What every campaign website needs

Most voters who look you up will do it on a phone, in a parking lot or on a couch, after hearing your name at a church supper or seeing a yard sign at an intersection. They will give your site about as long as it takes to read one screen. If that screen tells them who you are, what you are running for and how to help, the site has done its main job.

Everything below is built around that moment. You do not need twenty pages. You need the right five to eight, written plainly, and kept current through Election Day.

The home page: answer three questions before anyone scrolls

A voter landing on your home page wants to know who you are, what office you want, and whether you are someone they would trust with it. Put these above the fold, meaning on the first screen of a phone without scrolling:

• Your name, large, exactly as it will appear on the ballot
• The office and district, written out ("Berkeley County Council, District 6," not "BCC-6")
• A good photo of you, face clearly visible, outdoors or in the community if you can
• A one-sentence reason you are running, in your own words
• A Donate button and a Volunteer button, side by side

Below that, a short welcome, two or three issue headlines that link to their full pages, and the date of the election. Keep the home page short. Its job is to send people to the right next page, not to hold everything.

Meet the candidate

Local voters are not choosing a party platform. They are choosing a neighbor. Your bio page should read like you introducing yourself at a front door: where you live and for how long, what you do for work, your family if you want to share it, and the moment you decided to run.

Specific beats impressive. "I have coached Little League at the same field for eleven years and I know which drainage ditch floods every spring" tells a voter more than a list of boards and titles. Include one or two photos, and a short line for each relevant credential: military service, years in business, past volunteer roles. Our guide to writing your candidate bio walks through a simple structure.

Issues: three good pages beat ten thin ones

Pick the three issues you hear about most when you knock doors. For a county council race that might be road maintenance, growth and rezoning, and public safety funding. For school board, it might be a bond referendum, teacher retention and school start times.

Give each issue its own page with:

• A plain headline that states your position, not just the topic
• What is happening now, with a local example voters will recognize
• What you would do, in two to four concrete steps
• What you would not do, if there is a fear voters have about the issue
• A link back to Volunteer or Donate at the bottom

Each issue page is also a page search engines can find when someone types "Cane Bay traffic" or "school bond vote." See writing issue pages for examples.

Get involved: volunteers, yard signs and donations

This page turns interest into help. Most local campaigns run on a handful of people willing to knock doors, make calls, host a meet-and-greet or put a sign in their yard. Make each of those a checkbox on a simple form: name, phone, email, address (for yard sign delivery), and what they can help with.

The donate button on this page, in your header and on your home page should all go to the same place: your own page on a processor your state allows. We cover the setup in campaign donation buttons, and the signup side in volunteer and yard sign signups.

How to vote, endorsements and events

Voter information

A short page with the election date, the voter registration deadline, early voting dates and locations, and a link to your state or county election office's official lookup for polling places and sample ballots. Link to the official source rather than retyping polling locations, since those can change. Update this page as each deadline passes.

Endorsements

Start with whatever you have, even if it is three neighbors and a former PTA president. Add names as they come. Always get written permission before listing someone, and use their title only if they are endorsing in a personal capacity that allows it.

Events and hearings

List your own events (meet-and-greets, a booth at the fall festival) and the public meetings that matter to your race. When the planning commission has a rezoning hearing on the agenda, posting "Here is when and where, and here is what I think" shows voters you show up. An events page that is updated weekly is one of the best signals that a campaign is real and active.

The footer: disclaimer, contact and the small things

Every page should end with the same footer:

• Your "Paid for by" disclaimer, written the way your state requires (see paid-for-by disclaimers)
• A campaign email address and, if you are comfortable, a phone number
• Links to your Facebook page or other social accounts
• A repeat of the Donate and Volunteer buttons

The disclaimer is the one item here that may be legally required. Rules differ by state and by type of race, so confirm the exact wording with your state ethics commission or elections office.

Built for phones, fast and readable

A campaign site gets most of its traffic in short bursts: after a mailer lands, after a debate, after a Facebook post gets shared in a neighborhood group. Those visitors are on phones, sometimes on weak signals. That means:

• Pages that load in a couple of seconds, without heavy video on the home page
• Text large enough to read without pinching to zoom
• Buttons big enough to tap with a thumb
• Good contrast, alt text on photos, and headings in order, so voters using screen readers can follow along (see campaign website accessibility)

A simple, static site does all of this well and is hard to break. It also costs less to host than a complicated one.

A launch checklist you can use today

Before you share the link anywhere, walk through this list once:

• Name, office and district spelled correctly on every page
• Donate button tested with a small real gift, and the receipt arrives
• Volunteer form tested, and the message reaches an inbox someone checks
• Paid-for-by disclaimer in the footer of every page
• Election date and registration deadline correct for your state
• Every photo has permission from whoever took it
• Site checked on at least two phones and one computer

If you would rather not build it yourself, every one of our packages includes these essentials, and the demo site shows what the finished pages look like. The launch timeline tool can help you work backward from your filing date so the site is ready when voters start looking.

Common questions

How many pages does a local campaign website need?

Five is enough to launch: home, meet the candidate, issues, get involved, and how to vote. Endorsements, events and extra issue pages can be added as the race heats up.

Do I need a blog on my campaign website?

Not a formal blog. A short news or updates section where you post hearing alerts, endorsements and event recaps keeps the site current without promising a weekly column you will not have time to write.

Should my campaign website collect donations directly?

No. The donate button should link to your own page on a processor your state allows, such as WinRed, ActBlue or Anedot. That keeps the money and the required contributor records with your campaign.

What is the most important thing on the home page?

Your name, the office you are running for, and a clear donate and volunteer button, all visible on a phone screen before anyone scrolls.