2008 was an exciting year for those involved with political websites. When the Presidential campaign sites were first released, people were in awe. The use of social media, new technology and thought out design was something candidates had never done before. By connecting with supporters online, it made it easier to reach a broader audience as well as a large portion of young voters. Because of the  2008 presidential campaign, local and state candidates are now running with much stronger online presence. As more political websites emerge online, we begin to see many similarities between them.

1) Engaging voters using social media

What is a Moneybomb?

“Moneybomb” is a term for an online donation drive managed through a campaign website and attached to a predetermined financial goal; a time limit is placed on the event to add a sense of criticality, often 24 hours but potentially as much as a week.

The first such event completed by Terra Eclipse was during Constitution Week of Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign. This set the stage for later single-day drives which were timed to meet quarterly financial targets and immensely successful in doing so.

Setting a Plausible Goal

There used to be the simple counter placed at the bottom of web pages that showed the total visitors on a website. Now you see metrics, such as bounce rates, unique visitors, and page views, being tossed around. As exciting as it may seem to see numbers coming in for your website, it would be more efficient to use that information to improve the performance of your website. The type of information you collect through the process of analytics can be important, whether you are running a political campaign or a grassroots activist trying to gain support.

The gadgets we use to access the internet are getting smaller and more powerful.

Take the once-humble cell phone. A 2009 study highlighted by the Mobile Marketing Association found that 64% of respondents had an internet-capable phone. Of those who can get online through their phone, 43% actually do. These numbers represent a growing share of American adults and teens. We used to not be able to get online anywhere but through a computer, but now that we can tap into the internet through our phones, we are doing so -- at increasing rates.

Thanks to the 2008 election, “social networking” is the buzzword of political campaigns today. Consider this your crash course on getting started, doing it right, and—eventually—reaping the rewards for your campaign.

Currently Missouri’s Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan is a Democratic candidate in the running for a U.S. Senate position in 2010 for the state of Missouri.

Content: 5/10
With the "About Robin" section on the bottom right corner of the home page and no place to find her stance on any specific issue, it seems like content is an afterthought. There is an updated news section on the home page but aside from learning a bit about her background, undecided voters who visit the site will not find any other information that can sway their decision.

With five terms under his belt, a Democratic Senator for Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter, will be going for his sixth term in 2010.

Content: 8/10
There is a good amount of background information about Arlen—enough to be thorough but not long and drawn out enough to have readers lose interest. News and video links keeps the content fresh. Furthermore, an adequate amount of important issues are addressed.

Next is Jack Conway’s campaign website. He is currently an Attorney General and will be running for the US Senate for Kentucky in 2010.

Content: 6/10
There is some information about the candidate. However, there is only a video under the issues page. This may have been done in attempt to create a more personalized message for visitors. However, anyone quickly looking for his opinion on a certain issue would have a very difficult time finding it.

Today, we will be looking at Barbara Boxer’s campaign website. She has served three terms as a Senator in the state of California and will be running for her fourth term in the 2010 Senate race.

One of the best ways to get ideas for your site is to look at what your competitors are doing and how they are doing it. In light of that, we will be looking at four different campaign websites for Democrats running for national office this week and rating them on a 1-10 scale (1=poor; 10=excellent) based on the criteria listed below.

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