The WebAwards are the premier internet award competition that judges website development against an ever increasing Internet standard of excellence and against peer sites within an industry.
Today is the deadline for entering for 2008.
Entering is easy. If you have not already done so, you can create a Nominator Account or log in to an existing Nominator Account. Complete the entry form information and you site will be judged by our panel of Internet experts and be on its way to win the recognition you deserve.
Good luck to everyone who enters.
The Official Blog of the Web Marketing Association.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Paying Entry Fees by Wire
Some international participants of the WebAwards may find it easier to pay for their entry fees by sending a direct wire from their bank to the Web Marketing Association bank. If this is the case, please contact us for wire instructions.
It is important that you submit your entry prior to sending the wire and also emailing us your entry number when you have confirmed the wire has been sent. We have no way of matching the wired funds received by our bank with any entry until we receive your email notification.
Also note that there is a $25 USD wire fee to cover the fees we are charged by our bank.
It is important that you submit your entry prior to sending the wire and also emailing us your entry number when you have confirmed the wire has been sent. We have no way of matching the wired funds received by our bank with any entry until we receive your email notification.
Also note that there is a $25 USD wire fee to cover the fees we are charged by our bank.
Submitting Sites on CD-ROM
Web sites that are not currently available online may be submitted via CD-ROM. Please complete the Online Entry Form available in a nominator account and in the URL field, enter "CD-ROM".
Submit three copies of the site on CD-ROM with the entry number assigned by the online entry submission process on each disk. Send your CD-ROMs to:
Web Marketing Association
WebAwards Entry#
P.O. Box 249
W. Simsbury, CT 06092
Overnight packages can be sent to:
Web Marketing Association
WebAwards Entry#
7 Cedar Glen Road
W. Simsbury, CT 06092
Submit three copies of the site on CD-ROM with the entry number assigned by the online entry submission process on each disk. Send your CD-ROMs to:
Web Marketing Association
WebAwards Entry#
P.O. Box 249
W. Simsbury, CT 06092
Overnight packages can be sent to:
Web Marketing Association
WebAwards Entry#
7 Cedar Glen Road
W. Simsbury, CT 06092
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Entry Database Not Being Updated
We have received several emails from people who have nominated Websites for the WebAward competition and paid their entry fee, but the system reported that the payment was not showing up in the system.
This is caused when the final button is not clicked during the payment process. The Web Marketing Association uses a leading third party credit card processing gateway in order to protect the financial information of our award participants. If the final button is not clicked, the information is not passed from the card processor's servers to our servers which results in our database not being updated.
If this happens to you, please email us a copy of your credit card receipt and we will use the information from that email to update your entry or entries.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st. Just remember to complete the payment process by clicking the final button which takes you back to the WebAward Website.
This is caused when the final button is not clicked during the payment process. The Web Marketing Association uses a leading third party credit card processing gateway in order to protect the financial information of our award participants. If the final button is not clicked, the information is not passed from the card processor's servers to our servers which results in our database not being updated.
If this happens to you, please email us a copy of your credit card receipt and we will use the information from that email to update your entry or entries.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st. Just remember to complete the payment process by clicking the final button which takes you back to the WebAward Website.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
What Kind Of Budget Is Required To Create An Award Winning Website?
There are many that think you need to break the bank in order to create an effective Website that will win awards. Well, this is just not true.
Using data from the participants of the 2007 WebAward competition, the Web Marketing Association has determined that more than half (51%) of websites which won a WebAward were reportedly created on a budget of less than $50,000. Only 5% of the sites which won a WebAward last year had a budget of more than $1 million.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st, so both small sites and big budget sites will be well represented. While you need to be a huge brand to win some Website award programs, that is not true for the WebAwards.
Using data from the participants of the 2007 WebAward competition, the Web Marketing Association has determined that more than half (51%) of websites which won a WebAward were reportedly created on a budget of less than $50,000. Only 5% of the sites which won a WebAward last year had a budget of more than $1 million.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st, so both small sites and big budget sites will be well represented. While you need to be a huge brand to win some Website award programs, that is not true for the WebAwards.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Who is Developing Award Winning Websites?
Using data from the participants of the 2007 WebAward competition, the Web Marketing Association has determined that 51% of websites which won a WebAward were designed by an in-house team while the other half were developed with the input of an agency or agencies. In fact, 23% of the winning entries reported that they were developed solely by an agency, 4% were a team effort of multiple agencies and 22% a combination of an in-house team with the expertise of an agency.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st, so both in-house development departments and agencies have an opportunity to get their best work entered.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st, so both in-house development departments and agencies have an opportunity to get their best work entered.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Award Winning Website designers use PCs.
Using data from the participants of the 2007 WebAward competition, the Web Marketing Association has determined that 58% of websites which won a WebAward were designed on a Windows-based PC compared to 42% of award-winning sites which used a Macintosh-based computer.
When you look at which computer was used in the programming of the award-winning Websites, PC were used in 81% of the winning entries verses only 19% that used Macs.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st, so we will soon see if this trend of Microsoft supremacy in Web design will hold true for another year.
