Grading the Campaign Websites of the Wildrose Alliance Leadership Contestants

Although web sites are just one tool that modern political campaigns use, they are becoming increasingly important in this high tech world. I have decided to grade the web sites of the two leadership candidates for the Wildrose Alliance Party, Danielle Smith and Mark Dyrholm. Marks are similar to grade school with A being the highest mark, and F being the lowest.

Danielle Smith’s web site:
www.daniellesmith.ca

Mark Dyrholm’s web site:
www.markdyrholm.ca/

Appearance:

Danielle Smith’s web site:

[Grade - B] Shows Danielle Smith wearing a bright red suit. Her picture capitalizes on her good looks, but the page could use more blue and green colour.

Mark Dyrholm’s web site:

[Grade - B] Shows Mark Dyrholm with his endearing wife and son. The use of colour works well, but an overuse of text makes the page look cluttered.

Slogan:

Danielle Smith’s web site:

[Grade - C] ‘Let’s Make It Happen’ is catchy enough, but frankly it could be the slogan for any political campaign. Kudos to Danielle for incorporating it in her stump speeches so it sticks.

Mark Dyrholm’s web site:

[Grade - A] ‘Reforming Alberta’ is a superb slogan because it gives the candidate instant credibility with the Reform Party roots shared by most Albertans. But its loses effect because Mark never seems to use it in speeches.

Information:

Danielle Smith’s web site:

[Grade - D] This is the truly astounding part of the web site. For someone running for leader of a major political party you need a biography consisting of far more than four or five short paragraphs.

Mark Dyrholm’s web site:

[Grade - B] Overall the web site gives a good feel for Mark’s political roots. The web site only gets a ‘B’ because in some parts there is too much information that could be more concisely summarized.

Navigability:

Danielle Smith’s web site:

[Grade - A] Displays a straightforward and user-friendly site. Campaign news update are on the main page and are instantly accessible.

Mark Dyrholm’s web site:

[Grade - B] Demonstrates a professional and clean look, but there are too many links. Duplicate information is a problem and news updates are not readily available.

Usability:

Danielle Smith’s web site:

[Grade - B] Instantly easy for visitors to use the web site to take out a membership, make a donation, or volunteer for the candidate. Disappointing that the web site does not make it easier to donate by taking credit card information online.

Mark Dyrholm’s web site:

[Grade - C] Although visitors can see the section where memberships, donations, and volunteering are encouraged, the page that appears makes it unclear if your are becoming a party member or donating. Credit cards can be processed on-line.

Overall:

Danielle Smith’s web site:

[Grade - C] The navigability and usability of this site is good, but the site is lacking on its appearance and slogan. The site is sorely lacking on information about its candidate. Visitors should be able to read much more about Danielle’s political background.

Mark Dyrholm’s web site:

[Grade - B] The appearance and slogan of this site is good, but the navigability and usability of this site could be simplified and cleaned up significantly. What stands out is that visitors can quickly identify Mark’s biography and policies.