A web site for your campaign is indispensable

• A safe, convenient way for your supporters to make campaign contributions.
• A space to really explain your positions, in as much detail as the issue deserves.  Consider that the first place a reporter will look for information about you will be your site.  The more detailed and well reasoned your issue statements are, the more seriously you will be regarded by the media.
• A calendar of events that are important to your campaign.
• A means of communicating campaign news to your supporters & visitors- including mentions ( &  links ) to your media appearances; information about campaign events; your comments on new issues; comments & thanks to your supporters.
• A channel for your visitors to communicate back with you, through visitor comments on your issue statements, visitor polls, or simple email forms.
• A way to announce what your campaign needs and how supporters can help.
• A way to make it easy for supporters to pass your information on to people in their social networks – through Facebook & Email This buttons.

Why Northshore?

I will build a website that will look good to you & your visitors, that will clearly communicate your message, & that will be easy to update.

One-on-one attention, through out the project.  Further, I will help with content updates during the campaign – but, since the site is easy to operate, if you have someone on your team that is even a little tech savvy, adding content to your site will be easy.

I am non-partisan.  I come from a mixed party background & fully understand that each side is worthy of respect.  I will, however, only represent one candidate from any particular race.

Success Factors

get started early

One of the most important factors in your sites success is your search engine ranking – that is, getting your name to show up when someone googles you.  Getting your site up well before folks start googling your name will help enormously.  I will do everything possible to design and build your site in a search engine optimized manner, but it takes at least a week for you to start showing up .. and the more common your name is, the harder it is to get your name to show up first.

There are a couple of key factors to high ranking in the search engines: site design & the number of other sites that link to you.

Getting your site up early, advertising your site address, using Facebook & other social networks to get other folks involved, updating your site frequently with a blog – all this can help get you to the top of the search engines when someone looks up your name.

your web address

If you keep your web address short & memorable, you can take advantage of that most basic of campaign tools: the yardsign.  Choose a domain name that a driver can see, decipher, and remember when they are next at their computer.

If the web address is available, it is purchased from a registrar, generally for $15 a year.

Your web domain is included in the project bid, but you will be responsible for the annual fees after the first year.  You will receive an email from the registrar well in advance of the expiration date reminding you to reup.

Domize.com is a great site that lets you search available domain names.  If you find one that you like, make a note of it & I will secure it during the setup process.

It is often hard to find the exact web address that you want, especially if you have a common name.  As an alternative, you may choose a web address under the civicspot.com domain name.  For example, joecandidate.civicspot.com.

make it about more than just this election

Choose a domain name that will have relevance beyond the immediate campaign.  Think of the future.

While the web address www.ElectJoeCandidateToKenmoreCityCouncil.com might be accurate & easy to get, it will be less relevant after the campaign, and useless when you are making your run for Congress.

The web address www.JoeCandidate.com is more memorable, will be useful to you when you are in office as a communication tool, and then, when you are making your next campaign, you will have much higher search engine ranking due to it’s longevity.