HARTFORD, Conn., March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce the call for entries for its 17^th annual international WebAward competition.  The WebAwards are the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks based on the seven criteria of a successful Web site.  It recognizes the individual and team achievements of Web professionals all over the world who create and maintain outstanding Web sites.  The deadline for entry for the 2013 WebAwards is May 31, 2013.  A complete list of past winners and this year's entry form can be found at www.webaward.org.

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"The WebAwards look into all aspects of website development, It's not just a beauty contest for Websites," said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association.  "Our expert judges evaluate the entire interactive experience and reward those sites that are best in their industry. The goal of the WebAwards is to both recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Web sites on the Internet today and also provide valuable feedback to entrants on how their sites stack up against their peers and their industry's standards of excellence."

The Web Marketing Association would also like to thank BGT Partners, who crafted a redesigned look and feel to the WebAward.org website. The insightfulness and expertise of the team at BGT Partners has created an exceptional design for our website.

Websites are judged on seven criteria, including design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copy writing and ease of use and receive a numeric score.  Each WebAward entry is judged against other entries in its industry category and then against an overall standard of excellence.  Entrants also benefit from receiving valuable feedback from the WebAwards professional judging panel on their Web site development efforts. 

This year's top awards will include:

• A "Best of Industry" WebAward will be given in each of the 96 industry categories, including financial services, medical, small business, travel, advertising, transportation and government.
• The competition's highest honor, the 2013 WebAward "Best of Show," will be given to the one site that the judges believe represents the pinnacle of outstanding achievement in Web development.  Last year's Best of Show winner was UrbanDaddy for their work on "UrbanDaddy + Herradura Mixology Battle Royale" website.  The site was also recognized as Best Marketing Website.
• The Web Marketing Association will also recognize the interactive agency winning the most awards in the competition with the "Top Interactive Agency" WebAward. For the third time, the Top Agency award was awarded to Biggs|Gilmore taking home 39 WebAwards.
• Interactive and advertising agencies that win a 2013 WebAward will automatically be included in the Award Winning Agency Database with a free premium listing.

The WebAward Top Agency award recognizes consistency of effort and is given to the interactive agency that wins the most WebAwards in a given year. All locations and offices of a specific agency will be consolidated for the purpose of determining the winner of this award. In a change from prior years, each entrant will be awarded points based on the level of award for each award received. A Best of Show will be worth 10 points, Best of Industry 5 points and each Outstanding award 3 points and a Standard of Excellence 1 point. The agency with the most points will be awarded the Top Agency Award for 2013.

Each year, many agencies and some corporations win multiple awards and deserve additional recognition. This year, we will recognize each organization that wins 6 or more WebAwards with an Outstanding Interactive Developer trophy. In 2012, there were 19 agencies recognized with this prestigious award.

Judging for the 2013 WebAwards will take place in June through August and winners will be announced in September.  Judges will consist of a select group of Internet professionals who have direct experience designing and managing Web sites,–including members of the media, interactive creative directors, site designers, content providers and webmasters – with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site development and technology. Past judges have included top executives from leading organizations such as A&E Television Networks, BGT Partners, Blattner Brunner, Bridge Worldwide, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Comedy Central, Disney, Euro RSCG, Ion Global, VML, J. Walter Thompson, John Deere Company, New York Post Interactive, Organic, Inc., Refinery, R/GA, Saatchi & Saatchi, SAP, Starwood Hotels, Sun Microsystems, Warner Bros. Online, Xerox and Website Magazine.

Check out our Web Marketing Association Facebook Page and be sure to like us as we will be providing hints and tips on how to improve your chances on winning a top award though out the award program entry period.

The 2013 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organizations: BGT Partners, PR Newswire, Burst Media, EContent Magazine, ExactTarget, ad:tech conferences, Internet World UK, SES Conferences, Webmaster Radio, and Website Magazine. The Web Marketing Association thanks these companies for their commitment to the entire online marketing community.

About the WebAwards

The Web Marketing Association was founded in 1997 to help define the standard of excellence for online marketing. Our internationally known award programs, such as WebAward Competition for Website Development, Internet Advertising Competition and the MobileWebAwards, recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing the most effective online marketing programs on the Internet today.  Entrants benefit from assessment of their marketing efforts by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented by being recognized as an award-winning web developer.

SOURCE The Web Marketing Association