What a Local Candidate Website Needs

A local candidate website does not need to be big. It needs to answer the handful of things a voter wants to know in under a minute: who you are, what office you are running for, when the election is, what you stand for, and how to help.

Quick answer: A local candidate site needs a home page, an about page, an issues page, a way to volunteer or sign up, a contact path, endorsements as they come in, and the required "Paid for by" text on every page. Everything else can wait.

The pages that matter

• Home. Your name, the office, the election date and one clear next step. A voter should know all four without scrolling.
• About. A short bio, a real photo and why you are running. Keep it to what a neighbor would want to know.
• Issues. Your positions in short sections a voter can scan. A wall of text or a PDF gets skipped. See how an issues platform can be laid out.
• Get involved. One form for volunteering, yard signs and supporter sign-up, feeding one list.
• Contact. One way to reach the campaign, checked daily.
• Endorsements. Names people recognize, added as they arrive. See how endorsements help.
• Events. Where you will be, kept current. Delete past events.

The details that get missed

• The required "Paid for by" text, in the same place on every page. Our post on disclaimer basics covers the habit.
• A page that works on a phone, because that is where most voters will see it.
• Plain answers to plain questions, such as when and where to vote. See Voter Questions, Answered.
• Neighborhood and local names in your content, because voters think in streets and schools, not districts. See Every Neighborhood Covered.

What to leave out

Skip the animated intro, the long speeches and the pages you do not have time to keep current. Five good pages beat fifteen thin ones. If you would rather have this built and maintained for you, start with the intake.