If you have traveled around the Web world, you already know that the San Mateo County Elections Office has one of the best, most informative election Web sites in the country at www.shapethefuture.org. The site gets some serious traffic around election time.
While we know that Web traffic numbers can be misleading, take a look at recent data. During the last two weeks, the site averaged nearly 1,200 visitors daily. This translates to more than 13,000 visitors accounting for nearly 47,000 page views.
We get these numbers and much more information from a program called Webtrends. It helps us build more content around those pages that are visited most often – the ones you find most valuable. The homepage gets the most hits, but in second place is the Youth Vote 2006 feature. This page chronicles the passage of the 26th Amendment in 1971, when 18-year olds gained the right to vote.
The third most often visited page is even more heartening! This is the page that tells people how to register to vote. The Hispanic Heritage Month feature was the fourth most often visited page on the site during this period. This new feature recognized Latinos, their contributions, their organizations and more. It’s a new feature, rich in content.
Visitors will find the Voter Tool Kit on the homepage useful before heading to the polls on Election Day to do things like locate their polling place and confirm their voter registration status . Another cool tool on the homepage is Track and Confirm, which allows Vote By Mail voters to verify that the elecitons office received their voted ballot.
