The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce the call for entries for its 10th annual international WebAward competition. The WebAwards is 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 2006 WebAwards is May 31, 2006. A complete list of past winners and this year’s entry form can be found at www.webaward.org.
“The WebAwards is different from other Web site award programs because we’re not just a beauty pageant focused on name recognition and design,” said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association. “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. 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.
Using the quantifiable data collected from nearly 10,000 Web site evaluations over the past decade, the WebAwards has defined and recognized industry-specific benchmarks for successful Web sites in each of these areas and release a the Internet Standards Assessment Report to communicate the findings of the study. A copy of the study is available at www.webaward.org.
This year’s top awards will include:
* 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, medical, small business, travel, advertising, transportation and government. New categories for this year include Blogs, Architecture, Electronics and Photography.
* The competition’s highest honor, the 2006 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 based IQ interactive (www.iqtv.com), for their outstanding work on “National Geographic – Inside The Mafia” at URL www.insidethemafia.com.
* The Web Marketing Association will also recognize the interactive agency winning the most awards in the competition with the “Top Interactive Agency” WebAward. The 2005 Top Agency award was presented Zugara (www.zugara.com), taking home 20 awards, more that any other organization in the history of the competition.
Judging for the 2006 WebAwards will take place in June through August, with winners announced in September. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet professionals who have direct experience designing and managing corporate Web sites,–including members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, content providers and webmasters – with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site development and technology. Mark Kingdon, CEO of Organic, Inc. has been selected to lead the judging panel this year. Past judges have included top executives from leading organizations such as Ogilvy Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, Blattner Brunner, Comedy Central, Sun Microsystems, Refinery, Euro RSCG, EPB Interactive, New York Post Interactive, The Cincinnati Enquirer, J. Walter Thompson, Xerox, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Modem Media, and Answerthink.
The 2006 WebAward Competition current sponsors include Burst Media, SimpleFeed, Register.com, NewsUSA, AdTools Inc, Small Army, Perseus Development Corp and PRWeb. Media Sponsors include Website Services Magazine, AdRants, MarketingVox, MediaPost, eComXpo, Ad:Tech and Macworld. The Web Marketing Association thanks all of its sponsors for helping to make this annual competition possible.
About the WebAwards
The 10th annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 95 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. For more information, visit www.webaward.org.
