Part 5 of our series for Canada’s federal candidates.
Yes, you have to have a web site. Yes, it better look like the party web site. Yes, you have to Keep It Simple Stupid.
What you do not need is a web site that only a systems programmer can love. The more sophisticated, the more complex, the more clicks to take you where you can read what is promised and the more readers you will lose because you have wasted their time. You can hardly afford to lose the people you have brought to your web site. It cost you too much to get them there for them to be frustrated with the complexity of finding their way through the site.
As in communications of any kind, you have to always assume that the reader has never heard of you before. You always have to start from ground zero about you. And you should always assume the reader is no computer expert. You never ever assume the ‘everybody knows that.’
You can never say often enough your full name and the party you are running for. It has to be the same as it is on the ballot or you will cause confusion.
And if someone tells you this approach is user friendly run away from them. Anyone in the computer industry can attest to the fact that ‘User Friendly’ is a ghost that everyone talks about and nobody has ever seen.
Sure the candidate can manoeuvre through his or her web site, but can the candidate’s mother? Always ask someone who will not let their ego get in the way of honesty.
Do not expect your writers to be able to design your web sites. And, sorry-to-say, most web designers can neither spell nor construct a simple sentence.
In putting together your web site always start with what you want to say. Starting with the design is just design for the sake of design.
If you have come up with a logical and simple statement about why the voters in your riding will vote for you, use that information on every page. You cannot tell the voters often enough.
And if we have not mentioned this often enough, consistency pays. Your signs, literature, Facebook page, Twitter feed and web site all have to have the same look and feel. Never confuse the voters.
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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