Category: WebAward

The Web Marketing Association is offer tips to improve your chances at winning a 2010 WebAward on the WMA Facebook Fan Page every weekday for until the May 25th entry deadline.

Here are the first 5 Tips:

WebAward Tip #1 – Pay Attention to the Audience and Mission Statement The judges use the audience and mission statement to get a sense of what you are trying to accomplish. It puts things into perspective for them. If you are too vague or worst too long winded, the judges will go on what that think the goal of the site should be and it may not be what you expect.

WebAward Tip #2 – Enter Early If You Pay By Check: Entries cannot be sent to the judges until the entry fee is paid. Some nominators wait until the final deadline to submit their site and then have to submit a check request! If your company requires you to pay by check, use May 1st as your deadline and get the site su…bmitted and the check request processed to give your entry viewed by the judges in the first round.

WebAward Tip #3 – Don’t Have A Single Landing Page for All Entries. Some agencies like to have a single landing page for all entries submitted to an awards show. This might make things easy for them, but it can be a nightmare for the judges. Creating a landing page is acceptable as long as it is only for the entry under consideration.

WebAward Tip #4 – Don’t Include Instructions In The URL Field. When we ask for a URL, we want only a URL. Typing “www.webaward.org (go to the bottom of the page first)”, will result in the judges getting an error message. If you have something you want the judges to know, add a “NOTE TO JUDGES” at the beginning of your audience and mission statement.

WebAward Tip #5 – Check your URL and Passwords. Every year sites are disqualified because the nominator had a typo in the URL or the server moved or the username expired. Don’t let this happen to you! If the URL changes, email us and we will update it. Make sure the user name and password (if necessary) are valid until… August 15th to be sure the judges can access the site.

For more information on the 14th annual WebAward Competition for Website development, please go to www.WebAward.org.

Bill Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association, appeared on WebMasterRadio.FM’s InBoxed Show during the recent ad:tech conference in San Francisco.

Bill Spent almost 20 minutes talking to Jon Fondy about the 2010 WebAwards and even had to interview himself as Jon was dropped from the call for several minutes due to technical difficulties.

You can listen to the interview here.

What is the best way to win a WebAward from the Web Marketing Association? To enter of course! However there are ways to improve your chances when the judging starts. Each weekday for the next month, we will post a Webaward Tip on our Facebook Fan Page to help you position your entry in the best possible light. So be sure to become a Fan of our WMA Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WebMarketingAssoc and watch your newsfeed or visit the page to get a step ahead of the competition.

The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce the call for entries for its 14th annual international WebAward competition. The WebAwards are the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks based on the seven criteria of a successful Web site. It recognizes the individual and team achievements of Web professionals who create and maintain outstanding Web sites. The deadline for entry in the 2010 WebAwards is May 25, 2010. A complete list of past winners and this year’s entry form can be found at www.webawards.org.

“The goal of the WebAwards is to not only recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Web sites on the Internet today, but also provide valuable feedback to entrants on how their sites stack up against their peers and industry standards of excellence,” said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association. “The WebAwards is different from other Web site award programs because we’re not just a beauty pageant focused on name recognition and design. For that reason, we see ourselves more like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval than the Academy Awards.”

Web sites are judged on seven criteria, including design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copy writing and ease of use and receive a numeric score. Each WebAward entry is judged against other entries in its industry category and then against an overall standard of excellence. Entrants also benefit from receiving valuable feedback from the WebAwards professional judging panel on their Web site development efforts.

This year’s top awards will include:

• A Best of Industry WebAward will be given in each of the 96 industry categories, including financial services, medical, small business, travel, advertising, transportation and government.

• The competition’s highest honor, the 2010 WebAward “Best of Show,” will be given to the one site that the judges believe represents the pinnacle of outstanding achievement in Web development. Last year’s Best of Show winner was Organic, Inc. for its outstanding work on “Bank of America – Morris on Campus” web site at http://www.bankofamerica.com/oncampus, which also won Best Bank Website.

• The Web Marketing Association will also recognize the interactive agency winning the most awards in the competition with the “Top Interactive Agency” WebAward. The 2009 Top Agency award was Extractable (http://www.extractable.com/) taking home 25 WebAwards. This Bay Area interactive agency specializing in web strategy, web design, custom technology, was recognized with five Outstanding Website WebAwards and 20 Standard of Excellence WebAwards.

