What Kind of Website Awards Exist?

There are literally hundreds of website awards, including Cool Sites, Sites of the Day, Hot Sites, and Pick of the Week Sites.  These are generally hosted by sites that find and evaluate sites on the Internet. Some of these sites require you to submit while others select sites based on things such as:

·         Amazing graphics

·         Useful and interesting dynamic content

·         Uniqueness

·         Fun features

How Does Winning a Website Award Benefit Me?

Winning a website award means that your website will be featured and linked to on the contest host’s website.  This can bring a huge increase in traffic to your site, and therefore an increase in demand for your online offerings. 

A website award is great for building your company’s credibility, whether it’s a prestigious one or one that is given to everyone who submits (the average visitor doesn’t know which ones are which). Not only are award-winning sites considered to be trustworthier, but also your company as a whole will be seen as more professional as a result. 

Website awards aren’t a good strategy for everyone though.  If you sell novelty T-shirts, then any traffic is good traffic, and awards will benefit your site.  If you’re a marine biologist specializing in plankton reproduction in the North Pacific, then the traffic that “Site of the Day”  won’t help, as you’d only get a large quantity of visitors that have no interest in your services.

How Do I Apply for Website Awards?

There are different levels of prestige associated with each of the different award sites.  Some are highly competitive due to the number of submissions they get.  Some awards are easier to win, such as those from commercial sites that give awards to increase traffic to their own site. 

Once you’ve decided that the type of traffic that comes with winning an award fits with your marketing strategy, you should make sure your site has the makings of a winner than submit to as many award sites as you can.

·         First, make a list of URLs of award sites.

·         Read the submission form and guidelines.  Review a number of forms to see what common info is requested.

·         Write a document with the answers to various common questions from which you can copy and paste into the different submission forms (using “ctrl-c” to copy and ctrl-v” to paste).  This will save you time.

·         Submission guidelines will tell you what types of sites can be submitted.  They’ll also tell you what meets their definition of “Cool” or “New’ and what doesn’t.  Use this info to tailor your website so that it fits with what they’re looking for.

How Do I Display Website Awards?

If you’ve managed to collect a few awards for you site, you’ll want to display them somehow or you’ll be required to display them by the award host.  Posting awards on your home page is the best idea.  The extra graphics give your home page a slower load time.  Also, by posting awards on your home page, you’re giving visitors the opportunity to leave your site before they’ve even had a chance to explore it.

You can either display your awards on a page devoted to awards specifically.  If you only have one or two, you can display on your “About” page.  Either way, be sure to highlight any awards you receive in newsletters, email signature files, or other promotional materials.

Your Action

1.       Decide whether or not winning website awards will benefit your company.

2.       Make a list of award site URLs, to which you can submit your site.

3.       Tailor your website content so that it fits with the guidelines of the various website awards.

4.       Submit your site to as many appropriate website awards as you can.

5.       If you win any awards, display them on your website and tell your customers about your success.