An awareness campaign website that turns readers into a pledge or a letter
Awareness on its own changes little. A campaign site works when a reader arriving from a shared link understands the problem in under a minute, trusts the facts because they're sourced, and does one thing before leaving: a pledge, a letter to a representative, a sign-up. Most of them will read it on a phone, often in a social app's built-in browser.
The order a reader needs
- The problem in one sentence, specific to a place or group: "Two in five bus routes in our county were cut since 2015."
- Why it matters to the reader, in a short paragraph that names who's affected.
- The action, with its button, before the long explanation.
- The evidence: three to five facts, each with its source.
- What happens next and how the reader will hear about it.
- Who's behind the campaign, with a contact address.
On an awareness campaign website, putting the action before the evidence feels backwards, but people who were persuaded by the post that brought them want to act now. The evidence is there for the ones who need convincing and for the journalist or officer checking your claims.
Facts that survive checking
A public awareness website is quoted, screenshotted and argued with. Every number should link to where it came from: a government dataset, a published report, a named study. Use the most recent figure, give its year, and round it in the headline only if the source supports the rounding. Avoid statistics you can't trace to a primary source, however often they're repeated elsewhere. If the evidence is mixed, say so; it reads as more credible than certainty.
Choosing the one action
| Action | What the form asks | How it's built |
|---|---|---|
| Join for updates | The built-in newsletter form, sent to Mailchimp or Kit | |
| Take a pledge | Name, email, postcode, the pledge they choose | A custom form with a site function |
| Write to a representative | Name, postcode, an optional personal line | A custom form; you compile and send the letters, or the reader sends a template you provide |
| Come to an event | Name, email, a message | The contact form, or a booking form for timed slots |
Pick one as the main action and make every button on the page point to it. A second, lighter action ("just keep me posted") catches people who aren't ready. More than two dilutes both.
For letters, the simplest reliable route is a template on the page with the representative's published email address, written so readers can personalise it. A custom form posting to a site function can also send each response to your own HTTPS endpoint with a signed call, if your team runs a system that compiles letters. Anticode doesn't look up representatives by postcode itself.
Built for the phone and for sharing
Anticode's design gate blocks publishing pages that lack a phone viewport, visible keyboard focus or reduced-motion support, and pages from the design engine ship with no scripts, so they load quickly on a weak signal. A few things are still up to you:
- Short paragraphs. Three sentences at most on a phone screen.
- One image that tells the story, with alt text that says what it shows. To use your own, build the page as an app, which uses photos you upload, or add it to an entry in a CMS collection (stories, say) with an image field.
- A headline that reads as a sentence, because it's what appears when the link is shared.
- A plain address. A domain such as
keepourbuses.orgon a paid plan is easier to say aloud and print on a leaflet than a long link.
Building it with Anticode
Describe the cause campaign website in your own words: what the problem is, who it affects, and the one action. The Architect asks up to three questions where the answer changes the build, such as which action leads, and shows a plan. The Organic and Editorial design systems suit most campaigns; Brutalist suits an urgent, protest tone. Then rewrite the copy yourself: the facts, the sources and the voice of the campaign need to be yours. Page views per day, by source, show which shares are bringing people in, counted without cookies.
Limits
- No embedded videos, maps or social feeds. Link to them.
- No live counters of pledges or letters; update a figure by hand.
- No donations on the page. Point a donate button at a payment link from your own provider, or see the donation page guide.
- English only. Anticode builds sites in English and doesn't translate them, which matters for campaigns reaching several language communities.
Questions people ask
Should a campaign site have several pages?
Usually one long page is enough and easier to share. Add separate pages for evidence or press only when the main page becomes too long to scroll.
Can I see where visitors came from?
Yes. The dashboard shows page views per day by source, including referrals from AI assistants, with no third-party trackers on the page.
Do I need a privacy policy?
If you collect names and emails, yes. Anticode writes one from what the site's forms collect; treat it as a starting point, not legal advice.