Judging for the 2010 WebAwards will take place in June through August and winners will be announced in September. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet professionals who have direct experience designing and managing Web sites,–including members of the media, interactive creative directors, site designers, content providers and webmasters – with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site development and technology. Past judges have included top executives from leading organizations such as A&E Television Networks, Agency.com, BGT Partners, Blattner Brunner, Bridge Worldwide, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Comedy Central, Disney, Euro RSCG, Ion Global, J. Walter Thompson, John Deere Company, New York Post Interactive, Organic, Inc., Refinery, R/GA, Saatchi & Saatchi, SAP, Starwood Hotels, Sun Microsystems, Warner Bros. Online, Xerox and Zugara.

The 2010 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organizations: BGT Partners, PR Newswire, Burst Media, AllBusiness.com, ExactTarget, ad:tech conferences, Internet World UK, Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster Radio, and Website Magazine. The Web Marketing Association thanks these companies for their commitment to the entire online marketing community.

The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce the winners of its13th annual WebAward Competition for Web site development. More than 2,000 sites from 45 countries were adjudicated in 96 industry categories during this year’s competition. Entries were judged on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and use of technology.

“Recognizing the best website in each industry is an important way to establish the ever changing standard of excellence in website development,” said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. “Each year the WebAwards receives amazing entries from around the world that show impressive creativity and functionality. As the Internet evolves, so does the state of website development and winning a WebAward is a great way to demonstrate the effectiveness of your Web development efforts.”

A complete list of the winning sites can be found at the WebAward Web site at www.webaward.org.

The 2009 Best of Show WebAward is presented to Organic, Inc. for their exceptional work on “Bank of America – Morris on Campus” website. The site was also recognized as Best Bank WebAward.

Bank of America enlisted Organic to help B of A maintain this leadership position by developing an online marketing program that would meet the needs of students in their current stage of life. Organic created Morris – the Wise Upperclassman and his online web show, “Morris On Campus.” For students, Morris is a peer, a mentor, and a confidante — someone who has recently had to make the same financial decisions other underclassmen are making today. “Morris On Campus”—a series of 6 web shows—is a way for Morris to communicate bank messaging, in terms that students can understand.

This is the second time Organic, Inc. has won the coveted Best of Show WebAward. They also received top honors at the very first WebAward competition in 1997 for their work on Philips Home Theater Web site.

Organic, Inc. won an impressive 12 WebAwards in 2009.

The Web Marketing Association named Extractable as Top Agency at the 2009 WebAward Competition, taking home 25 awards. The Top Agency Award is given to recognize the consistently outstanding development going on at interactive firms. The Bay Area interactive agency specializing in web strategy, web design, custom technology, was recognized with five Outstanding Website WebAwards and 20 Standard of Excellence WebAwards.

Agencies or companies winning five or more WebAwards in 2009 include:

AGENCY AWARDS
Extractable 25
Risdall Marketing Group 21
TravelCLICK, Inc. 20
Biggs|Gilmore 20
E-site Marketing 18
BGT Partners 17
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Online 13
Organic, Inc. 12
AGENDA 12
Firmseek, Inc. 10
TIG Global 10
Bridge Worldwide 9
Ektron 9
NavigationArts 9
TMP Worldwide 9
VML 9
Weber Shandwick 9
Aristotle 8
Boston Interactive 8
Firstborn 8
Twelve Horses 8
Euro RSCG 7
John Hancock 7
Pixelplus Interactive 7
Razorfish 7
Arc Worldwide 6
G2 Interactive 6
Hubbard One 6
BLITZ 5
BrandExtract 5
Brunner 5
CE / Positive 5
Amadeus 5
Colonial Williamsburg 5
Digitaria 5
Digitas Health 5
Duo Consulting 5
Fastbooking Asia Pte Ltd 5
JWT INSIDE 5
Larsen 5
Leo Burnett Chicago 5
Mintz & Hoke Communications 5
Rare Bird, Inc. 5
Sapient 5
TGD Communications, Inc. 5
Thomson-FindLaw 5
WSI 5

The Web Marketing Association’s 2009 WebAwards results will be available online next week, however participants can log into their nominator accounts beginning today and see the results.

If you have won a WebAward this year, you may edit your entry information prior to public release of the results. Please review your entry information so that your award and online listing are correct.

You can sign in to your nominator account here.

Today is the final day to enter the Web Marketing Association’s 2009 WebAwards. All entries must be completed by the end of day today so that we can get he entries to the judges beginning on Monday June 15th.

It’s now or never, so if you have not yet submitted your site go to www.WebAward.org and get it entered now!

Tomorrow will be too late!