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No one likes to admit feeling confused, but honestly, hosting for your political site can make you feel that way (even if you don’t want to tell anyone; I promise not to tell.)
When you decided to run for office you might not have realized you were signing up to learn tons of technical stuff like domain hosting, email sequences, content management software and social media.
But, let’s face it, your campaign needs a website, and a site needs hosting.
An easy platform to use is wordpress because it can be expanded with plugin tools that will do everything from fundraising to voter countdowns.
Hosting Cost
Campaigns for individuals or causes don’t need to cost a lot. In fact some sites offer free hosting, but you don’t have much control and ads for anything (including your competitors) can show up on your site. Nobody wants that!
Having your own domain is the way to go, in which case you will need some sort of hosting. If you don’t know what that means let me explain.
Your web site is nothing but a bunch of images, videos and html files that reside on a server somewhere. When you register a domain name (for example www.yourwebsite.com) the name is registered to you, and the registrar makes it possible to point that domain name to any computer on the web, so all the people who want to go to your site get routed to your files. The computer that holds your files is owned by a hosting company.
Put real simply, it’s like renting a storage unit for your website. Without a place to put your files and without telling your registrar where to get those files your site will not be active.
Lots of companies provide hosting service, and you can find add on services that range in price from free (as mentioned previously) to very expensive.
Gibson Girls Publishing provides hosting services, but you can use any of these services. Certainly cost is something to consider, but most hosting services will meet your needs.
Things To Consider When Choosing A Hosting Company
What features should candidates look for when you choose a hosting package?
- speed
- backups
- autoresponders
- cron control
- technical support
- cpanel access
Speed – you want your site to load quickly. Folks won’t stay around for your pages to finally appear on their screen.
Backups – the hosting service you go with should make backups of your site in case something goes wrong. Enough said?
Autoresponders – Whether you use a plugin or some other software on your site you want to be able to setup emails to automatically go out to those on your list. Make sure your host allows this.
Cron control – This is a bit techie, but suffice it to say that some plugins you may want to use will require cron control. Look for this as a feature of any service you sign up for.
Technical support – Obviously you want the host to provide technical support to fix problems or answer questions if necessary.
Cpanel access – It will be necessary to access the cpanel for your site, which makes it easy to create email addresses, connect your domain to your registrar and manage other changes.
Election websites should be filled with content that addresses your constituency, platform and issues.
Find out more, obtain political website layout suggestions, or contact us for a cost-free quote. We just might be the right solution for you.
Whether you use our services or someone else’s know that voters will look for you online. Get a professional site designed, build in lots of engaging content and make it easy for them to navigate. Start with a great hosting company and you’ll be well on your way.