Judging the Candidates Web Sites - UPDATE

Last week I was asked by the Web Marketing Association to weigh in on whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama have the better website.  It was a great way to spend 10 minutes of my time, and a great idea for the Web Marketing Association to further establish itself and its network by providing this perspective.

Overall, both sites are very strong.  I give a slight nod to Obama's site because it is cleaner and feels more personal.  I did leave one comment about where both sites are falling down, which I will repeat here:

"Both candidates have loaded their sites with the latest media tools and are nearly identical in form and function.  They have nailed the technology, but they are missing the human element.  Neither Clinton or Obama have a personal blog where they could connect with voters in their own words and share their daily experiences.  Everyone from Moms to CEOs are blogging today, why not the candidates?  It's a real chance to make a competitive difference on the web and build a personal connection with voters."

In terms of lessons for the Challenge Dividend, I think there is a good story here.  By tapping into hundreds of website experts who have judged thousands of sites for a living, the Web Marketing Association is bringing some real wisdom of crowds.  Clinton and Obama could learn a lot by getting this perspective from a wide group, rather than only trusting their internal team to make the call.  And the benefit for the larger market is that future politicians and organizations of all kinds can learn from the case study here.

I also think it's smart for the Web Marketing Association to further deepen its relationship with members by asking for their perspective.  Typically we only hear from them when awards are coming up; but this shows that the group can me much more meaningful and interesting.  Good work, guys.

UPDATE: Barak Obama's site won this survey by a landslide, with 75% of the vote vs. 25% for Hillary Clinton.  There were 107 votes.  The video below tells the complete story.

Comments

[raman]

this article/study came out recently:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/11/stats-obama-still-winning-on-the-web/

also, something i've been doing since returning to the US - i've signed up for all 3 candidates email programs (i would be curious to know how many people are subscribed to each list and what the open/read rates are).

it's really a interesting insight into what each candidate (their spouses, campaign managers, + celebrity friends) are "saying." while the voices feel authentic, they are clearly scripted (+ i'd hope approved by the candidate/etc), but very telling of the condition at each campaign.