McCain vs. Obama: Who Has Better Website Content?

What’s the hottest topic in the news today?  That’s right, the Presidential election. No matter where you go or where you turn, it’s there. It’s on the news, it’s what people are talking about, it’s in the air. People are naturally sizing these candidates up. Who has the best chance? McCain or Obama? Who has the best agenda for America?  McCain or Obama. And of course, what I am interested in:  Who has the better content on their website? McCain or Obama???

But of course… What a great topic right?  Seriously, I, of all people, was interested in knowing!  After all, we’ve heard all this big talk about how Obama was using the Internet in new and unprecedented ways – especially for financial contributions and building a grassroots organization. But was he using it well in other ways… like with his content?

Well, I was curious. So, I took a look at both John McCain and Barack Obama’s websites today. And what did I find?

My Review

Like I expected, both websites are very well done. They both use masterful design, strong persuasive content and integrate important conversion elements, using videos, forms and easy navigation. But, they weren’t equal and one was better than the other. The end result? One of them had a better website – more visually appealing, more interactive with better content. But the other, is using their website better (and their Internet prowess in general) as a tool for recruitment and donations. So here is the detail:

Google Page Rank: They both have a 7 PR.
Links Pointing to their Site: Obama has 7550, McCain, 5390. That’s quite a difference.
Overall Look and Feel: McCain gets a 9 in this area, Obama, a 7.5
Depth and Breadth: McCain gets a 8.5, Obama gets a 8
Anchor Text Links: They both failed miserably in this area, but it probably doesn’t matter too much

Other things about McCain’s site that I liked: Good use of You Tube Videos and videos in general to build interest, nice event locater functionality and great depth on the Issues section. Also, I liked that he offered the site in Spanish too. Things I didn’t like about his content?  The Contribution button isn’t prominent enough and making a contribution isn’t as easy as Obama’s site.

Other things about Obama’s site that I liked: Fantastic use of the Contribute button and soliciting donations in general. It’s very well done, very prominent an includes a short video on why he isn’t taking money from PAC’s and Lobbyists. Very powerful. A couple things I didn’t like about his content: His tag line on the splash page needed work. Here’s what it said: “Obama and Biden: are the leaders who will bring the change our country needs.” It should have been this: “Obama and Biden: Leaders who bring needed change to our country.” Subtle differences, but much better. Also, in terms of navigation, there was no link back to the home page when you were on other pages on the site. What’s up with that?

So, the verdict?  McCain wins for his website content, pretty decisively. Why?  Besides the reasons above, it had a better overall feel to it (especially on the home page), was cleaner and more interesting and interactive. But Obama wins for using his website as a tool for contribution and campaign recruitment, which is clearly the best example of this in the history of American politics.

Well done on both sides.