Last year, Sea Brand worked with Brighton & Hove Labour to design an election campaign that delivered a landslide victory for the party in May 2023. We designed the print and online version of the local manifesto and created leaflets that were distributed to tens of thousands of voters.

After the election, we developed a new website for the Labour Group on Brighton & Hove City Council and designed thank you letters that went out to Labour supporters.

With local elections coming up in May and a general election this year, we have enhanced our services and responded to the needs of prospective parliamentary candidates and Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) across the country.

Getting ready for a busy 2024

This year is certainly a busy one for the Labour family and the party is fully focused on winning the upcoming elections. With so much going on, there is often a danger that certain aspects of a successful election campaign are forgotten, including websites of CLPs, branches and candidates.

Potential voters look for your website and expect to find the latest information. An outdated online presence will hardly win trust and consequently votes.

But how important are websites for political parties in terms of influencing voter behaviour? Do voters care about how a party's website looks and functions, or do they base their decisions on other factors? And what are the best practices for creating and maintaining a website that reflects a party's identity and goals?

Do I really need to think about websites when my main activity is door-knocking?

According to some studies, websites can have a significant impact on voter perceptions and preferences. For example, a 2016 study by researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the University of Antwerp found that the design and content of a party's website can affect how voters evaluate its competence, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. The study also found that these effects are stronger for voters who are less familiar with the party or who have low political interest.

Another study, conducted by researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester in 2017, examined how voters use websites to learn about political parties and candidates in the UK. The study found that websites are an important source of information for voters, especially for those who are undecided or who want to compare different options. The study also found that voters pay attention to the quality and credibility of the information on websites, as well as the usability and aesthetics of the design.

These findings suggest that websites can play a crucial role in shaping voter opinions and choices, especially in an era of information overload and media fragmentation. Therefore, political parties should invest in creating and maintaining websites that are informative, attractive, and user-friendly. Some of the key elements of a successful website include:

• A clear and consistent branding that reflects the party's identity and values
• A simple and intuitive navigation that allows users to find what they are looking for easily
• A responsive and accessible design that adapts to different devices and browsers
• A rich and relevant content that showcases the party's vision, policies, achievements, and candidates
• Dynamic and interactive features that encourage users to engage with the party, such as social media integration, online donation, newsletter subscription, feedback forms, etc.
• A regular and timely update that keeps users informed about the party's activities and news

Let's talk about the pain points

In conversations with many CLP campaign officers, it became clear that many local websites are complicated to maintain, don't have the campaign features needed and can't be customised without hiring a developer. These websites are not flexible enough and have not been developed with the people who are supposed to use them in mind.

Simple and affordable: We tailored our service to the needs of local Labour parties

There's nothing more frustrating than a website that seems to require a degree in astrophysics to navigate. It's your website, and you should be in the driving seat and able to change all parts, because your business isn't static either, is it? We utilise the power of low-code solutions that allow you to change not only the content but also parts of the structure and add new sections once the project is complete.We also brief your team and equip you with a short guide to get you started.

Transition of power: The messy issue with login details

Many organisations elect their executive boards annually. We know that Labour Party CLPs and branches do that and we are also aware of the challenge to hand over access and login details once your members have elected new officers. That's why we offer a maintenance subscription for £15 p.p. excluding VAT, which takes the worry out of security updates, backups and post-election transition periods as we take care of it for you.

The no-fuss promise

We know how important it is that you focus on talking to voters and preparing your campaign. At the same time, it's equally important to get your website up and running. That's why we promise you that you won't have to worry about it being another burden. Sea Brand will take care of the data migration, perform a hosting and domain checkup and make the process as straightforward as possible.

Come and say hi

If you'd like to work with us on your next web or print project, contact us for a free, non-binding quote. We look forward to hearing from you.