The World Wide Web has been acclaimed as one of the best channels for high velocity word-of-mouth. Use Groups, Forums, Chat Rooms, Email and other structures provide your champion customers with the means to spread the word. But what about on-line awards? Can you build word-of-mouth by getting a web site award? Yes, and no.

If you pick up your own award at one of the hundreds of sites that simply give it for the asking, you probably will not build word-of-mouth or visits to your web site. Also, don't believe everything you read from an award-giving organization such as "be prepared for a huge number of hits when you receive this award". I've seen this hype fade faster than you can click on the next web site logo. However, if you are fortunate to receive a "jurried award", i.e., one with some meaning in it to your visitors, you will probably build both word-of-mouth and visits to your web site.

An award you receive can build traffic to your web site when people read the award winner listings at the award giving organization's home page and then click on the link to your page that is presented there. Also, when people talk among themselves about this or that site that just won an award traffic hits will go up. Last, when a story about the award is printed in an independent news source, visitors will line up for at least a look at your web site to see, if nothing else, how you managed to win (many of these individuals are looking for opportunities to win awards, too).

Literally hundreds of web site awards are out there just for the taking. The vast majority of these awards will get you no more than a chuckle or a smirk. So how do you know which awards build the buzz and which do not? Here are a few tips to help you think through this question.

• The award giving organization or entity represents something significant to web site visitors. This is typically an organization who
  
  1. Has a positive reputation in the your visitor's industry, field or discipline
  2. Represents positive core values associated with your visitor's personal goals or objectives
  3. Uses a pannel of web-site judges who are chosen because of their broad experience in both the world wide web and the subject of the award
• The award is something more than what you can simply pick up and copy for yourself
• There is true competition for the award. If everyone got one, it would't be worth much
• Formal, published criteria are used in judging a web site's award worthiness
• Talk about the award can be found flying around the net

Want to build word-of-mouth for your site with the power of an award but are you having trouble finding organizations who give web site awards? Read the magazines in your industry or interest group and look for award listings. On-line you can search for awards by visiting popular web sites in the same field as yours. Or, you can use one of the search engines to locate sites who have received awards. Last, you can ckeck out one of the sites who claims to review and rate all other award-giving sites: The Awards Award Page.

If you win an award, send a news release to the relevant publications (either on-line or print) to let them know about this honor. Publicity about the award will do more to build word-of-mouth than all the hype you put on your own web site.

So, how do we feel about the awards this web site has received thus far? First, the awards were given after a review of the content of the site. That's good. Second, the awards are either not well known or not significant to many of our visitors. We are grateful that someone out there saw the value in this web site and we are hoping for the opportunities that come from even more significant awards.

Happy award hunting and Good Luck building word-of-mouth!

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page