Dan Hilton

Not many people will have pondered the huge gap between the dream of e-democracy and the harsh, frontpage induced web roadkill, that passes for some elected officials websites. The various political magazines such as the New Statesmen. So in a vain attempt to improve the status of Politian websites in the Uk (and maybe the world) I present my essential habits of Successful political websites. and the House magazine have both tried to champion online sites of Polititians in an effort to drive up standards through competition. However, Politics still seems to be way behind other sectors in embracing the technological advantages that can win them votes. The past winners of such awards always seem to be those Politians willing to have a little fun at their own expense, for example Widdy Web and Paul Flyn’s contribution to the Web. Even the New Statesmen recognised the problems in 2005 when they failed to award the prize to any

1. Simplicity is King / Queen / Figurehead
The best sites, the ones that work well for all stakeholders, are those that keep simplicity as the fundamental aim of the design and arcitecture of the site. The human mind is naturally inclined to like simple things, simple things don’t waste your time and simple things take less time to build. A good clear information architecture for your website with good headings and a complete lack of frames / images without alternative text, will do far more for your site’s findability than search engine optimisation consultants can ever do. Gwyneth Dunwoody’s site is a good start but lacks point 2…
2. Update, update, update and communicate.

The number one reason people will come back to a website is a regularly updated website. Putting a press release out? Put it on your website, so if people are searching for the latest news about a hospital closure or piece of legislation then you might probably get a hit of your site. Websites with the last entry over a year ago are no go. The extensive use of RSS as a means to syndicate your content is increasingly becoming vital. Even if you just enable people to have a list of the last 10 press releases you put out that is good enough. However it is important not to let your cleverness get in the way of your communication.

3. Don’t be too clever

Using the bleeding edge of technology, a nice flash splash page with a soundtrack or a AJAX contact form is all well and good if your electorate is trendy web designers. However I fear it is not. Something that must be considered a key demand of your website is the assurance that it is accessible by all. That means, no frames, no flash without alternatives and never, ever bad, bad splash pages ala Labour.org.uk at the last election.

4. Learn from the best

Like many other artforms, it is best learnt from the masters. In developing a web site, look at how other sites approach the problems you face. Go read a lista part, Nielsen and 37 signals. Watch as they slowly explain away the hurdles you see. Above all read everything you can related to design first, then the web. Web design isn’t done well often, you need only look across the plethora of MP’s websites to realise the vast swathes of poor ‘design’ companies that don’t build or design but just use automated tools to produce poor sites.

5. Get a perspective

A great, well-designed, standards compliant website is just that, great. It is not however in the case of an elected official, the holy grail of getting to know your constituents. There already is one of those; it’s called walking. Nothing will ever, ever beat talking to real life constituents in the flesh and listening to their issues and concerns.

Final thought…

It is a tough line to walk between simplicity and features that bring real benefits to your website. Yet it is one that you must walk constantly, if you wish to achieve the most from the Web. Remember that it is just another channel of communication, all be it a very important one.

Commercial plug

If your in the market for a political website, why not drop me a line at: dan@danhilton.co.uk