Unlike the web site awards reviewed previously, the World Wide Web Awards is free to enter. The details of the award according to the web site include:

As one of Worlds peak internet bodies, the Awards of World Wide Web Award Program are amongst the most prestigious available – and hence, amongst some of the more difficult to win on the web. The World Wide Web Awards has devised a rating system of Gold, Silver, and Bronze – with these different rankings enabling us the widest possible area in which to reward skill, effort and enthusiasm and assist in gaining credibility for your website.

The award has vast criteria for judging, and the judges include industry experts. The winner of the award receives a banner and linking on a the web site, which ranks on the first page of Google for the term “web award”.

So what is the incentive for the World Wide Web Awards to exist? If the footer of the web site is any indication, the organization likely does generate some revenue by selling templates and other web design services that are advertised.

While the advertising is the “catch”, the awards still seem reputable and valuable if you are looking to get some good press for your web site. Even better, you don’t have to pay a large sum of money to enter.

The Interactive Media Awards seem to cater toward professional web design firms and designers that do web design for a living.  The web site has a convincing Top Ten Reasons to Enter list.

For a description of the awards, the official web site says the following:

The Interactive Media Awards™ competition is open to individuals and organizations involved in designing, developing, managing, supporting and promoting websites.

Nominations are accepted from around the world from web design firms, advertising agencies and corporate marketing departments, as well as individual web designers and graphic artists, among others.

We aim to increase the standards of excellence on the Internet and welcome all who will join us in this effort. However, in order to achieve our goal and promote the highest standards of ethical behavior and professional conduct, certain types of websites are not eligible to enter.

There are four categories of web sites, each separated by different quarters of the year. Each category appears only once during the year. However, web sites can be submitted to multiple categories if applicable, and multiple awards can be won by the same web site. Of course, submitting to two or more categories also means that you will be paying two or more entry fees (more on that later).

Judges come from the membership of the Interactive Media Council, Inc., a nonprofit organization.  The web site claims that these judges are leaders in web design, advertising, public relations, news and other industries and are on the panel by invitation only.

The actual judging system is what makes the awards very interesting.  As the web site explains:

Each site is reviewed by at least three judges. After each judge has finished evaluating an entry, IMC (1) automatically eliminates the lowest of the three scores, and (2) computes the average of the two higher scores to determine the judges’ overall score. In order to achieve the highest level of objectivity and recognition for subtle quality of workmanship and other important yet non-visual factors, certain components of each judge’s score (such as Standards Compliance and true Cross-Browser Compatibility) are elevated or lowered by the site’s performance in a series of automated standards and accessibility tests.

Websites receiving an overall score of 480-500 points receive our “Best in Class” award. Websites receiving an overall score of 460-479 points receive our “Outstanding Achievement” award. Under our system, it is possible that no entry in a given industry category will qualify to win a Best in Class or Outstanding Achievement award. Conversely, it is also possible that more than one entry may qualify to win the same award in the same year.

Judging criteria includes design, content, feature functionality, usability, standards compliance and cross-browser compatability.

The fee for entry is $125 per web site and $75 for non-profit web sites.

The award seems reputable and good publicity for winners and runners up.  However, it would be good to see more details about the judges.  For example, the Web Marketing Association’s Web Award has a listing of the companies and jobs of their judges.  The IMAs are extremely vague about the judge selection process, only mentioning a few industries.

The Web Marketing Association’s Web Award seems like a prestigious and popular web design award at first glance.  The web site explains the requirements and purpose of the award.

The WebAward Competition is open to all organizations and individuals involved in the process of developing web sites for organizations, companies and the government. Web sites entered must have been in general use for at least part of calendar year 2006 or early 2007. Sites that have won awards in past WebAward Competitions are eligible for the current competition.

The cost of entry into the Web Awards is $199, while non-profits can submit their web site for $99. The winner receives a plaque or certificate with the name of their web site, company and award level.

Like the Webby Awards, the Web Marketing Association’s Web Award has some very reputable sponsors, including PRWeb, Burst Media and more.

There are 96 different categories for the awards. The categories include Advertising, B2B, Entertainment, TV and many more. Each category has its own unique criteria, though the criteria for most of the web sites is the exact same.

Unlike the Webby Awards, the Web Marketing Association’s Web Awards takes a different approach to judging. The web site does not mention any famous people, but it does mention the countries, companies and jobs in which they come from. There are 37 countries listed, 140 job roles and more than 250 companies.

So is entering the Web Award worth it?  After a review, it seems that the Web Award is actually more worthy of mention than the Webby Awards.  The Web Award provides feedback about your web site even if you don’t win.  You are provided with benchmark data, showing how your web sites compares to others in your industry according to the judges.  You are also provided with judges comments.

Whether these features are worth the $199 entry fee is up to you, but at worst the entry fee serves as a survey comparing your web site to other companies.  From there, you can learn how to make improvements and make your web site better.  That service, in and of itself, it worth something for many web sites that don’t have the budget to test their web site with the public before launch.

We recently received a card in the mail from the Webby Awards.  The Webby Awards have some big-time, high-profile sponsors including Getty Images, .mobi, AdweekMedia and Reuters.

But what are the Webby Awards?  As the web site explains:

The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities.

The description of the Webby Awards continues….

The Webby Awards presents two honors in every category — The Webby Award and The People’s Voice Award — in each of its four entry types: Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video and Mobile. Members of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences select the nominees for both awards in each category, as well as the winners of the Webby Awards. However, you, the online community, determine the winners of The People’s Voice by voting for the nominated work that you believe to be the best in each category. Each year, the People’s Voice Awards garners hundreds of thousands of votes from the Web community all over the world.

Sounds great. So what does it take to enter?

A nice chunk of change, actually. Entry fees start at $125, and most categories are more than double that price. Of course, the good press and notoriety that you will receive by winning an award is well worth the cost of entry, but the price does discourage some smaller players from taking a run at entering the contest.

The judges include the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. This panel is made up of actors, artists, entrepreneurs, web-savvy experts and everything in between. Membership includes chef Julia Child, ACLU President Nadine Strossen, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening…basically famous people from every industry and profession.

The question becomes, “How qualified are these individuals to vote on such an award?” In most cases, it does not seem like they are very qualified at all. However, the purpose of the award seems to be popularity more so than accuracy.

The Webby Awards are regarded as one of the biggest awards on the internet. That does not mean they are the most relevant or utilitarian.  Still, popularity is the most important factor for most web sites, and the Webby Awards can certainly fill that criterion as well as or better than any award available. 

The registration deadline for the Webby Awards is January 25.  Like any business decision, weigh the pros and the cons on whether it was worth the price of entry.  If you think that your web site, ad campaign, mobile content, or film has a legitimate shot at winning an award, it is probably worth the cost.

Best-Web-Site-Designers.com takes a unique perspective on the best web sites and web site awards on the internet.  With hundreds and even thousands of web site awards, have you ever wondered what makes one web site award better than another? 

The goal of Best-Web-Site-Designers.com is to keep web site designers, enthusiasts and the general public informed about the requirements, criteria, and value of some of the internet’s top web site awards.  We will profile the most prestigious web site awards available on the internet