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The Iowa Politics Website Report Card: District 3

Today I review the websites for my district, the Fighting 3rd. We’re again faced with two websites whose content is all press releases and an […]

Today I review the websites for my district, the Fighting 3rd. We’re again faced with two websites whose content is all press releases and an incumbent who should know better.

Tom Latham – Republican, incumbent

Detail level Full site, multiple pages
CMS Drupal
Responsive No
Call to action Three big buttons. Very clear
Notes

AUTOPLAYING OLD TV ADS. BAD. No new content since Novermber 1. No content in Facebook or Twitter widgets. Autoplay videos on other pages. Blog content is press releases and blog posts that read like press releases. Completely bland. Website has nice colors and photography though the photos are squished in the header.

GRADE: B-

 

Gabriel De La Cerda – Democrat

Detail level Full site, some pages
CMS WordPress, “Picoclean” theme
Responsive No
Call to action Stretched out PayPal button
Notes

First website with a translate option!
Free advice

Gabe is running a scrappy one-man show so I’ll give him some free web advice.

  1. Ditch the big facebook widget on the right. Turn those quality facebook posts into quality blog posts on your website and post the links to those posts on Facebook to draw your supporters in to your home base.
  2. No more press releases. They’re boring. Write for real. You are the scrappy candidate of passion and your campaign’s communications should reflect that.
  3. Your website needs a “Paid for by” disclaimer.

GRADE: D+, but A for effort