Online Campaigning
This section comes with a health warning. This is the only page on this site where the content is based not on my experience but on what I would plan to do were I fighting an election campaign today. The Internet and its wide range of online tools was simply not around when I was campaigning. I wish it had been. So with that proviso, here we go.
Your Website.
Your website is more than just an online collection of your leaflets. It is your 24/7 accessibility to your electorate. The people who you can't get to during your canvassing can at least see what you're up to via your site.
Choosing a URL
If you've never bought a web site before the URL (Unique Resouce Locator) is the www.yoursite.org.uk bit. Your site name is very important as it has to be memorable and has to relate to your campaign. A simple www.YourName.com or www.KevinForMayor.org.uk should work best. Something like www.VoteForMe.com simply does not enhance your brand as it is not personal enough.
You need to be aware that people cannot just choose any domain they like; it may already be owned by someone else quite legitimately. Also commercial organisations have to use to .com or in the UK the .co.uk domains as the .org and .org.uk domains are restricted to non-commercial organisations. Fortunately, this can include your campaign as although you can raise funds through your web site you are not running it as a business. Search Engines tend to favour .org sites over .com sites in their search returns so if you have a particular URL in mind and the .org or .org.uk is available I would recommend you use that over the .com or .co.uk but if you do bear in mind its non-commercial status. Your could loose the site if it is deemed to be a business.
So you've picked your site name bought the rights to it and organised hosting, all you need now if content, right? Not quite. When you were looking for your site name you may have noticed that there was a lot of choice about the domain it could be part of. I recommended using the .org or .org.uk domain but you should not ignore the others. You should purchase those domains which could be used to spoof yours. This is known as defensive domain building. Basically if your opponents could use a domain with a very similar name to yours they can use it for satirical purposes and this is considered a legitimate use and there would be nothing you could do about it. Consider if this is likely and if so purchase the most likely domains that are available even if you aren't going to use them yourself. You can always set up a simple re-direct to the one URL you are using.
Content.
It's allright having a web site, the world and his brother has a web site these days, but what is on it and what does it do for your campaign. The first things is that it can act as a contact point for supporters so make such there is a form on it so that people can leave you their name, address and contact number. Secondly it can act as a way of telling people what you are doing on a daily basis and where they can contact you in person, a schedued diary or blog if you like. The other main use is as a resource for your election material. Put your manifesto on your site in an easily accessible format, put window posters on it as well so that your supporters can print them off and put them up themselves.
Other Online Tools.
Use the online social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with your supporters and to let them feel that they are not alone in supporting you. These tools are becoming more popular and are very effective. A FaceBook group for instance can mean you don't have to host a discussion forum on your site and members can recruit other supporters for you through their FaceBook friends. Twitter can keep people updated on the progress of the campaign and can be used on Election Day to remind people to vote in conjunction with your knocking up.
This page is incomplete. I will add more but if you can think of anything let me know at contact@howtowinelections.co.uk .
Continue to Eve of Election....