Picture someone hearing about you for the first time. The person heads over to Google, types in your name, and tada! Your website appears. But what does the person see? Is your site a relic from a bygone age or a sleek, modern vehicle showcasing who you are and what you stand for?

A website may seem like a part of your congressional marketing that you can put on autopilot once you get it set up, but leaving it untouched for years is a missed opportunity. Not only are most congressional websites heavily trafficked (and if yours is not, Fireside can help with that), but they are sometimes the only place constituents look when seeking assistance or preparing to vote.

If your website is outdated or hard to navigate, it may be tricky for constituents to find what they need, which runs the risk of alienating them. And if your website hasn’t been redesigned in a while, it might not be sending the message you want to convey.

So, how can you turn your congressional website from a digital dust collector into a dynamic outreach tool? Discover how to enhance your congressional website to showcase accomplishments, serve your electorate, and grow opt-ins on your constituent list. The transformation might surprise you — and your constituents, too!

Show Constituents You’re Representing Their Concerns

It’s critical to have a good understanding of who is visiting your website. This information helps you know what content to spotlight and through what channels. It can also help you determine if you need to put resources into attracting other types of constituents who are overlooking your website.

Fireside’s web designers have deep expertise in building websites that are easy to navigate and spotlight your hard work. A well-organized website helps constituents easily find what they’re looking for, such as views on key issues, biographical information, and requesting assistance.

News outlets and social media accounts are also worth highlighting to show how your office engages the outside world. News articles lend credibility to viewpoints and efforts on the Hill, and social media feeds give constituents an overview of your ongoing work. Fireside-built websites automatically integrate with the most popular social media apps and auto-populate live feeds directly on your homepage.

A congressional website should do more than just disseminate information; it should create experiences for constituents related to what they care about. These experiences both engage constituents and provide avenues for you to gather information about your constituents.

Anticipate Questions and Point to Answers

When should a website skim the surface, and when should it dive deep? A balanced site strikes a happy medium between the two. Your constituents won’t expect your site to be the ultimate resource for every topic, but it’s helpful to direct them to reliable sources if they want to learn more.

Fireside-built websites, for instance, allow you to expand upon issues that you champion via navigable topic pages that drop down from the main menu. You can also create custom landing pages to respond to and provide resources related to major events and emergencies.

News happens quickly, so one important consideration when creating or redesigning a website is whether you can update content yourself.

With Fireside, each webpage is editable within our content manager, allowing you to easily add text, embed images and videos, and make other changes. You can also create an events, news, or blog page to post live updates, press releases, videos, and newsletters for constituents to access.

After posting something new on your website, share it on your social media platforms. With a Fireside-designed site, you can do this by simply selecting the share icon to the left of the article’s name. This lets you share a news item via our newsletter platform or to any of your linked social media accounts.

Increase Web Traffic and List Opt-ins

Tracking your website’s traffic enables you to understand who is visiting. With a site optimized for tracking and analytics, you can tell where your visitors are located and how they engage with your site. This includes information such as how they get to your site, what pages they visit, and how much time they spend on each page — information useful for knowing what content resonates with constituents and where you should spend more marketing dollars. Fireside links your website to Google Analytics, giving you a clear snapshot of how visitors find and use your site.

Beyond linking your website to Google Analytics, you can also analyze form submissions for a qualitative view of the most engaged constituents on your website. Creating different conversion points can be complicated, so Fireside has pre-built forms with default fields that House members typically want or need on their websites. These include forms for commendation requests, event requests, internship applications, art competitions, requests for help with a federal agency, meeting requests, service academy application questions, tour requests, subscriptions to and unsubscribes from newsletters, and general questions and comments.

You can decide which forms to activate and where to submit them, whether to the Fireside CRM or a staffer’s email address. You can also build custom forms.

Ensure Accessibility for All Web Visitors

Website accessibility standards tend to drastically change every couple of years, and your website must adhere to those standards so that as many of your constituents as possible can use your site. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the World Wide Web Consortium, provide actionable steps for making web content accessible for people who are blind, colorblind, or have low vision, and for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 4 U.S. adults has a disability, including 44 percent of Americans over age 65 and 31 percent of all American veterans. Accessible websites mean larger portions of constituencies can communicate with their representatives, and fewer voices go unheard. All Fireside-built websites, whether fully custom or designed from a template, adhere to the most recent Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Spotlight Your Impact With a Fireside-Built Website

Fireside designs websites to fit the needs of any member of Congress, congressional caucus, or committee. Work one-on-one with a skilled designer to create a custom website or digital logo, or choose a template and have your website up and running in no time.

See why over 150 members and committees rely on Fireside for web services. Request a demo today.