidates who, for one reason or another, are not comfortable using the web for campaigning. Here are some common arguments against online campaigning … and why they are wrong.
My race is too small to bother with online stuff
As we often say, “If you are not putting information about yourself online, then someone else will.”
If your opponent is defining you online, then you have a problem.
You can ignore the online aspect to political campaigning, but you are only hurting yourself. When voters search for information about a race, they expect to find information about the candidates. With your own campaign website and social media presence, you can take charge and present your own ideas and messaging.
Even the smallest campaigns are engaging voters online. Heck, just this year we had our first sorority president election candidate.
I don’t have the tech experience to run a website
The hub of your online campaign is your campaign website. You cannot effectively run a campaign from a Facebook page. Not everyone is on Facebook; your messaging only reaches a tiny sliver of your followers (unless you pay for each post), and you don’t control the platform. Branding yourself online begins with owning your own domain name and website.
As far as learning to manage and update your site, that depends on how your website is built. If your site uses a content management system (CMS), you are able to add and edit your own content. With any CMS, though, there is a learning curve. One thing you don’t want to do is put control of updating your site in another person’s hands. You need to be able to make your own site updates and to be able to react quickly to events.
My election isn’t worth promoting on social media
If you are already using Facebook, then you already have a good understanding of how it works. Create a campaign page, tell your friends, and start making updates. If you are familiar with Twitter, create a campaign account and begin using it.
One thing you don’t want to do is spread yourself too thin. Don’t start up a bunch of campaign social media accounts and just let them sit there. It’s better to start off with what you can handle and add to your efforts as your resources grow.
Don’t know what to post? There are plenty of things that you can mention and discuss. You can post about upcoming events, news articles, campaign trail photos, your latest ads, campaign achievements, and more. Use a mix of pre-planned and off-the-cuff posts to keep your communication both consistent and interesting. Creating your own social media schedule will help.
I can do all my online campaigning through my Facebook page
How could running an online campaign through Facebook be a bad idea? Facebook has hundreds of millions of users and is one of the most popular websites in existence. Not only that, it’s free!
Good points, but the reality is not as simple. Having a campaign Facebook page is a great idea, and if you are running, any serious political campaign, no matter how small, should create a Facebook page in order to reach out to supporters and voters.
Using Facebook as a replacement for an actual stand-alone campaign website is a mistake. Here’s why:
- Facebook is a closed network. In order for people to see your Facebook content, visitors are required to join. Not everyone is a member of Facebook, and some people will never become members.
- Your information is not your own. Your page is also subject to the generosity of Facebook, which can pretty much remove anything it wants at any time. If you are or if someone claims you are violating their Terms of Service, you could be in trouble.
Raising money online isn’t worth the effort
If you already have a campaign bank account, then you’ve already done the hard part. Yes, you can take online donations through PayPal, but you need to collect additional donor data (our system has a built-in form for collecting this information). Political-specific fundraising services make it extremely simple to set up an account, add forms to your campaign website and to take donations through social media and email.
Many online donation tools let donors set up recurring donations throughout the campaign.
Besides, many donors prefer to give online than to go through the hassle of writing a check. “Impulse donors” who are influenced by your campaign are also more likely to give. People are busy; make it easy for them to help you.
My online campaign will pull in tons of money
Can your political campaign raise a lot of money online? Absolutely, but it takes work and coordination. Use your offline events to drive people to your website and make good use of your email list. Make it easy to donate online and leverage your other sources of communication to make your supporters aware of how and when they should donate.
If done properly, the effort put into online fundraising will pay off.
It’s hard to get started
No, it’s not. Your greatest ally in becoming good at this ‘online stuff’ is time. Start early. Create and use personal social media accounts to figure out how they work. Learn about your options and take the time to plan your online campaign.
What Local Candidates Can Learn From Botched Presidential Launches
As the United States presidential election race geared up in 2016, several candidates already stumbled out of the gate. If you are a local candidate running for office, you can learn a thing or two from these online presidential candidate gaffes.
Ted Cruz Hopes You Can Type The Right Address
In March, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced that he was running for president in 2016. Unfortunately, he missed was unable to purchase a domain that featured his own name. Someone else reserved it first.
So with the .com domain name taken, the Texas senator settled for tedcruz.org as his official campaign website.
Big mistake.
When a website address is a .org domain, how many people will often type ‘.com’ out of habit?
As of this writing, a web user going to tedcruz.com will see this:
If you don’t secure your own domain name, someone else will.
Ouch. This is probably not what the senator had in mind.
The takeaway:
A domain name is your online calling card. If you think you will be running for office, reserve your domain name as early as possible. And always get the .com version of the name. If it’s already taken, you may want to go for an entirely different domain. The last thing you want is for someone to control the .com version of your campaign website. All things considered, the person who registered tedcruz.com domain went easy on the senator.
Rand Paul Schools Us All
In April, Senator Rand Paul announced his own presidential campaign. While he has control over the .com version of his domain, the launch of his website was marred by an embarrassing gaffe.