When you look at which computer was used in the programming of the award-winning Websites, PC were used in 81% of the winning entries verses only 19% that used Macs.
The Web Marketing Association is accepting entries into the 2008 WebAward competition until May 31st, so we will soon see if this trend of Microsoft supremacy in Web design will hold true for another year.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Who has the Meatballs?
Congratulations to Valerie Neuschwander of Web Associates, Gail E. Hageman of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP and Kimberly Brookes of Wyndham Hotel Group for being selected to win a copy of Seth Godins book from last month’s Web Marketing Association Interactive Briefing newsletter. In addition, Margaret Lahey of Mailer Mailer responded to our blog posting about a drawing and she was selected to receive a copy as well.
We hope they do as well in the 2008 WebAward competition!
We hope they do as well in the 2008 WebAward competition!
Monday, May 05, 2008
5 Tips to Impress the WebAward Judges
With less than one month to go until the deadline for entering the 12th annual international WebAward competition, we hope to provide a series of hints on how to increase your changes of winning this prestigious Website award. Be sure to check our WMA blog regularly or subscribe to its RSS feed for greater insight into putting your best foot forward and winning a WebAward.
1) Provide a Direct URL to the entry – One mistake agencies that submit multiple entries make is to create a page that shows all of the entries and uses the same URL for all of the entries. It is much better to provide a direct URL for each entry, the judges do not need a landing page to be impressed with your entry, they just want to review the site and multiple sites on the same page increases the chances that they might review the wrong site.
2) Make sure the URL works – The last thing you want is to find out that your entry was not judged because the URL was invalid or the changed before the site was reviewed. If the judges can’t see the site, they can’t score it and it will be disqualified. One thing that causes a URL to fail is nominators that include instructions in the URL like “www.webaward.org - click on the big button”. Instructions belong in the instructions field, not the URL.
3) Be brief and to the point - The Audience and mission statement helps the judges understand the goals of the site before the review. Their advice is to keep the narrative short and sweet. Who is the site’s audience? What are you trying to accomplish with the site – direct sales, branding, information, etc? What are some of the features that might not be apparent? These are what the judges are looking for.
4) List the requirements necessary to view the site – Some sites using the latest technologies require specific versions of products (Shockwave 11.0 or Adobe Flash version 9.0 for example) or the download of plug ins or executable programs to review an entry. They will be more willing to comply if they know what is expected when they review the entry form. Also, let the judges know if your site only works on Internet Explorer because they may be using other browsers.
5) Make sure the password works - If the site is password protected, please make sure the user name and password are active until August 15th. This point mirrors Tip #2 - . If the judges can’t see the site, they can’t score it and it will be disqualified. Passwords that change during the competition can be updated by email
5 Tips to Impress the WebAward Judges
1) Provide a Direct URL to the entry – One mistake agencies that submit multiple entries make is to create a page that shows all of the entries and uses the same URL for all of the entries. It is much better to provide a direct URL for each entry, the judges do not need a landing page to be impressed with your entry, they just want to review the site and multiple sites on the same page increases the chances that they might review the wrong site.
2) Make sure the URL works – The last thing you want is to find out that your entry was not judged because the URL was invalid or the changed before the site was reviewed. If the judges can’t see the site, they can’t score it and it will be disqualified. One thing that causes a URL to fail is nominators that include instructions in the URL like “www.webaward.org - click on the big button”. Instructions belong in the instructions field, not the URL.
3) Be brief and to the point - The Audience and mission statement helps the judges understand the goals of the site before the review. Their advice is to keep the narrative short and sweet. Who is the site’s audience? What are you trying to accomplish with the site – direct sales, branding, information, etc? What are some of the features that might not be apparent? These are what the judges are looking for.
4) List the requirements necessary to view the site – Some sites using the latest technologies require specific versions of products (Shockwave 11.0 or Adobe Flash version 9.0 for example) or the download of plug ins or executable programs to review an entry. They will be more willing to comply if they know what is expected when they review the entry form. Also, let the judges know if your site only works on Internet Explorer because they may be using other browsers.
5) Make sure the password works - If the site is password protected, please make sure the user name and password are active until August 15th. This point mirrors Tip #2 - . If the judges can’t see the site, they can’t score it and it will be disqualified. Passwords that change during the competition can be updated by email
Friday, May 02, 2008
WebAward Update
The Web Marketing Association's 2008 WebAward competition Call for Entries deadline is less than one month away. Now is the time to enter! All entries received after the deadline of May 31, 2008 are subject to a late fee.
The WebAwards are the premier internet award competition that judges website development against an ever increasing Internet standard of excellence and against peer sites within an industry.
A Best of Industry WebAward, a handsome plaque with the image of the winning site embossed, will be given in each of the 96 industry categories, including financial services, blog, medical, small business, travel, advertising, transportation, and government.
It's easy to enter and you can't win if your not entered, so go to the WebAward Website and create a nominator account and submit your entry today.
