Why the US Presidential Elections were like an SEO Campaign
As Ohio was declared for Barack Obama at around 11:20 p.m EST, the curtain started to come down and what had been one of the hardest fought and most expensive US presidential elections in history.
The Democrats and Republicans have been slugging it out for months over the biggest issues facing America today – chief among them the economy – using a variety of techniques and devices to try and convince the public that their policies would be the most effective at tackling the US’ enormous national debt.
What Obama’s re-election means for the global economy, the war in Afghanistan and the Palestine-Israel conflict are all pressing questions, but I know what you’re think: “How was the election trail like an SEO campaign?” Well, it’s funny you should ask, because here’s how…
Link-building = Endorsements
It’s importance may be diminishing as Google looks to make content centre stage, but you cannot deny that link building is still a crucial aspect of all effective SEO campaigns. Links from well respected domains to your own site is an indicator to the search engines that your brand can be trusted, and it is just the same with presidential candidate endorsements.
As the campaign season moves along, Obama and Romney have been backed by a variety of celebrities and political figures, with the aim of swaying voters with the authority of their opinion.
Barack Obama has supported by all manner of Hollywood celebrities such as George Clooney and Scarlett Johansson as well as former Democratic president Bill Clinton, while Mitt Romney also had his fair share of star-powered backing. Clint Eastwood made an appearance at the Republican National Convention, while the interestingly-coiffure’d Donald Trump is an outspoken Republican supporter.
Spammy versus Quality Content
In terms of the content of this election campaign both candidates were very much guilty of operating using white hat and black hat techniques! Although events such as the Presidential debates offered voters an informative and useful insight into both Obama’s and Romney’s visions for America, the onslaught of negative attack ads in swing states such as Ohio could certainly be filed under the heading of ‘spammy’.
The Influence of Social Media
Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming increasingly useful tools in the world of SEO, and it is no different when it comes to the Presidential election campaign.
Although speeches, rallies and television ads are still used regularly by candidates, social media now offers them the opportunity to reach the voters instantly, and most importantly interactively, allowing the public the chance to get more involved in the debate than ever before.
You can read more about the impact of social media for Barack Obama’s campaign in this great blog post by Hayley Francis.
So there you have it, the US presidential election was just like an SEO campaign, which leaves just one obvious question… Creare for President 2016?
