Website Strategy: Political Candidate Mistakes to Avoid

The key to your website is for voters to learn about your candidate platform and to support your campaign both as a volunteer and to donate. Consequently, if you are missing campaign details on your website, it will hurt your engagement with voters. Below are some mistakes I have noticed on active and former candidate websites.

Political Candidate Website Mistakes to Avoid

Missing a Bio

If there is no “About” or “Bio” on your campaign website, how are people supposed to learn about your background and experiences? Write a short bio about your hometown, your values, your work, and why you are qualified to run for office. Please include a professional headshot. If you plan to include your family in your bio, include a professional family picture(s) in your bio page.

Forgetting Issues or Campaign Platform

Do not forget to include blurbs about the “Issues” or your “Campaign Platform”. Describe the issues in your city, county, state legislative district, or congressional district and how you will fix those issues when you are elected.

No Volunteer Button

You want your campaign or organization’s website to provide volunteer opportunities. Do not forget a “Volunteer” or “Get Involved” button to direct viewers to learn more about how to volunteer (knock doors, make phone calls, help with mailings, request a yard sign) and a sign-up form.

Neglecting to Link Social Media Icons

Campaign websites should have social media icons on the home page to direct website visitors to your platforms. Some campaign and organization websites have social media icons on their website but if the icon is clicked and nothing happens, you need to link your social media links to the social media icons.

Not Updating Which Office You Are Running For

If you ran for one office in the previous election cycle but are now running for a different office in the next election cycle, you need to update which office you are running for on your website.

Forgetting to Remove Link to Inactive Website

If your campaign is over, please remove your inactive website that displays the notice “the campaign website is no longer active” or “Error”, please remove the link from your social media campaign profiles.

Follow a website content checklist to make sure you are not forgetting any important information about your campaign. If you are a former candidate who won a race, keep your campaign website active for when you are up for a primary race and re-election. If you are a former candidate who fell short on a race, decide if you are going to run again next cycle. Will you run for the same office or try a different office? If you are undecided, keep your website active if possible. If you are not running again, please take down your website.