The WebAwards are the premier internet award competition that judges website development against an ever increasing Internet standard of excellence and against peer sites within an industry.
A Best of Industry WebAward, a handsome plaque with the image of the winning site embossed, will be given in each of the 96 industry categories, including financial services, blog, medical, small business, travel, advertising, transportation, and government.
It's easy to enter and you can't win if your not entered, so go to the WebAward Website and create a nominator account and submit your entry today.
Clickz Online Video Advertising Forum
Clickz Online Video Advertising Forum - July 22, 2008 - Millennium Broadway, New York City
Interactive video advertising is one of the fastest-growing interactive sectors. What are the implications for marketers? Digital and traditional ad agencies are changing their notions of formats and strategies and are learning to work with interactive video technologies to produce and distribute compelling, effective content.
Join ClickZ and its experts in this immersive, one-day forum when we uncover the strategies, innovations, tools, formats, strategy, metrics, and creative to building an effective online video campaign. This immersive, one-day forum is for senior advertisers, marketers, publishers, and content providers who are using or considering this very fast-moving medium. Its aim is to educate, inform and provide a comprehensive overview of online video advertising innovations, tools, formats, strategy, metrics, and creative.
Early Bird Registration: SAVE $300 now through May 23rd Web Marketing Association members SAVE and additional 10% with CZ10WMA.
Interactive video advertising is one of the fastest-growing interactive sectors. What are the implications for marketers? Digital and traditional ad agencies are changing their notions of formats and strategies and are learning to work with interactive video technologies to produce and distribute compelling, effective content.
Join ClickZ and its experts in this immersive, one-day forum when we uncover the strategies, innovations, tools, formats, strategy, metrics, and creative to building an effective online video campaign. This immersive, one-day forum is for senior advertisers, marketers, publishers, and content providers who are using or considering this very fast-moving medium. Its aim is to educate, inform and provide a comprehensive overview of online video advertising innovations, tools, formats, strategy, metrics, and creative.
Early Bird Registration: SAVE $300 now through May 23rd Web Marketing Association members SAVE and additional 10% with CZ10WMA.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Ten reasons why you should enter your website into the 2008 WebAwards
With only one month to go until the entrty deadline, we though we would give you our 10 reasons you should enter the Web Marketing Association's 12th annual WebAward Competition for Website development.
10) If you wait until after the May 31st deadline, you'll have to pay a late fee.
9) Your mom would be proud of you.
8) You will receive important benchmark data for your entire industry and where your site ranks in each of the seven judging criteria.
7) Think of the PR opportunities - industry publications, blogs, websites, by-lined articles, podcasts, press releases, interviews - the sky is the limit.
6) A best of industry plaque containing your award winning site will look great in your office.
5) The WebAward logo on your site is like receiving the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for Web development.
4) Your clients and customers will be impressed at your industry recognition and so will your potential clients.
3) A link to webaward.org will help your site's search engine rankings because you will be linked to an 12-year old .org authoritative site with a high Google PageRank.
2) A Best of Industry award means you're the best and you can prove it!
1) If you don't win, we won't tell anyone - and you still get the feedback.
Recognition and feedback, that is what you will receive when you enter the 2008 WebAward Competition for Website development. Winning accolades in the 2008 WebAwards - the Internet's premier award recognition program, is a great way to stand out from others in your industry. You will also receive valuable feedback from our judges and benchmarks for your industry. But you won't get anything if you don't enter!
The 12th Annual WebAward competition deadline for entry is May 31st, only a month away, and you can submit your site for review at www.webaward.org. Avoid a late fee by completing your Web site entries before the deadline.
Enter the 2008 WebAwards today and receive the recognition you deserve!
10) If you wait until after the May 31st deadline, you'll have to pay a late fee.
9) Your mom would be proud of you.
8) You will receive important benchmark data for your entire industry and where your site ranks in each of the seven judging criteria.
7) Think of the PR opportunities - industry publications, blogs, websites, by-lined articles, podcasts, press releases, interviews - the sky is the limit.
6) A best of industry plaque containing your award winning site will look great in your office.
5) The WebAward logo on your site is like receiving the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for Web development.
4) Your clients and customers will be impressed at your industry recognition and so will your potential clients.
3) A link to webaward.org will help your site's search engine rankings because you will be linked to an 12-year old .org authoritative site with a high Google PageRank.
2) A Best of Industry award means you're the best and you can prove it!
1) If you don't win, we won't tell anyone - and you still get the feedback.
Recognition and feedback, that is what you will receive when you enter the 2008 WebAward Competition for Website development. Winning accolades in the 2008 WebAwards - the Internet's premier award recognition program, is a great way to stand out from others in your industry. You will also receive valuable feedback from our judges and benchmarks for your industry. But you won't get anything if you don't enter!
The 12th Annual WebAward competition deadline for entry is May 31st, only a month away, and you can submit your site for review at www.webaward.org. Avoid a late fee by completing your Web site entries before the deadline.
