When Taylor Swift, arguably the biggest pop star on the planet, dropped her much-anticipated endorsement in the 2024 U.S. Presidential race on Instagram, she did more than voice her individual support. She encouraged others to vote, saying:

I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first-time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.

In her story, she linked to vote.gov, the federal government website run by the General Services Administration (GSA) to help connect voters nationwide to their state registration agencies.

More than 400,000 users clicked through by the next day.

If you manage web traffic for your organization or government agency, did your heart skip a little beat there? 400,000 new visitors? In 24 hours?

As part of our ongoing work with GSA, we saw the spike! And happily, GSA did just fine. There were no reports of site slowdowns or crashes. It’s worth noting that new voters don’t register to vote at GSA’s vote.gov—registration actions have to happen at the state level—so vote.gov had the perfect, mission-aligned opportunity to provide valuable information to citizens right when they needed it. Vote.gov was ready to act as a trusted resource for all voting information for the influx of new visitors. 

Now think about your website’s mission. If you represent a cause, or provide a government service, like most of Forum One’s partners do, will you be ready if a celebrity or news event shines a megawatt lightbulb your way? While it may not be likely that Swiftie-size audiences will land on your home page, you never know when social media trends or events could surprise you. 

There are several ways to optimize how your site handles traffic, from backup systems to caching processes, to ensure you’re ready for an influx. Make sure you have these systems in place and test them regularly.

Think too about how your site is structured and what content greets new visitors. Is your home page cluttered with links to disparate sections or focused, like the home page of vote.gov, with simple, streamlined actions that help visitors take action with ease?

Vote.gov’s home page doesn’t overwhelm visitors or throw too much information at them at once. Its simple, streamlined action button and menu structure keep the focus on their mission.

This is a positive digital engagement story with a mission-aligned outcome. GSA performed well, and they aren’t alone: many causes are helped by celebrities. If your organization is hoping for its own Taylor Swift moment, make sure you’re ready! 

Make sure you’re ready to vote, too!

National Voter Registration Day was September 17th. If you didn’t do it then, visit GSA’s vote.gov site now to find your state and check your registration. Democracy depends on everyone’s participation.