What to Put on a Wisconsin Campaign Website (2027 Checklist)

Voters Google you before they vote. A reporter, a neighbor or a donor will type your name into a phone, and what shows up is your first impression. A good campaign website gives you the chance to tell your own story first.

Tony RuffiOct 13, 202610 min read

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This article covers what goes on the home page, the pages every candidate needs, how to make it work on a phone, and what to leave off. By the end, you'll have a checklist you can hand to whoever builds your site.

Do you need a campaign website to run in Wisconsin?

No law says you must have one, but we'd never run a race without one. What does a stranger see first when they search your name? Whatever is out there, and a website is the one place online that you control. It lets you say what you want about yourself, and not let the news take you for a ride. Voters, reporters and donors will search your name, so give them something real to find.

Glenn Youngkin ran for office for the first time in 2021, and he won Virginia's race for governor with 50.58% of the vote. When a candidate is new, voters often know nothing about them yet, and a website is where they can learn. The same goes for a school board or city council race, only smaller.

What goes on the home page?

The home page has one job, which is to tell a stranger who you are and what you want them to do next, in about five seconds. It needs your name, the office you're running for, one line on why you're running, one clear button, and a good photo of you. Everything else can live on other pages.

Here's how we lay it out:

Pick one main button, not four. When a page asks for everything, people do nothing. A good rule is to ask what you most want a visitor to do this week, and make that the button.

Which pages does a campaign website need?

Most local races are covered by five pages: Home, About, Issues, Volunteer and Contact. That's enough to look serious and answer the questions voters ask. Add a Donate page when your committee is set up, and a News page only if you'll keep it fresh.

About. Tell your story in your own voice. Say where you live, what you've done, and why you want this seat. Real details beat big claims. Add a photo of you in your town, with real people if you can. A photo taken at a school, a farm, a shop or a park does more than any slogan.

Issues. Pick three to five. For each one, say what you'll do in two or three plain sentences. A long list reads like a wish list, and voters skim.

Volunteer. Give people a short form and tell them what to expect, like knocking on doors or holding a sign at an event. Volunteers knock on doors, make calls and put up signs. In a small race, a handful of steady people can change the result.

Contact. A form and a phone number. Why: some voters, reporters and neighbors won't volunteer or donate, but they will write with a question. If they can't reach you, they'll think you're hard to reach. Check the messages every day.

Email signup. Put a short box on the home page and at the bottom of every page, asking for a name and an email. Why: an email list is the one group of supporters you own. Social media can change its rules or hide your posts, but an email goes straight to the person. You'll use the list to ask for volunteers, announce events and remind people to vote. Tell people what they'll get, and send it.

Events. List every public stop, like a coffee hour, a parade, a forum or a door-knocking day, with the date, time, place and a map link. Why: voters can't show up if they don't know where you are, and volunteers want a clear place to meet you. Take old events down or move them to a short “past events” list, so the page never looks stale.

Endorsements. Give them their own spot, even if it only has two or three names at first. Why: when a voter doesn't know you, they lean on people they do know, like a local leader, a business owner or a group they trust. Ask each person before you list them, and get their OK in writing, a text or email is fine. Add the new ones as they come in.

Donate. Before you add one, set up your campaign committee and talk to your treasurer and the Wisconsin Ethics Commission about the rules for taking and reporting money. The Ethics Commission's candidate page is the place to start.

Brent Jacobson won a 2024 State Assembly seat with 66% in a district that didn't exist before. Nobody had a habit of voting for him there, so every voter had to learn who he was, and a clear site is how a candidate gets that done.

Two stories from our own files show why the site matters. In one Senate district race, we sent every ad and every marketing push to the candidate's website. We tracked what happened with our analytics tools, which count visits and clicks. In just a couple of weeks, more than 2,000 people visited, and almost 95% of them watched the campaign video there. Most of those visitors reached out. Without that site, all that ad traffic would have had nowhere to land, and the campaign would have looked unprofessional.

The other story is a warning. A candidate hired a well-known political marketing agency to build a website, but the agency quietly hired a third party to do the work. Then it charged the campaign far more than the work cost. Two years later, when the campaign wanted to update its issues, nobody could get into the site. The small business that built it had gone out of business, and the site had been sold from one company to the next. The candidate called us in a panic as his election was getting started, with no website. We helped him get a new one up. So ask who is really building your site. Always own your web address (your domain name), in your own name or your campaign's, and never let anyone else own it for you. Whoever owns the domain controls the site, so make sure you can log in to it too.