Enter the 2008 WebAwards today and receive the recognition you deserve!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Best Of Digital Marketing
1st July 2008
The Grange City Hotel, London
Monetise Your Digital Channels And Inspire Consumer Engagement By Capitalising on the Future of Digital Marketing.
Reserve your place at Revolution's high-level review of 2008’s digital marketing brand best practice, showcasing handpicked award-winners and pioneers from the hottest brand case studies, spotlighting new digital channels that are about to hit the big-time, and looking across the digital landscape to make sure you can create an integrated cross-channel campaign guaranteed to capture attention and keep ahead of the competition.
Special Feature: To guarantee you leaving the conference with expertise that you can apply directly to your campaign, we’ve dedicated time to allow you to book small group time with our speakers
• Multi-Channel Fluidity Develop cross-platform campaigns for the best multi-channel mix
• Monetise Social Media From the creative to the commercial: make social networks produce real business benefits
• Optimise Your Website Explore new options for attract new traffic and streamline your site to convert visitors into customers
• Navigate The Search-Affiliate Landscape Maximise brand potential as the search environment evolves
• Quantify Creativity In Display Advertising Create captivating campaigns with calculable affect
• Perfect Email Campaigns Inspire with fresh design innovations, personalisation shortcuts and attention-grabbing ideas
• Debate Mobile Marketing Is it ever going to be the year of the mobile? Get involved with our down-to-earth, hype-free debate with cross-channel representation
A 360 degree brand-led showcase for all Marketing, E-Commerce and Digital teams wanting to keep their brands at the cutting-edge.
The Grange City Hotel, London
Monetise Your Digital Channels And Inspire Consumer Engagement By Capitalising on the Future of Digital Marketing.
Reserve your place at Revolution's high-level review of 2008’s digital marketing brand best practice, showcasing handpicked award-winners and pioneers from the hottest brand case studies, spotlighting new digital channels that are about to hit the big-time, and looking across the digital landscape to make sure you can create an integrated cross-channel campaign guaranteed to capture attention and keep ahead of the competition.
Special Feature: To guarantee you leaving the conference with expertise that you can apply directly to your campaign, we’ve dedicated time to allow you to book small group time with our speakers
• Multi-Channel Fluidity Develop cross-platform campaigns for the best multi-channel mix
• Monetise Social Media From the creative to the commercial: make social networks produce real business benefits
• Optimise Your Website Explore new options for attract new traffic and streamline your site to convert visitors into customers
• Navigate The Search-Affiliate Landscape Maximise brand potential as the search environment evolves
• Quantify Creativity In Display Advertising Create captivating campaigns with calculable affect
• Perfect Email Campaigns Inspire with fresh design innovations, personalisation shortcuts and attention-grabbing ideas
• Debate Mobile Marketing Is it ever going to be the year of the mobile? Get involved with our down-to-earth, hype-free debate with cross-channel representation
A 360 degree brand-led showcase for all Marketing, E-Commerce and Digital teams wanting to keep their brands at the cutting-edge.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Win a Copy of Seth Godin's New Book
We are giving away several copies of Seth Godin’s newest book Meatball Sundae: Is your marketing out of sync. Please email your contact information to (meatball at webaward.org)
and if you’re selected, we will mail you a copy of this interesting book courtesy of our friends at Search Engine Strategies.
and if you’re selected, we will mail you a copy of this interesting book courtesy of our friends at Search Engine Strategies.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Win a Free PPC Summit Conference Pass Contest
Pay Per Click Summit is searching for the most effective Search Marketing strategy, tip or technique that increased your conversions!
We're calling all internet marketers to submit your proven technique or strategy here on this Search Marketing strategy Contest Form:
All you have to do is answer the following questions (noted on the form at the above link). What Increased Your Search Marketing ROI Last Year? What one thing could you point to and say “THAT made the difference!” Please provide two paragraphs describing your most effective SEM tip, technique or strategy. Only one submission per person and make sure to include your name and email in the spaces provided on the submission form. Stand by to see if your Best Strategy submission is chosen as the winner, and you will win a FREE FULL CONFERENCE PASS TO THE NEXT PPC SUMMIT!
PPC Summit will review all submissions and choose one overall winner on May 9. The winner will be notified by email and posted on all contest blog hosts by May 12. If your submission is chosen as the winner, you will win a FREE two-day conference pass to the PPC Summit of your choice (San Francisco May 19-20 or Los Angeles Sept. 25-26).
The PPC Summits are educational two-day Internet Marketing workshops which connect you with the world’s leading pay per click experts. You won't want to miss the upcoming PPC Summit to learn from the Microsoft Keynote and other industry leaders during two full days of expert SEM and SEO lead generation and sales producing strategies. Stay tuned! The lucky winner will be announced and notified by May 12. The winner will also be recognized on all participating blog host sites.
Reserve your seat today and SAVE 10%, PLUS $200 off with code WMA10 www.ppcsummit.com/overview.html?blog
We hope to see you in San Francisco May 19-20.
