The 60-Minute SEO Checklist for Campaigns & Committees

Campaigns spend thousands on digital ads and almost nothing on the one thing that drives free, long-term traffic: basic search engine optimization. Most political websites are effectively invisible to Google. Here is how to fix that in a single sitting.

None of this is complicated and none of it is expensive. We ran this exact checklist on our own site in about an hour. Most campaigns have never done any of it, which is exactly why doing it puts you ahead.

What you'll need

Access to your website backend (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, it doesn't matter), a free Google account, and sixty minutes.

Step 1: Add structured data (15 minutes)

This is the highest-leverage move on the list. Structured data is a small block of code that tells Google, and AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, exactly what your organization is. Without it, Google has to guess. With it, you are stating it directly. Find the "Structured Data" or "Custom Code" section of your site and paste in three JSON-LD blocks: Organization, LocalBusiness, and WebSite.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Your Organization Name",
  "url": "https://www.yoursite.com",
  "description": "A brief, accurate description.",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "addressLocality": "Your City",
    "addressRegion": "Your State",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  }
}

Swap in your real name, URL, and location for each block, paste them in separately, then save and publish.

Step 2: Write your meta description (5 minutes)

This is the two-line summary that shows under your name in search results. If you don't set one, Google writes it for you, and it won't be good. Keep yours between 50 and 160 characters, and include your location and what you do. For a committee: "The official Republican committee for [County], [State]. Volunteer, donate, and get involved today." Short, specific, actionable.

Step 3: Set your keywords (5 minutes)

Keywords are the phrases people actually type when they're looking for something like you. Pick four or five that are specific to your race or region, and make sure those phrases appear naturally in your real page copy. "Republican" by itself is useless. "[County] Republican committee" or "[Candidate] for [office]" is searchable and winnable. Specific beats broad every time.

Step 4: Connect Google Search Console (20 minutes)

This is the most important step and the one almost nobody does. Search Console is a free Google tool that confirms your site exists, shows how you rank, and flags problems. Without it you are flying blind. Add your site at search.google.com/search-console, verify ownership with the HTML tag option, paste the verification tag into your site's head on all pages, publish, and hit Verify.

Step 5: Submit your sitemap (5 minutes)

A sitemap is a file that lists every page on your site so Google can find them fast. Most platforms generate one automatically at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. In Search Console, open Sitemaps and submit it. Google will crawl and index your pages significantly faster.

Step 6: Check back in 2 to 3 weeks

Return to Search Console and look at two reports: Coverage (any pages with indexing issues) and Search Results (which queries are bringing people in). That's your baseline. Now you know what's working and where the gaps are.

Why this matters for campaigns

Donors research candidates before they give. Volunteers look you up before they show up. Voters Google your name before they decide. If your site doesn't appear, or appears poorly, you lose all three before they ever reach out. This checklist costs nothing, takes an hour, and almost none of your opponents have done it. Do it before they do.

Adapted from Andrew Loposser's newsletter, The Political Playbook.