Mitt Romney as many know is running the current presidential campaign to become americas next president and he is playing it smart by purchasing many domains and building small microsites that are allowing him to track traffic and campaigns in different parts of the USA.
He hasn’t however purchased the domain RomneyRyan.com which is for sale at Flippa.com with a buy it now price of $100,000 USD – This would be a great purchase for Mitt Romney and is only a small fraction of what he is spending on his presidential campaign. The domain name Mitt.com is also for sale at present but Mitt Romney official website is currently on MittRomney.com
Experts in digital media say campaigns and political organizations of all stripes increasingly use the “microsites” also known as minisites as tools to draw attention to an issue, brand an opposing candidate or raise money around specific themes.
A microsite or minisite – Is a website that is developed around a niche subject and usualy contains only 5 – 10 pages of unique content with an aim of being the most authoritative subject in the small niche, whereas full-blown websites shall contain thousands of pages of text and information with links and background information – Minisites or Microsites are great because they are sharp and get to the point.
“It’s absolutely a good strategy,” said Vincent Harris, a digital consultant who worked with the GOP presidential campaigns of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. “The shorter, the catchier the name the better.”
One of the sites the Romney campaign bought this spring is “o-the-amateur.com” a frequent theme Republicans use to suggest Obama does not have the expertise to manage the economy.
The Romney campaign has had success with sites such as fortyfore.com, a reference to Obama’s penchant for golfing on off days.
Romney’s campaign also used microsites to target both Gingrich and Perry during the Republican primaries.
WhatsNewthiding.com launched as a part of Romney’s offensive against Gingrich, highlighting questions about the former speaker’s contract with Freddie Mac. Romney’s campaign also accused Perry of being a career politician and opened the website careerpolitician.com.
However the Obama campaign, so far, has primarily launched websites that promote the president or defend attacks against him — such as on Attackwatch.com. However, the purchase of some domain names such as Mittbot.com, indicate the attacks could be on the horizon.
Other Romney purchases are clearly linked to news events.
After Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s comments that Ann Romney had “never worked a day in her life,” the Romney campaign bought a slew of sites such as MomswithRomney.com and Mom-Ney.com, according to the Federal Election Commission and online searches.
IwilltransmityourflexibilitytoVladimir.com was created on April 1, days after President Obama was overheard asking Dimitri Medvedev, then Russia’s president, for “space” on the missile defense system, adding that he would have more “flexibility” after the election. Medvedev replied, “I will transmit this information to Vladimir,” a reference to Medvedev’s successor, then-prime minister Vladimir Putin.
Overall the Romney campaign has spent more than $32,261 on domain-related purchases. The Obama campaign has spent $29,627 on “domain websites,” according to campaign-finance reports.
So domainers aren’t the only one that are purchasing domains and building minisites or microsites – More people are getting involved with the development of domain names and spending sums like 32k seems like nothing if you can win the presidential campaign.
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