We're calling all internet marketers to submit your proven technique or strategy here on this Search Marketing strategy Contest Form:
All you have to do is answer the following questions (noted on the form at the above link). What Increased Your Search Marketing ROI Last Year? What one thing could you point to and say “THAT made the difference!” Please provide two paragraphs describing your most effective SEM tip, technique or strategy. Only one submission per person and make sure to include your name and email in the spaces provided on the submission form. Stand by to see if your Best Strategy submission is chosen as the winner, and you will win a FREE FULL CONFERENCE PASS TO THE NEXT PPC SUMMIT!
PPC Summit will review all submissions and choose one overall winner on May 9. The winner will be notified by email and posted on all contest blog hosts by May 12. If your submission is chosen as the winner, you will win a FREE two-day conference pass to the PPC Summit of your choice (San Francisco May 19-20 or Los Angeles Sept. 25-26).
The PPC Summits are educational two-day Internet Marketing workshops which connect you with the world’s leading pay per click experts. You won't want to miss the upcoming PPC Summit to learn from the Microsoft Keynote and other industry leaders during two full days of expert SEM and SEO lead generation and sales producing strategies. Stay tuned! The lucky winner will be announced and notified by May 12. The winner will also be recognized on all participating blog host sites.
Reserve your seat today and SAVE 10%, PLUS $200 off with code WMA10 www.ppcsummit.com/overview.html?blog
We hope to see you in San Francisco May 19-20.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The WebAwards is the Best Website award competition
When the Web Marketing Association begin the WebAwards back in 1997, there were plenty of advertising award programs, and some even included a category for online media, but none were devoted to recognizing and improving overall Web development. We changed that!
We think we the WebAwards is the Best Website award competition for many reasons:
We have a transparent process. We tell you what the seven criteria for a successful Website are and let the judges determine how to apply them each year.
Our judges are Internet Experts from around the world that volunteer their time because they are leaders in their industry and understand the value of the WebAwards to Internet community.
All of our sites get sent to the judges – not just a handful of “finalists”. In fact, each site is reviewed by 3-6 judges and the final score is an average of the top two scores.
The awards are industry specific with 96 categories that you can enter. You are judged against your peers, not each industry has a different standard of excellence – just like in real life.
The year we are introducing a new award image plaque with a modern look that will look great on your office wall or in your company’s trophy case.
Winning a WebAward is also a great marketing opportunity. Winners can use press releases to drive traffic to your site and will receive links from our site to help with SEO efforts.
Everyone who participates gets feedback. Some will get specific comments from the judges reviewing your site, but everyone will receive their scores on each of the seven criteria and benchmark those scores against your industry averages.
Everyone who participates will also receive a copy of the 2009 Internet Standards Assessment Report which provides more than a decade of benchmarking data for your industry.
It is simple to enter and last years sites can be reentered with a single click from your nominator account.
If you have not entered theWebAwards yet, now is the time to give it a try. It’s effortless to enter. Simply go to the WebAward Website, create a nominator account and enter information about your site. The Web Marketing Association will send their independent expert judges to visit the site using seven criteria for an effective Website. If your Website has the highest score in your industry, you will receive a Best of Industry WebAward and a beautiful plaque for your trophy case. Other sites will be recognized with an Outstanding WebAward or a Standard of Excellence WebAward. All entries will receive their scores in each of the criteria benchmarked against their industry and overall Web development.
But you can't win if you don't enter, so don't delay, enter the 2008 WebAwards today.
The deadline for entry is May 31, 2008. A complete list of past winners and this year’s entry form can be found at www.WebAward.org.
We think we the WebAwards is the Best Website award competition for many reasons:
We have a transparent process. We tell you what the seven criteria for a successful Website are and let the judges determine how to apply them each year.
Our judges are Internet Experts from around the world that volunteer their time because they are leaders in their industry and understand the value of the WebAwards to Internet community.
All of our sites get sent to the judges – not just a handful of “finalists”. In fact, each site is reviewed by 3-6 judges and the final score is an average of the top two scores.
The awards are industry specific with 96 categories that you can enter. You are judged against your peers, not each industry has a different standard of excellence – just like in real life.
The year we are introducing a new award image plaque with a modern look that will look great on your office wall or in your company’s trophy case.
Winning a WebAward is also a great marketing opportunity. Winners can use press releases to drive traffic to your site and will receive links from our site to help with SEO efforts.
Everyone who participates gets feedback. Some will get specific comments from the judges reviewing your site, but everyone will receive their scores on each of the seven criteria and benchmark those scores against your industry averages.
Everyone who participates will also receive a copy of the 2009 Internet Standards Assessment Report which provides more than a decade of benchmarking data for your industry.
It is simple to enter and last years sites can be reentered with a single click from your nominator account.
If you have not entered theWebAwards yet, now is the time to give it a try. It’s effortless to enter. Simply go to the WebAward Website, create a nominator account and enter information about your site. The Web Marketing Association will send their independent expert judges to visit the site using seven criteria for an effective Website. If your Website has the highest score in your industry, you will receive a Best of Industry WebAward and a beautiful plaque for your trophy case. Other sites will be recognized with an Outstanding WebAward or a Standard of Excellence WebAward. All entries will receive their scores in each of the criteria benchmarked against their industry and overall Web development.