Why does your campaign website need a “Paid for by” line?

Your site should say “Paid for by” followed by your campaign committee's exact name on every page, in the footer. That tells voters who is behind the site, the same way a yard sign or mailer does. We put it on every campaign site we build. For the rules on your race, ask the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

Here's how we do it:

• Use the exact words: “Paid for by” and then your committee's name, such as “Paid for by Jane Doe for School Board.” That name is made up, so use your own.
• Don't shorten the name. Copy it just as it appears on your registration.
• Put it in the footer of every page, so it shows up on a phone without any hunting.
• Add it to emails and social bios too, since those come from the same campaign.

Our “Paid for by” article covers the exact wording and the rules for signs, mail and ads.

How do you make a campaign website work on a phone?

Most voters will open your site on a phone, so design for the small screen first. Keep the text big, the buttons easy to tap with a thumb, and the pages short. Then check it on a real phone, not just a shrunken laptop window. Open every page, tap every button and fill out your own form.

Here's the phone checklist we use:

1. The top of the page says who you are without any scrolling.
2. Text is easy to read with no pinching or zooming.
3. Buttons are big enough to tap without hitting the wrong one.
4. Pages load fast. Shrink big photos before you upload them.
5. Forms are short. Name, email and phone is plenty to start.
6. Your web address is short and easy to say out loud, because it goes on signs and mailers.

What do you do once the site is live?

Share it everywhere, and then keep it fresh. Put the address on every yard sign, mailer, door hanger and social bio. Say it out loud at every event. If your committee's name is on your signs, the same name should sit in your site's footer, so voters see that it all comes from one campaign. The Wisconsin Elections Commission has a page for local candidates that's worth bookmarking, because it lists the filing steps you'll point people to.

Then look at who's using it. Most website tools show how many people visit and which pages they open. You don't need to be an expert to read it. If people reach your Volunteer page and don't fill out the form, the form is too long or too hidden. If nobody reaches your Issues page, your home page isn't pointing there. Fix one thing at a time, and check again in a week.

Answer every message that comes in through your site, and do it fast. A volunteer who writes in on Monday and hears back on Friday has often found something else to do. A quick, friendly reply is free, and it turns a stranger into a team member.

What should you leave off your campaign website?

Leave off anything that makes you look bad when a stranger reads it cold. Skip long speeches, old photos and claims you can't back up. Skip attacks, too. Your site should make people trust you, and a site full of complaints doesn't do that. And leave out your personal phone number and home address unless you want them public.

Also avoid putting up a page and walking away. A site that says “coming soon” in October looks like a campaign that isn't ready. If you can't keep up a news page, don't build one.

What we tell every candidate before they build

Start with the plan, not the design. Know your three to five issues, your one-line reason for running and the one thing you want visitors to do. Then build.

1. Buy your web address (domain name) early, and own it yourself. Pick one that's short and matches your campaign name, buy it in your own account, and never let a builder, an agency or a friend own it for you.
2. Write your story first, in your own words, then build the About page around it.
3. Get a real photo. A good picture of you with a neighbor, or at a local spot, beats a stock image every time.
4. Put “Paid for by” and your committee's exact name in the footer of every page. We cover the rules in our “Paid for by” article.
5. Point everything at the site: signs, mailers, social posts and your email signature.
6. Update it every week once the race is on, even if it's a small thing.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the rules that apply to your race with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, the Wisconsin Elections Commission and your filing officer, usually your clerk.

The Bottom Line

A campaign website is a simple tool that does a big job. It tells voters who you are before anyone else does. Keep it clear, keep it short, make it work on a phone, and give every visitor one next step.

Want a site that looks as serious as your campaign? Our web design team builds sites for candidates at every level, from school board to Congress & governor. A free consultation is the best way to start. You can also read our articles on Wisconsin “Paid for by” rules and running for mayor, or browse more Digital Campaigning articles.

Fact-checked October 1, 2026 against Bluejack field practice, the Wisconsin Ethics Commission attribution page, and Ballotpedia.