Awards Program Debate

Daily article:

One of the most debated subject among webmasters is the whole concept of web site awards. I'm sure you've seen the little graphics on many different sites, announcing it is the "best", "coolest" or "most wonderful" or whatever. Sometimes you'll see terms like "bronze", "gold" and "silver" to describe the award.

What's the debate about? To put it briefly, are web site awards worth the "paper they are printed on?"

"What's the point?", some webmasters will say with a smirk (the smirk always seems to be there, oddly enough). "Where's the money in awards? These are just graphics that anyone can make up, they are given out by the boatload and they do not prove anything."

Au contraire. I beg to differ. Winning an award can be one of the most fulfilling achievements that a webmaster can experience. Yeah, some of the awards are given away by autoresponder (and these, I agree, are worthless), but others are very, very difficult to earn.

You see, the point is that in a true awards program you are getting a peer (another webmaster) to review your site against a set of criteria. You have to work to win some of the better ones, and the very best require an incredible effort.

But who wants a peer review anyway? I mean, isn't the real payoff in dollars or number of visitors or hits or whatever? Why would anyone care about the opinion of another webmaster?

That's easy. You see, web sites can always be made better. It does not matter how good of a job you've done, if you stand back and look at your accomplishment objectively, you will find something to improve. What awards programs do is speed up this process.

You begin by reading the criteria of the award. One common requirement is fast load time. You check your site and find the main page loads in 5 minutes ... and thus you will not win the award. Okay, so you fix that and check the next item. Hmm. Clean navigation ... fixed that, what's next? Readable text perhaps, or good content, or simply a way to turn off the background music. You see what's happening. You want that award so you MUST improve your site to achieve it. You have to spend a little more time checking it out, so that when your site is examined you will earn the prize.

What does that buy you? A better web site will translate into more visitors who come back more often, and if you are selling something, they may buy it.

So before you turn up your nose at that pretty awards graphic, read the criteria. See what the webmaster had to do before he earned that picture. If the criteria says "just take it and display it" ... the award is useless. On the other hand, if it states some stringent rules, then perhaps you should be impressed ... and maybe see if you own site measures up.

About The Author

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.

Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net

Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

---

Choose & Use the Best Colors, The Psychology of Color

Are you using the best colors for your web site?... Read More

Get Rid of Your Frames

A few years ago a lot of websites utilized frame... Read More

Be Friendly to Search Engines

The object of search engines is to give their visitors... Read More

When Good Computers Go Bad

Remember the day that you got your new computer (or... Read More

Top Six Ways To Make Your Visitors To Hate YOU!

We will take a look at why your visitors may... Read More

Web Design Tips To Boost Your Sales

The way you design your web site affects your visitors'... Read More

Do You Want To Save Time With Your Web Design?

It starts off simply; a few HTML pages, a few... Read More

Caveat Scriptor: Use the Advice of Those Who Know Before You Build a Site

~A man [woman] is a success if he [she] gets... Read More

3 Simple Ways To Dramatically Improve Your Website

Before you start worrying about marketing your website on the... Read More

Tips On Effectively Organizing Your Navigation

Not all links are created equal.While all of your links... Read More

Ten Tips For Your Web Site Home Page

1. Loading time:try to be below 20kbless number of imagesspecify... Read More

Website Promotion Ideas: 10 Tips On How To Use Your Picture Effectively To Increase Your Sales

Seeing is believing.One trick to increase your visibility as well... Read More

So Much About META Tags!

I've written about META tags in the past, and I... Read More

How to Design a Search Engine Friendly Web Site

Many web site designers don't design their sites for the... Read More

Browser Compatibility

Internet Explorer, created by microsoft has been the most popular... Read More

Graphic Design Can Make or Break Your Web Site

We all want high impact graphics for our Web sites... Read More

How To Boost Your Chances at Having a Successful Web Site

New Web sites are springing up online by the millions.... Read More

Content - the Key to Long Term Success

Every day internet marketers are inundated with the latest fad... Read More

Web Publishing Guide for the Beginning Entrepreneur (Part 1)

The best things don't come easy. - QuotedThe finished web... Read More

Cheap Web Design

If you think it's simply a case of who will... Read More

Facts You Should Know About Web Site Design and Search Engine Optimization

1. Web site File Structure / File NamingMost search engines... Read More

Nine Effective Tips For Improving Your Website?s Usability

Web usability is perhaps the most important factor in any... Read More

5 Website Design Tips to Make Your Site More Attractive

The question that I most frequently hear from people is... Read More

Web Design: Use it to Showcase the Message

If you are designing a web site for which the... Read More

What Content to Publish on Your Website

Many businesses want a simple website where they tell people... Read More

Cheap Web Design In London

Due to the large number of people offering web design... Read More

Designing Your Web Site For ALL Browsers

Let's face it. Building a web site that browses consistently... Read More

Website Design: 10 Smart Tips To Improve Your Ad Copy

Your website design may be affecting your sales in ways... Read More

How to Choose Web Design Company?

Before deciding on which web design company to choose, you... Read More

Optimized Web Page Template

I want to give you a free web page template... Read More

Hacked Off with CSS?

For those not familiar with CSS Hacks, they are ways... Read More

Low Cost Web Design In Birmingham

There are many companies who build websites, all of which... Read More

Mini Site or Content-based Web Site?

Are you in a dilemma whether to create a mini... Read More