But you can't win if you don't enter, so don't delay, enter the 2008 WebAwards today.
The deadline for entry is May 31, 2008. A complete list of past winners and this year’s entry form can be found at www.WebAward.org.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Angry Websites Take Action
I have ambition. I have drive. My entire life – from when I was a wee pop-up trying to gain everyone’s attention to the grown-up full-fledged, content rich homepage that I am – I have always wanted to be the best. Get the best visitors. Shout out the best content. Have the newest, most innovative design around. My goal has always been to be the best.
So I wake up extra early in the morning – earlier than some of those other sites, whom we wont mention – spiff myself up quite a bit, and head into work. I put on my best content, shine up my title tag and even do a little dance for Google every once in a while to let her know I’m still around.
But maybe Google is upset with me lately. I mean, I did sort of break her heart a couple months ago, but that is a really long story and I’d rather not get into it at the moment. Or maybe somehow my site isn’t being promoted enough. Because lately there haven’t been any good visitors!
And that really aggravates me to my metadata. Come on you guys! I am a great site! And you don’t even seem to care. Well, if I can’t get your attention in a good way, here is a warning on how I am going to get your attention MY way!
1. You know that horrible feeling when your alarm goes off in the morning, and you just want to go back to bed, and you will do anything to make sure that happens? You hit the snooze button for five more minutes of bliss? Yeah, that is how I have felt every day lately. Not wanting to do any work, not caring if I get up out of my server in the morning. You know what I’m going to do to get some attention? CRASH! Haha, that’s what you get for ignoring me.
2. When I’m feeling particularly vengeful and angry that no one is recognizing me, I like to play a little game like not giving visitors the content they need to help them find the product/service that is right for them. This game is called “move around content so no one knows where to find anything!” It’s so fun! Take the company mission statement and move it onto the “Contact Us” page. Take the contact information and hide it under the “Locations” page. And maybe just get rid of the “Customer Testimonials” altogether. I mean, why show that people have said positive things about you in the past when now, in the present I’m being completely ignored?
3. I also like to incorporate some poor grammar into my content. So I’ll go through the work a diligent copywriter spent hours optimizing and I get rid of the keywords altogether and just insert the word “stuff” or “things”. That is always a good time. Then no one knows what you are offering, and my ex-friend Google won’t be poking around my site so much, trying to see what I’m offering.
4. These days, I don’t like having to run too many applications. And I definitely don’t like having visitors stay around and bother me all afternoon. You know those fun interactive bits that are on some websites? Yeah, not on mine anymore! No more visitor polls, no more exciting flash videos, no more “leave your comment here” forms. And while I’m at it, why not get rid of the color and formatting as well? This way, I use less of my very valuable energy to be “flashy” and “exciting” for visitors, and they take one look at my site, see its boring black-and-white format, and leave. I love it!
5. And remember when I said I haven’t been getting any “good” visitors? Well, that is correct. I mean, I have had some visitors, but they are of the rival gang. The kids-from-the-other-side-of-the-tracks. The Spammers! So what’s a guy to do? He’s starved of attention and boom, here comes someone so fantastic, so tempting, so nice-looking. And I just let him right in. But hey, negative attention is still attention right? And I might be a little insecure at times, so I just let Mr. Spam hang around. At least it’s company.
This is the life for me these days. My ambition and drive have gone out the window. Do you really want your site to get as annoyed as me? I don’t think so. That would be bad for your business and your reputation as a website developer.
If you want to boost your site’s recognition and keep it happy, enter it in the WebAward competition by May 31st, 2008. Being judged by internet gods is just the thing that will perk up your site and make sure he knows he is appreciated. And trust me, attention from a WebAwards judge is the greatest honor for a website. Your site might just be working up to his full potential soon to make sure he wins!
So I wake up extra early in the morning – earlier than some of those other sites, whom we wont mention – spiff myself up quite a bit, and head into work. I put on my best content, shine up my title tag and even do a little dance for Google every once in a while to let her know I’m still around.
But maybe Google is upset with me lately. I mean, I did sort of break her heart a couple months ago, but that is a really long story and I’d rather not get into it at the moment. Or maybe somehow my site isn’t being promoted enough. Because lately there haven’t been any good visitors!
And that really aggravates me to my metadata. Come on you guys! I am a great site! And you don’t even seem to care. Well, if I can’t get your attention in a good way, here is a warning on how I am going to get your attention MY way!
1. You know that horrible feeling when your alarm goes off in the morning, and you just want to go back to bed, and you will do anything to make sure that happens? You hit the snooze button for five more minutes of bliss? Yeah, that is how I have felt every day lately. Not wanting to do any work, not caring if I get up out of my server in the morning. You know what I’m going to do to get some attention? CRASH! Haha, that’s what you get for ignoring me.