On a video on the site, the title of the clip misspelled the word “education.” This was made even worse by the fact that the typo was on the candidate’s education platform page.
It said, “Rand Paul Opposes A One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Eductation.” Ouch.
Typos happen, but when it’s right out of the gate, it’s even more embarrassing.
The takeaway:
While you would think large campaigns would have editorial procedures in place, even silly mistakes can slip through. Remember n 2012 when former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised “A Better Amercia,” on his campaign’s iPhone app? Then as now, minor gaffes can become fodder for mockery.
[bctt tweet=”Small mistakes may seem careless, but can still turn off #voters. http://ow.ly/LHHa30gBj06″ username=”onlinecandidate”]
No matter the size of your campaign, watch your spelling and grammar before you launch your campaign website. A small mistake might appear careless, but poorly-written content will turn off potential voters. Have several people proof your content before it is put online or into print. Hire a good copywriter if you have to. Don’t think that smaller, local campaigns don’t fall under scrutiny.
These may have been the first online screw-ups of the 2016 presidential campaign, but they certainly were not the last.
Get your own domain name and launch your campaign website today! With three affordable website design packages and even a Monthly Option, Online Candidate is the online platform for hundreds of candidates each and every election cycle.
5 Reasons Why Voters Don’t Trust Your Online Campaign
Trust. It can be hard to gain and very easy to lose. Here are five reasons why voters might not trust your online campaign – and they have nothing to do with your existing online reputation…
Poor Grammar and Spelling
If your website, press releases and social medial posts are full of grammatical errors and typos, it shows a lack of professionalism. On local campaigns, voters may even question your literacy of the candidate, since they figure it was probably written by the candidate.
For social media, Twitter has its own shorthand. For everything else, keep it professional.
Lack of Personal Information
Who are you? What is your background that qualifies you for office? What history do you have with your community and its happenings? What obstacles have you overcome to help you get to where you are today? Your history and life are unique and should be incorporated into your campaign.
[bctt tweet=”In most jurisdictions, it’s criminal for candidates lie in voter materials. http://ow.ly/WDsl30gBj8n”]
And whatever you do, don’t embellish your personal history. In most jurisdictions, it’s a crime to make false statements in voter materials.
Pictures help, too. Maybe the traditional family shot is a political-brochure cliche, but even if nothing else about a candidate’s personal life is mentioned, that one image will at least tell voters that 1) the candidate is involved with their family, 2) everyone in the family is happy, and 3) maybe they love dogs/puppies.
No Social Media Presence
This one varies depending on the campaign or elected position. Will voters think less of you because they do not have a Facebook or Twitter account? Perhaps. But if an opponent is using social media to bash you, not making a stand will eventually take its toll.
As we always say, if you don’t define yourself online, someone else will.
[bctt tweet=”If a political opponent is using #socialmedia to bash you, ignoring it won’t help. http://ow.ly/WDsl30gBj8n”]
Written By Robots
Ever visit a business web site where the business description reads as a meaningless jumble of complicated jargon? Some campaigns suffer from the same problem, especially where the website is packed with platitudes and PC mumbo-jumbo. You are trying to connect with voters, not to lay out a political treatise. Keep your language plain and your ideas succinct.
People Just Don’t Trust The Internet
Politicians in general may not be considered particularly trustworthy, but most people don’t trust what they see or read online, either. With that in mind, unless you are catering to your base, you might want to keep away from hyperbole and overly-broad generalizations. It can weaken your credibility.
A great campaign presence begins with Online Candidate. Learn how we can give your campaign the winning edge!
Campaign Writing Can Make or Break a Vote
First impressions will make or break a voter’s support. The campaign material you distribute should always be your best work.
Recently, a local candidate running for village trustee left some campaign literature at our door. I had not heard of this candidate before, and my first exposure to him was through his brochure.
And judging by the brochure itself, it’s highly unlikely that I will be voting for this person next month.
It wasn’t that the brochure wasn’t attractive. In fact, the piece was well-designed. It was nice and clean, without a lot of clutter that you sometimes see on campaign literature.
Rather, the problem was with the copy. The brochure was poorly written and contained a number of grammatical errors. It took two or three readings to get the gist of what the candidate was trying to say about his background and vision for the village. There were run-on sentences, bad punctuation and mangled syntax. It felt like I was like reading the first draft of a fourth-grader’s civics essay.
Sadly, the candidate’s bio stated that he was a college graduate.
As you can imagine, the candidate failed to gain my support. If a candidate cannot take the effort to clearly articulate his or her thoughts on paper, how can I trust them to deal with the complex issues of governing?
The moral of this story is to always prufread proofread your campaign materials. Even if you think it’s great, have another set of eyes go over it. Make your revisions and continue rounds of proofreading until your wording is perfect.
Only your best work should be presented to the public. In many cases, voters will only know of you through your campaign literature.
In this case, it only took one brochure to lose my vote.
Looking for campaign brochure templates? Free up your valuable time with our Political Print Templates. They will add a professional edge to your campaign print material. Or see all products in our Download Store.
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