• Optimize & Prophesize, Wednesday, September 10, 2008 1:15 PM

As the presidential candidates duke it out over the airwaves, Jonathan Mendez takes a look at their search strategies--specifically their landing pages and site optimization--to see who's ahead. "I conducted a heuristic evaluation using the scenario of a person looking for information on the energy plans of both candidates-- arguably one of the most important issues in the election," he says. And John McCain came out on top.

A simple search for "McCain" turned up two pro-McCain PPC ads. A search for "Obama," on the other hand, turned up four ads, one of which was anti-Obama. While the top sponsored link for Obama had a clear message and a strong call to action, the landing page it led to was a roadblock--literally and figuratively.

"I could not enter the Obama site without first giving personal information (email & zip code)," Mendez says. "There is no option to find out Obama's positions, watch his videos, donate--nothing can be done without first giving out information. This breaks two of the cardinal rules of landing page optimization. Never ask for personal information unless 1) the person is explicitly assured they will get something of value in return and 2) they understand why you are asking for the information and what you are going to use it for."

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