2. When I’m feeling particularly vengeful and angry that no one is recognizing me, I like to play a little game like not giving visitors the content they need to help them find the product/service that is right for them. This game is called “move around content so no one knows where to find anything!” It’s so fun! Take the company mission statement and move it onto the “Contact Us” page. Take the contact information and hide it under the “Locations” page. And maybe just get rid of the “Customer Testimonials” altogether. I mean, why show that people have said positive things about you in the past when now, in the present I’m being completely ignored?
3. I also like to incorporate some poor grammar into my content. So I’ll go through the work a diligent copywriter spent hours optimizing and I get rid of the keywords altogether and just insert the word “stuff” or “things”. That is always a good time. Then no one knows what you are offering, and my ex-friend Google won’t be poking around my site so much, trying to see what I’m offering.
4. These days, I don’t like having to run too many applications. And I definitely don’t like having visitors stay around and bother me all afternoon. You know those fun interactive bits that are on some websites? Yeah, not on mine anymore! No more visitor polls, no more exciting flash videos, no more “leave your comment here” forms. And while I’m at it, why not get rid of the color and formatting as well? This way, I use less of my very valuable energy to be “flashy” and “exciting” for visitors, and they take one look at my site, see its boring black-and-white format, and leave. I love it!
5. And remember when I said I haven’t been getting any “good” visitors? Well, that is correct. I mean, I have had some visitors, but they are of the rival gang. The kids-from-the-other-side-of-the-tracks. The Spammers! So what’s a guy to do? He’s starved of attention and boom, here comes someone so fantastic, so tempting, so nice-looking. And I just let him right in. But hey, negative attention is still attention right? And I might be a little insecure at times, so I just let Mr. Spam hang around. At least it’s company.
This is the life for me these days. My ambition and drive have gone out the window. Do you really want your site to get as annoyed as me? I don’t think so. That would be bad for your business and your reputation as a website developer.
If you want to boost your site’s recognition and keep it happy, enter it in the WebAward competition by May 31st, 2008. Being judged by internet gods is just the thing that will perk up your site and make sure he knows he is appreciated. And trust me, attention from a WebAwards judge is the greatest honor for a website. Your site might just be working up to his full potential soon to make sure he wins!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Interactive Briefing Featured Articles
Here are two articles from the April issue of the Web Marketing Association Interactive Briefing that you might find helpful.
Build Customers Extranets to retain and increase revenue - Customized Customer Sites can and should be a viable component of your best marketing practices arsenal.
Go Online to Reach the “Online At Work” Audience - Reaching the office worker with relevant advertising has always been difficult. The Internet overcomes these challenges and offers advertisers a true opportunity to effectively reach the “online at work” audience. To better understand the “online at work” audience, Burst Media surveyed over 11,500 web users 18 years or older on the online activities they engage in while at work (PDF).
Sign up for the free monthly newsletter.
Clinton vs. Obama: Who has the Better Website?
The 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination process is being fiercely contested by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates are using the Internet to help their campaigns woo volunteers and campaign contributions. But who has the better Website?
Take a look at this video and find out.
Take a look at this video and find out.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The WebAward Judges Take on Clinton and Obama To see Who Has The Best Website?
Our WebAward judges have a lot of experience reviewing Websites. Not only are they all experienced Internet professionals that create and maintain Websites themselves, but as a group they have submitted more than 18,000 site evaluations over the past decade as part of the annual WebAward Competition.
With this in mind, the Web Marketing Association asked past WebAward judges to review both www.hillaryclinton.com and www.barackobama.com using the same criteria used in the annual WebAwards program. The sites were judged side by side on seven criteria of a successful Website. More than 100 Judges responded on short notice (111 to be exact) with additional judges just missing the deadline.
The 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination process is being fiercely contested by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates are using the Internet to help their campaigns woo volunteers and campaign contributions. But who has the better Website?
Here are the results:
Design - Asked “which Website has the most pleasing design?” WebAward judges selected the Obama site 3 to 1 over the Clinton Website.74.8% of them voted for Senator Obama’s Website and 25.2% selected Senator Clinton’s Website as better looking.
Innovation - Website innovation also went in favor of Barack Obama. By the same margin as design, the vast majority of WebAward judges (74.8%) thought the Obama Website seems more innovative, while only 25.2% favored Clinton’s.
Content - In terms of having the most appealing content, judges again selected the Obama Website over Hillary Clinton’s Website, although by a narrower margin than the first two criteria. 65.7% of the WebAward judges felt barackobama.com has more appealing content for visitors compared to 34.3% for hillaryclinton.com. WebAward judges also found that the Obama Website is more effective for telling the candidate's story and attracting contributions and voters to its cause (68.5% Obama vs 31.5% Clinton).
Ease of use – Senator Obama’s Website was seen as easier to use by the WebAward judges than Senator Clinton’s. 57.5% selected barackobama.com as easier to use compared to 42.5% of WebAward judges who felt hillaryclinton.com was easier.
