With former Wisconsin Governor and past HHS Sec Tommy Thompson joining the increasingly large field of GOP hopefuls, I figured I'd take a tour of his online office and see what he had to offer.

Tommy2008.com is brought to you by the giant head people at Ideal Campaign. I call them this because a trip through their portfolio places you in front of a staggering number of websites whose front pages are all dominated by the enormous head of the candidate.

Tommy2008 sticks close to this mold - Tommy 2008 features an enormous mug shot of Thompson. It's not a direction I would have gone. (I'm not suggesting you hide your candidate, but when you're in a race against notably attractive candidates like Romney and Edwards, and you look like Moe Szyslak (see picture at right) you may want to play down your visage.

The short version of this review is this: "If Rudy's site, and Tancredo's site spent a wild drunk night together, Tommy's page would be the illegitimate offspring."

The graphics are on par with joinrudy2008.com, but the site is second only to Tom's for its lack of content. Like Tancredo's site, digging deeper becomes very difficult because there isn't much there. Unlike Tancredo, however, Thompson does appear to actually be using the "active" piece of his ASP.Net architecture. He has provided a bit more depth on his news items, but like the other TT in the race, his options for interactivity are filling out a couple of forms.

Some Recommendations

I feel like kind of like Oliver Twist. I keep getting gruel, but still go back looking for more. Since there isn't a lot I can say positively about Thompson's site, let me instead offer three suggestions for candidate websites. Maybe our GOP candidates will read this and the next site I review will make use of them.

1) Inspire me -   Your website is a reflection of you. Do you consider yourself to be open, approachable, knowledgeable, original, innovative, creative or anything else? Then your site should reflect that. Ask yourself one question. If a visitor comes to this site, leaves, and never comes back, what is the one thing you'd like them to take away? Do you want them to think that you are flat, uninteresting, and uninspiring, then by all means, put up a website that can be described in those ways. Otherwise, your site should tell them who you are. That may mean you have to move away from the standard red, white, and blue palette. It may also mean the candidate needs to participate. Post a personal note every night before bed or every morning before you start your day. Just let me know that you know I am here, you appreciate my support, and you really do want to make my life better. That is, after all, why I am helping you.

2)Your Website Is Not Like A Brochure -   Do not think of your website as the place where you put all of your press releases, the form to sign up and a place to give us your credit card. That may have been fine in 1996, but it doesn't fly now. Your website is much, much more than that.

You are doing sophisticated things with micro-targeting. You're blending voter and consumer data to talk to every single voter about very personal issues. You're doing very targeted and very creative buys on everything from niche cable channels to the in-flight entertainment on planes, yet you're still thinking of the most powerful and interactive campaign tool you have as a brochure. Stop it!

Since your campaign is not one-dimensional, and you're communications plans call for reaching voters in very personal ways, your website should, too. But beyond that, your website should also be a virtual extension of everything else in your campaign. If you're doing something offline, I should have access to an online version of the same thing. I should be able to interact with, help with, and contribute to your campaign in exactly the same ways whether I walk in the door or not.

3) Three Components Of A Successful Website -   Successful websites are built on some combination of three things - interactivity, personality, or competition. Look at any successful website you visit, and you will find at least two of the three. Campaign websites should have personality by nature. Your candidate is the personality that attracts people.

Interactivity means more than providing a form I can fill out. It's allowing me to communicate with other supporters, or even campaign detractors. It's asking me what I care about, and tailoring my user experience accordingly. It's engaging me, and making me feel like I am part of the process. Don't make me feel like George Jetson by taking my wallet and flying away. And don't make me feel like I'm obliged to help you. I want to help your campaign because I believe in you - don't make me question that.

Finally, competition can take many forms, but your people should feel like they're part of something greater than themselves. If you don't want to let your volunteers see what other individuals are doing, then let me see what my city or my state is doing. Just give me a sense that I'm not alone in my support for you. You should also show me that others are doing more than I am. It will irritate me and I will work harder.

It doesn't matter what the competition is. Whether it's a MoveOn-esque competition for budding film makers to create a video or a national phone bank to see who can ID more voters, the point is to get people involved. If you had ever told me that a website would spur a huge competition in the number of people reviewing books for free, I would have laughed, but Amazon understood the value.

It's not much, but it's a start. I sincerely hope that some aspiring candidate, whether it's for dog catcher or President, will get a useful idea from this. If one candidate website is better because of these simple thoughts, then Tommy Thompson's campaign will not have been in vain.