When voters begin searching for your campaign, are they finding what you, as a political candidate, want them to see? If you are not actively laying the groundwork of online content about yourself, you’re leaving it up to others to define you online.
Ideally, when a candidate’s name is searched, the best search results that a candidate can hope for will include the candidate’s campaign website, profiles about the candidate (Facebook, LinkedIn, candidate profile pages, professional affiliations, etc.), positive articles and press releases. A good mix of those items on the first page of search results provides a good overview of the candidate (that’s actually controlled by the candidate) and helps push down negative listings to the second page and beyond.
Starting early with specific pages tends to help ‘cement’ those results over time. For example, having a campaign website and a Facebook page over a series of months will likely show up in search results for just about any search phrases related to the candidate. Google tends to favor ‘established’ content and – more recently – ‘fresh’ content.
Fresh content includes updated content on your web site, press releases and recent articles. That’s why it’s important to capitalize on recent events. Say, for example, a scandal of some sort erupts during the campaign. It’s important to immediately put out a press release and address the issue on your website. Events trigger searches, so when voters start searching about this scandal or event, they will find your content right away in addition to anything else out there.
Keeping track of what is being said about you online is important, as is your ability to provide a rapid response to events.
The key is to define yourself through as many online channels that you can control. Cross-link and have them reinforce each other. Don’t wait until a week before the election to start creating online content about your campaign. By then, it will be too late!
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