Copywriting– It is obvious that both campaigns have excellent writers on staff. Neither Websites have any of the editing issues some large organizations can experience. However, the WebAward judges gave a slight advantage to the Obama site (60.8% over the Clinton site 39.2%).
Interactivity – Interactivity makes a Website more than just an online billboard and both candidates were effective in giving visitors to their Websites plenty to see and do. Nevertheless, once again the WebAward judges gave the edge regarding interactivity to the Obama Website (64.8%) over the Clinton Website (35.2%).
Technology – Use of technology is evident in both candidates’ Websites, however, the clear favorite for the WebAward judges was barackobama.com winning 73.8% of the votes compared to hillaryclinton.com with only 26.2% of the votes.
Regardless of who you will be voting for in the next presidential election, Websites are going to play an ever increasingly important role in how candidates get their messages across to the American voters. Based on the findings of this survey by some of the top Internet professionals available today, the Web Marketing Association names barackobama.com the winner of the Clinton vs Obama Website Challenge. We wish both candidates the best of luck in their efforts to become the Democratic Presidential candidate in the November election.
To see the actual results of the survey please go to the Clinton Obama Survey Results page on our website or view a short video of the results. We also have posted survey comments from some of our judges in another posting on this blog.
The 12th annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 96 industry categories by evaluating Web sites and defining benchmarks based on the seven essential criteria of successful Web site development. The goal of the Web Marketing Association, sponsor of the WebAwards, is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Web sites on the Internet today. Entrants benefit from a Web site assessment by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented to an award-winning Web site.
Websites in 96 industries can now be entered in the 2008 WebAwards at the award program Website. The 2008 Call for Entry deadline is May 31, 2008. For more information, visit www.webaward.org.
With this in mind, the Web Marketing Association asked past WebAward judges to review both www.hillaryclinton.com and www.barackobama.com using the same criteria used in the annual WebAwards program. The sites were judged side by side on seven criteria of a successful Website. More than 100 Judges responded on short notice (111 to be exact) with additional judges just missing the deadline.
The 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination process is being fiercely contested by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates are using the Internet to help their campaigns woo volunteers and campaign contributions. But who has the better Website?
Here are the results:
Design - Asked “which Website has the most pleasing design?” WebAward judges selected the Obama site 3 to 1 over the Clinton Website.74.8% of them voted for Senator Obama’s Website and 25.2% selected Senator Clinton’s Website as better looking.
Innovation - Website innovation also went in favor of Barack Obama. By the same margin as design, the vast majority of WebAward judges (74.8%) thought the Obama Website seems more innovative, while only 25.2% favored Clinton’s.
Content - In terms of having the most appealing content, judges again selected the Obama Website over Hillary Clinton’s Website, although by a narrower margin than the first two criteria. 65.7% of the WebAward judges felt barackobama.com has more appealing content for visitors compared to 34.3% for hillaryclinton.com. WebAward judges also found that the Obama Website is more effective for telling the candidate's story and attracting contributions and voters to its cause (68.5% Obama vs 31.5% Clinton).
Ease of use – Senator Obama’s Website was seen as easier to use by the WebAward judges than Senator Clinton’s. 57.5% selected barackobama.com as easier to use compared to 42.5% of WebAward judges who felt hillaryclinton.com was easier.
Copywriting– It is obvious that both campaigns have excellent writers on staff. Neither Websites have any of the editing issues some large organizations can experience. However, the WebAward judges gave a slight advantage to the Obama site (60.8% over the Clinton site 39.2%).
Interactivity – Interactivity makes a Website more than just an online billboard and both candidates were effective in giving visitors to their Websites plenty to see and do. Nevertheless, once again the WebAward judges gave the edge regarding interactivity to the Obama Website (64.8%) over the Clinton Website (35.2%).
Technology – Use of technology is evident in both candidates’ Websites, however, the clear favorite for the WebAward judges was barackobama.com winning 73.8% of the votes compared to hillaryclinton.com with only 26.2% of the votes.
Regardless of who you will be voting for in the next presidential election, Websites are going to play an ever increasingly important role in how candidates get their messages across to the American voters. Based on the findings of this survey by some of the top Internet professionals available today, the Web Marketing Association names barackobama.com the winner of the Clinton vs Obama Website Challenge. We wish both candidates the best of luck in their efforts to become the Democratic Presidential candidate in the November election.
To see the actual results of the survey please go to the Clinton Obama Survey Results page on our website or view a short video of the results. We also have posted survey comments from some of our judges in another posting on this blog.
The 12th annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 96 industry categories by evaluating Web sites and defining benchmarks based on the seven essential criteria of successful Web site development. The goal of the Web Marketing Association, sponsor of the WebAwards, is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Web sites on the Internet today. Entrants benefit from a Web site assessment by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented to an award-winning Web site.
Websites in 96 industries can now be entered in the 2008 WebAwards at the award program Website. The 2008 Call for Entry deadline is May 31, 2008. For more information, visit www.webaward.org.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)