Jordan and KaLeigh have a clean and classy layout for their website, powered by WordPress. The site's colors and typefaces are consistent with all of their other marketing material (Facebook profile pictures, posters, monitor slide, etc.).
Their site is organized with Home, About Us, Platform, Show Your Support, Media, Contact Us, and Sponsors pages. This easy-to-use navigation bar is beneath a banner with their campaign logo and a rotating photo of the candidates (and I will admit to refreshing their website so I could see every iteration of their header). Their website layout is somewhat reminiscent of the one I created last year for Spencer and Ian, but since the formula worked for us, why change it?
Beneath the navigation bar is a welcome message written using the blogging element of WordPress. I hope to see Jordan and KaLeigh use this as a campaign blog where they post updates over the course of the next two weeks. While it's nice to have a welcome message, I would much rather see consistent updates from the candidates over the course of their campaign.
By using WordPress they have an easy-to-use mobile site that renders wonderfully on my Android device as well as the iPhone. They even updated it so it has a beautiful purple background. The only issue I have had on a mobile device is on the iPad; the social media sidebar awkwardly loads at the bottom of each page.
What They're Doing Well
- Campaign Team - Having a strong team behind the two candidates is absolutely essential. Out of the three websites, Jordan and KaLeigh's is the only one who lists contacts on their campaign team. The candidates are busy people, so it can be helpful to have additional contacts listed for students to get in touch with. Also, after putting a lot of work into two NISG campaigns, I thought it was nice to have myself listed on the website so I could get some credit for the work I have contributed to the campaign. The candidates are the face of the campaign, but they couldn't move forward without a hard working team. Give them the credit they deserve!
- Social Media - Comparing the three campaign websites, Jordan and KaLeigh's has the best usage of social media links. Their right sidebar is completely dedicated to social media, and it is viewable on every page of their site. Not only are there direct links to their Facebook and Twitter profiles (recognized by the sites' icons), but visitors can also +1 the site to their Google+. My favorite element is the real time Twitter feed. It not only has all of the posts from their Twitter (@JordanNKaLeigh), but also all of the posts from the hashtag #NISGelections. The Facebook "Like" button is deceiving, however. When I clicked it I expected to be liking their page, but rather I liked their website. I don't see this as a bad thing necessarily, because it will show up as a link to their campaign website in the News Feed, but its function isn't what I thought it was.
- Commenting Enabled - Commenting is not only enabled for the blog-type posts on the home page, but also at the bottom of every page on the site. This is a great way to engage visitors because it an easy way to give (and receive) feedback. Fortunately, an improvement to this was made within the last 24 hours. When the website launched on Monday, visitors had to create an account in order to post comments, but now all that is required is a name and an email address.
- Facebook Specific Downloads - While it makes sense for campaign Facebook profile pictures and cover photos to be available on the campaign Facebook page, it is great to see them available on their website, as well. Once again, they are the only campaign with this available on their website.
What They Could Do Better
- Posters - I was very pleased to notice grayscale versions of posters on their Facebook, but they aren't downloadable in their full resolution. I traveled over to their website to see if they were uploaded there and was surprised to see they weren't. Grayscale posters are a great alternative for people to print on all of the free printers across campus, so having them uploaded to their website would be a great improvement. [Edit: Since writing this post, one of their two grayscale posters has been added to their website.]
- Sponsors - I love that Jordan and KaLeigh are up-front about who their sponsors are and are giving them exposure on their website. However, they are simply listed with their respective logos. It would be an improvement to have links to the sponsors' respective websites, or to have contact information listed.
Jordan and KaLeigh have an attractive, user-friendly website that is conducive to viewers giving their input and getting connected with their campaign. They have been on top of making improvements and updates to improve usability and to keep their information up-to-date. Their media team did their homework on what makes a great campaign website, and it shows.
If you have any additional input about Jordan and KaLeigh's site, leave a comment below!
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