Campaign websites remain a critical touchpoint for voters, serving as a central hub for information about candidates, their policies, and ways to get involved. In today’s digital-first environment, these websites often form a voter’s first impression of a campaign.
To uncover current trends and best practices, we analyzed over a dozen websites from competitive Senate campaigns. From content strategies to design choices, our review highlights how campaigns are using their websites to inform, engage, and mobilize voters effectively.
WordPress Remains the Leading Platform
WordPress continues to dominate the content management system (CMS) market, offering unmatched customization through thousands of plugins and themes. Its versatility enables campaigns to create highly tailored websites, supporting everything from donation forms to event management.
However, platforms like Webflow and Squarespace are gaining momentum with candidates such as Angela Alsobrooks and Mike Rogers. These newer platforms prioritize simplicity and speed, providing unified, pre-optimized frameworks. While they lack the extensive customizations of WordPress, they offer faster load times and reduced technical complexity.
Mobile Numbers Join Email As Key Contact Data
Email collection has long been a staple of campaign website signup forms, but today’s campaigns are also capturing mobile phone numbers, often with opt-in permissions for text messaging.
As email inboxes grow increasingly crowded—especially for grassroots activists—text messaging is becoming a valuable tool for cutting through the noise and delivering messages directly to supporters. This shift highlights the importance of multi-channel communication in modern campaigns.
Mobile-Optimized Designs Are Standard
The websites we reviewed showcased mobile-friendly designs with vertical scrolling and tap-friendly buttons, ensuring ease of use on smartphones and tablets. Despite the fact that the majority of visitors are likely using mobile devices, many campaigns still design primarily for desktop experiences, missing opportunities to fully embrace mobile-first design principles.
Social Media Feeds Show Activity
Dynamic social media feeds are a common feature on campaign homepages, with X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook posts often embedded to display the latest updates. These feeds serve as a modern replacement for traditional web-based news sections, keeping websites fresh and engaging.
While this approach simplifies updates, it may reduce traffic referrals from search engines like Google, as relying too heavily on social media content can limit the discoverability of original website material.
Videos Take Center Stage
Videos hold a prominent place on many campaign websites, with launch videos and recent TV ads often featured. These videos create a compelling introduction to candidates, but campaigns should consider refreshing video content as the election cycle progresses. Launch videos, for example, may resonate less with general election audiences if they were tailored for primary voters.
Conclusion
Campaign websites are evolving to meet the demands of modern voters, blending dynamic content, mobile-friendly designs, and multi-channel communication strategies.
As voter expectations continue to shift, campaign websites must adapt, ensuring they remain an effective tool for outreach, engagement, and mobilization throughout the election cycle.
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