Awards

By James Harvey Stout (deceased). This material is now in the public domain. The complete collection of Mr. Stout's writing is at http://www.james-harvey-stout.com .

Jump to the following topics:

1. The value of awards.
2. Techniques for receiving awards.
3. Resources.
4. Tips for giving awards.

The value of awards.

1. The value of receiving awards.
   • We attract visitors. However, the number of visitors depends on various factors:
     • The prestige of the award. Some awards have no prestige.
     • The prominence of the award-giver's site. If that site receives few visitors, then there will be few people who will know about the award which has been given to us.
     • The targeting of the audience. If we win an award for our website's design, our visitors will look at the design, but they might have no interest in our products and services.
     • The amount of time since the award. After we win an award, we might have more visitors for only a few days. However, some award-givers display a list of the previous winners, so our URL will be displayed for months afterwards.
   • We receive a psychological boost. If the award is a meaningful one, we gain some self-confidence, pride, and encouragement.
2. The value of giving awards.
   • We gain publicity. The award's icon can have our company's name or logo.
   • We gain visitors. The icon can have a link from the award-winner's site to our site.

Techniques for receiving awards.  

1. We can consider the value of this award.
   • Do we want to be associated with the award-giver? Our acceptance of the award implies approval of the award-giver's image, site, and products or services.
   • Do we want to be associated with the other winners of the award? Our high-quality site might be listed among amateurish sites.
   • Is the award simply a promotional gimmick? Some award-givers issue awards indiscriminately, in the hope that some webmasters will put the awards onto sites, thereby giving free publicity to the award-givers.
2. We can select particular types of awards.
   • Awards for general "cool sites."
   • Awards for various accomplishments, e.g., graphic design.
   • Awards for particular topics (e.g., news, reference, economics, celebrities).
3. We can apply for awards.
   • Some award-givers will allow us to submit our site more than once.
   • We can offer an intriguing description of our site. In our application (or in our email's subject-line and message), we need to attract the attention of the award-givers, so that they will want to visit our site.
4. We can display the awards.
   • We might want to create a separate page for our awards (instead of putting them on our main page), because these graphics will cause our page to load slowly. (The prestigious awards can be on our main page or in another prominent location.)
   • We can choose not to display an award at all. When we receive an award, we have no obligation to put it onto our site.

Resources.

1. Sites which have lists of award-givers.
   • We can search on the word, "award," in search engines.
   • 1000 Web Awards: The Award Archives. 
   • Award Central Club. 
   • Award Emporium.  
   • Awards Awards.  
   • Awards Cave. 
   • Award Sites. 
   • Award-Us.   
   • Cyberonline.  
   • Focus Associates' Award Sites.
   • Website Awards. 
2. Free award-submission services. These services will submit our site to many award-givers simultaneously, with just one application form.
   • Award-It
   • Awards Jungle.
3. Webrings of award sites.
   • A list of award webrings at 1000 Web Awards.  
   • Awards of the Web. This webring is at webring.org.  
   • Awards Ring. This webring is at webring.org.  
   • Ring Of Awards. This webring is at webring.org.  

Tips for giving awards.

1. We can select the qualifications for winners. The award will have more meaning if its criteria correspond to our field of interest; for example, if we sell graphics software, we might want to give an award for the best use of graphics on a website.
   • General "coolness."
   • Excellence in an aspect of website design. For example, we might want to give awards for high-quality graphics, sound, or other features.
   • Excellence in a particular area of interest. For example, we might want to give awards to "the best websites in the medical field."
2. We design the graphic of the award.
   • Appearance. If our graphic is ugly, webmasters won't want to display it on their site.
   • Selection. We can offer an assortment of graphics for the same award. The recipients can choose the one which suits them. The graphics might vary in size, color, animation, and other characteristics.
   • File size. A small graphic will load quickly on the page. (A webmaster would probably refuse to put a 50k graphic onto the website.)
3. We can require a link from the award to our site. Some award-givers do not require a link.