June 2002   

But just as the Academy awards have spawned an entire industry of lesser awards, diluting the overall award process, denizens of the Internet are in danger of succumbing to "award fever." While awards can be a great public relations boost, how worthwhile are they really, and how in the vastness of cyberspace does your site get the attention it deserves?

The Attention Factor

The first and foremost reason for trying to win awards is that they generate positive public relations, and often this first round of PR is done at someone else's cost. When a company or organization selects your site as a winner, they will send out press releases and announcements about your site, which will attract more traffic to it.

But that's just the first step. "Web sites have to consider using an awards program in their marketing effort," says Jesse Finch Gnehm, public relations specialist for Cognitive Concepts, an educational language and literary development company.

Lynne Marcus, president of Marcus + Company and author of Marketing With Honors, agrees. "Awards provide third party validation," she says. "Your site, product or company is a leader because someone else says so, not because you do. If your Web site wins an award, and you publicize the award, more people will be inclined to visit your site to see why it won. Your customers will receive additional validation that they use the best vendor and prospects may be more inclined to do business with your company."

The best-case scenarios are those involving high-profile awards directly related to your industry. "GameGoo.com won eight awards in the first ten months after launch," says Gnehm. "Education World named us to the 'Best of 2000' list while Yahooligans put us on the 'This week's five coolest sites' list." In doing so, Education World and Yahooligans recognized GameGoo.com for its high quality and visit-worthiness.

Playing to Win

With all the Internet sites out there, how can your site earn an award that will boost its prominence?

The first and most obvious answer is to have a site that stands out among the significant competition on the Web. Site design, content, ease of navigation, privacy, and customer service policies will all come into play.

Once your site is established and at its best, don't wait for an award to come find you. "Our awards process has three components: identification, submission and tracking," says Gnehm. "First we research potential awards by looking at what competitive sites have won and what other awards offer a good fit. Second, we narrow the list to those with the highest potential and then submit our site. We're prepared to pay judging fees in some cases. Finally, we track which awards we win and the traffic generated from each award. We created this process so we could justify allocating resources to this type of site promotion."

The application process might be a surprise to many who think the awards are given in a less formal fashion. There are a few awards that are given at the discretion of the awarding company, but most have applications and essay questions to fill out before the site can be considered. Even if an award has no formal application process, however, you should still make an effort to be noticed. "If there is no application process, make sure the appropriate editor knows about your product or service by using appropriate public relation tactics," says Marcus.

Not All Awards Are Created Equal

For an award to have significance, it should be something that's going to get a great deal of publicity, and it should be focused on your industry. Gnehm points to the Education World and Yahooligans awards as good examples. "What is key about these and many of the other awards we won is that they are industry or audience specific. This means the awards are more important to our targets than more general awards."

To find good examples of awards your site might be eligible for, scope out the competition. What kinds of awards are your competitors winning? There are also directories, such as Marcus's Marketing With Honors, which list categories of awards and detail the application processes involved.

Before applying, be sure the award is a good fit for your company. And if someone announces that you've won an award you've never heard of, carefully investigate it before allowing your site to be connected with it.

Philippa Gamse, Internet strategy consultant and lecturer, shares this cautionary tale: "One of my clients was given an award, was very pleased, and put the logo on her site as requested. When we checked the link, it brought up a very nice congratulatory page about recent winners. We'd never heard of the company behind it but they were very polite, it all seemed very above board. But a little while later, one of her clients called to ask why she was linking to a porn site. When we rechecked the link, the underlying page had miraculously changed to XXX rated! My advice is that unless the site giving out these awards is well known and highly credible, stay well away -- it's too dangerous to be judged by the company we keep."

There are also negative awards, such as the Worst IPO or Darwin Awards (for stupidity), the kinds that no one wants to get. Regardless of the source, check your award carefully before publicizing it.

Caveats aside, winning an award can be a boost for morale and for traffic. "For the most part, winning can only give you something else to publicize, another reason to call a prospect, a logo to put on your Web site, product packaging, and company literature," says Marcus. In other words, it's a win-win situation.