I recently interviewed Carol Daley of http://www.OnlineCandidate.com about political campaign website. Carol is an expert at political websites so we thought you’d appreciate an interview. I came up with the seven most important website questions a candidate should have answers to.
How do I know if I need a website for my campaign?
At this point in time, if you are running for just about any elected position, voters expect a candidate to have a campaign website.
How much will a campaign website cost?
That varies a lot, even for a local campaign. Hiring a designer to build out the site can be expensive. We’ve seen small campaigns spend thousands to build and maintain a custom-built site. A volunteer could build something for free, but then there’s the issue of quality and the ability and availability of someone to update the site. The price to have a campaign website design firms varies. Some provide very basic sites and cookie-cutter designs for a monthly fee, while others charge a flat rate and include different amounts of customization. Online Candidate packages are about $400, and that’s all-inclusive of domain registration, hosting and custom design.
Will I be able to raise money from my campaign website?
Definitely. With some promotion and a means to accept online contributions, your campaign website can certainly raise money. Combining offline and online marketing, candidates can drive traffic and donations through the web. However, we always remind candidates that a campaign website exists as a conduit through which to raise money, not as a means unto itself. If your website is not promoted or no one has an interest in your campaign, slapping an online donation button onto a web page will not do a thing for you.
How much work is it to set up a campaign website?
It depends on how the website is built. Most websites today are built with a content management system (CMS). There is often a balance between functionality and ease of use. For example, the Online Candidate CMS is designed to be very easy to use for a non-techie, but open enough to allow additional functionality for someone with more coding experience.
What will I put on my campaign website?
Just about anything! You can add a candidate bio, issues, contact, endorsements, media links, donate and volunteer pages, photos, video, digital versions of campaign materials, links to voting information, additional resources and more. A campaign website can serve as a communications hub, and the center of a candidate’s online social network!
What will my campaign website actually do for me?
A campaign website gives voters and supporters a place to keep up to date with the campaign. It’s a single destination that can be added to all of a campaign’s print materials and signs. It’s a way to make your local campaign appear larger than it might really be. This can attract new supporters, and perhaps scare the heck out of your political opponents!
I don’t understand the process, where do I start?
There are two parts to a campaign website – a domain name and the website hosting. A domain name can be registered before a website is built. Domain names can be registered through any registrar company. Two of the largest are Dotster and GoDaddy. Where a site is hosted is usually determined by whoever builds the website. If you know you are running, it’s not a bad idea to choose and reserve your domain name early.
If a website is ordered through Online Candidate, we register the domain name and set up the hosting for the client. We make sure the domain name is registered in the candidate’s name, which is important as whoever’s name is used as the registrar is technically the domain name’s owner.
For more campaign tips and ideas, visit www.OnlineCandidate.com. They offer a variety of products designed to help small and medium-sized campaigns achieve election victory!
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