Presidential Candidates SEM Critique

It is more than a year before the first presidential primary and the field of Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls is crowded as usual. Each candidate, from famous figures such as John McCain and Hillary Clinton to lesser known candidates such as Mike Gravel and Ron Paul, has a vested interest in getting their message out. More specifically, they have a significant stake in controlling the conversation and consistently and effectively branding themselves when a Web user searches for them or their position on a certain issue.

To gain traction with Web-savvy voters, candidates must have high visibility on search engines – both for their names, misspellings of their names (“hilary clinton,” “sam brownbak”), and issues-based search terms (“barack obama abortion,” “mitt romney iraq”).

So why, as many bloggers have noted, do the official websites and blogs of so many presidential candidates have little search engine visibility?

Case in Point: John McCain

At this point in the campaign cycle, John McCain seems to be in the worst trouble. Google his name and the first result is his U.S. Senate home page – a page that’s no good to him as a campaigning platform.

Just a few days ago, however, McCain was in much worse shape. About a week ago, bloggers commented that when his full name was searched, his official campaigning website didn’t show up on the first page of search results…or the second…or even the third. At position #68, his official site was buried under his Wikpedia page, his MySpace page, and a bevy of anti-McCain websites, articles, and blogs.

Luckily for McCain, however, in just the past few days his official site has climbed to #3 on Google when his name is searched. His team had probably been working for quite a while to pull up the site from the depths of Google, and the site broke through to page one just as bloggers noticed the site’s dismal rankings. Of course, rankings are fickle, and the site could drop back to page 2 – or worse – seemingly at random.

Pay Per Click Ads

Wisely, the McCain team is using Pay Per Click advertising to draw users to his official site. Such PPC ads have shown to create synergy when they appear alongside organic search results – drawing more users to the intended destination than organic results or a paid ad alone.

However, Rudy Guiliani appears to have a zealous Paid Search team on his side, too. Search the name of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, or Mike Huckabee, and a “JoinRudy2008” paid ad appears on Google. Guiliani’s team clearly appreciates the value of aping his competitors. (Curiously, these paid ads don’t show up when the name of John Edwards or Barack Obama are searched.)

Similarly, a paid ad for John McCain appears when the name of his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, is searched.

Testing Candidates’ Search Engine Visibility

Searching a range of relevant search terms yielded some surprising results. In this analysis, the “winner” is defined as the candidate whose official site has the highest position.

Google search term: u.s. presidential candidates
The winner: Dennis Kucinich, at #9

Google search term: republican presidential candidates
The winner: Mitt Romney at #48

Google search term: republican presidential candidates 2008
The winner: Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, at #11
Winning Republican candidate result: Mitt Romney at #13

Google search term: democratic presidential candidates
The winner: John Kerry at #8
Runner-up: Dennis Kucinich at #16

Google search term: democratic presidential candidates 2008
The winner: Dennis Kucinich at #8

Google search term: 2008 presidential election
The winner: no one; no candidate’s official sites broke through to the first three pages of SERPs
The runner-up: Rudy Guiliani, who has paid search placement

Google search term: john edwards iraq
Results: The #1 result is an op/ed authored by John Edwards that appeared in the Washington Post; his official blog is at #5

Google search term: john mccain iraq
Results: His official site stands at #14

Google search term: Hillary clinton abortion
Results: Her official site does not appear anywhere on the first three SERPs

Google search term: rudy giuliani immigration
Results: His official site does not appear anywhere on the first three SERPs

The Verdict

After a quick, arbitrary test of general search terms and more issues-based search terms, it’s clear that candidates are having trouble breaking through to page one of Google — something they must do to effectively control their message. Despite being a long-shot candidate, Dennis Kucinich has excellent search engine visibility — probably because his domain has longevity on the Web as a result of his earlier political campaigns.

Other candidates are likely to learn the importance of their blogs, YouTube channels, linkbuilding efforts, PPC ad placements, and other SEO efforts between now and the election. Though it would be exaggeration to say that a candidate who drops off page one of Google also drops out of voters’ minds, search engine visibility is crucial to effective branding, reaching younger voters, and controlling your message in the face of competitors, antagonistic Internet pundits, unflattering blog posts, and the like.