A Tale of Two Websites

Joe vs. Don

To mangle a phrase from Groundhog Day, well, it's election season...again.


Bill Murray Groundhog Day

While lots of attention gets paid to ads and speeches, debates and town halls, interviews and more ads, not a lot of attention gets paid to candidates' websites. Which is kind of odd this far into the internet age, but also, perhaps not.

Since political campaign websites became a thing, they've generally been rather lackluster, reminiscent of the mom and pop business that has a Wix site because they figure they have to in the digital age. The typical campaign website includes ways to donate (of course), ways to volunteer, a newsletter signup, a swag store, and somewhere beneath all that a fairly concise list of the candidate's achievements and policy proposals. What should be the meat-and-potatoes of a campaign is boiled down to a resume-length document that's more fat-and-sugar.

This season, the official Joe Biden campaign website (joebiden.com) is no different. One is immediately greeted by a donation overlay. Close that to reveal a donation banner at top and a contact capture. The navigation menu lists Accomplishments, Issues, Take Action, Store, Donate.

joebiden.com homepage
joebiden.com homepage

It is easy to navigate and quick to take in. I watched both videos and read his 15 accomplishments and six issues in about ten minutes. In a nutshell, Biden's issue is Trump. I even clicked on the phony chat icon in the corner which reminded me that "We need to stop Trump before it's too late" and offered me another chance to donate. Overall, the Biden site just feels like a lead-capture tool, not much more.

On approach, the Donald J. Trump for President website (donaldjtrump.com) looks pretty similar. One is also greeted with a donation overlay. Closing it reveals more options to donate and sign up for messages. The navigation menu includes a few more options: Mission, News, Agenda47, Issues, Events, Join, Contribute, Shop. (Given the sitting president's performance at the recent debate, it's hard not to note that "Events" is conspicuously absent from the other menu.)

donaldjtrump.com homepage
donaldjtrump.com homepage

Navigation is similarly simple, but there is a lot more to take in. There is simply more content, which shouldn't be surprising as many Trump observers have called him a content machine. The Agenda47 section of the website is a library of over 60 videos of Trump speaking directly to the camera. The Issues section could just as easily be called Accomplishments based on the content, but it also contains goals and, naturally, digs at Biden. The phony chat icon thanks me for my support and, of course, asks for a donation. This site seems like it really means to inform the visitor, not just capture information.

The difference in amount of information provided can't be overstated. The Trump homepage contains almost as much content as the entire Biden website. That may seem overwhelming, but it really speaks to the paucity of information on the Biden site. For example, an interactive widget on the Trump homepage touches on issues in roughly the same depth as the Biden Issues page, but with a "Read More" link under each paragraph. 

A comparison of homepages
click to enlarge

In terms of winning an election, which approach is better? Ostensibly, one visits a website if one is already interested in what’s on it. It could be argued that Trump is selling past the close. But if taken as a measure of candidate seriousness and openness, there is no contest. For those who claim to take very seriously the decision of who to vote for for president, there's no excuse not to completely consume the candidates' campaign sites. After doing so, the voter choosing Biden must either prefer the lack of information or the inconvenience of cobbling together Joe's positions from dozens of other sources. 

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