Míc Miller, Webmaster
Beehive Awards

Web site awards first appeared in May, 1994, and were originally intended to be a form of recognition for those who produced extremely useful and/or innovative Web pages (not sites). Shortly thereafter, dozens of "badge sites" appeared on the Web, presenting graphic images declaring "hot" and "cool" sites. As HTML and Web development tools improved, so did Web awards, which soon evolved into many "general" types with varying purposes, criteria, and processes. These types of Web awards ranged from extremely difficult and prestigious "elite" awards to meaningless "giveaway" or "junk" awards.

Other types of "general" Web site awards could be classified as: "professional recognition" awards sponsored by those whose vocation was designing and developing Web sites as well as avocational, but accomplished, webmasters and webmistresses; and "promotional" awards offered by Web sites who either desired to promote others' Web sites or gain attention for their own.

In addition, there were "people's choice" awards (more like "fan club" or "lobbyist" awards) where site visitors would vote for their preferred choice (or because they were asked to by a participant); "everybody wins" awards given out by site owners who only wanted to increase traffic to their sites; "fellowship" awards that were freely given to, or exchanged with, other Web sites in their genre; and "noncompetitive" awards usually given away to encourage young and aspiring webmasters and webmistresses who demonstrated a basic command for Web site design and construction.

Another group of Web site awards that emerged later were the "special" awards, which included "cumulative," "composite," "editor's choice," and "special recognition" awards. "Cumulative" awards recognized sites solely by the number of awards won. "Composite" awards were similar to the "cumulative" type except they required a qualitative requirement such as a minimum number of top-rated or world-ranked awards. "Editor's choice" awards were presented to the best resources in a given topic or category by editors working for Web directories. "Special recognition" awards also appeared and were usually presented to individuals, not Web sites, for their distinguished service to the Internet community.

Since their appearance, Web site awards have been coveted, aggressively pursued, competed for, and earned by thousands of webmasters and webmistresses for their public recognition values, placement on winners' lists, top-listing positions in Web directories, increasing their sites' link popularity, and the personal gratifications of being told their Web work is excellent, receiving uplifting praise delivered in award notifications, and simply because award seeking is a fun activity!

Today, the better types of Web site awards and their Web Awards Community are the only segment on the Internet that inspire and motivate webmasters and webmistresses to pursue "Web excellence" while offering positive feedback, cultural growth, personal self-improvement, and emotional self-satisfaction, as well as creative and intellectual challenges to those who commit tremendous amounts of discretionary time, effort, and resources to not only preserve the original Netizen vision of "an Internet by and for all," but shine as beacons for the rest of the world in the way of high-quality Web communication.

Jan Sopshier, Webmistress
Circus World Awards

You've created a superior masterpiece and want recognition signifying approval from others but not sure how to accomplish this goal. You believe your website is top-notch and you want acknowledgement of this fact. You have this dream, whereby, others will experience the same feeling about your site. Website awards can help you carry through with this dream.

Website awards are similar to gaining a victory in a contest or competition with a prize (the award graphic) being presented. By meeting or exceeding stated criteria, awards symbolize approval from others and are bestowed on the basis of merit. Criteria is the foundation of award programs. Simply stated, criteria is the reference point in which award seekers base their websites to those offering awards. Meet or exceed criteria and chances are you will receive a website evaluator's award.

Reasons vary amongst award seekers as to why they want evaluators to approve a submitted website for awards. Perhaps award seekers want to win Don Chisholm's Superb! Website Award or become one of the select few who qualify for Award Sites! Halls of Recognition. Both being outstanding accomplishments should an award seeker win either. Maybe one of the biggest reasons to apply and win awards is simply self-satisfaction knowing others approve your online masterpiece.

Will Harbeson, Webmaster
The Medals Of Excellence

Simply put, website awards are those little graphics that you may have seen on someone's website stating that they have qualified for and won an award for their efforts. Why would anyone want one? Well, who among us doesn't want an award? It allows for confirmation of all that hard work you've done and bottom line is it makes you feel good to be a winner! There are some practical reasons to want an award however.

I feel that a second set of eyes on any site is almost a requirement in any design effort. How many times have you spelled a word wrong or have poorly chosen a phrase and had someone finally tell you, "dude, that don't make any sense!" It happens to me all the time. Applying for an award for your site does a couple things for you. First it sets in motion your own careful scrutiny on each and every link, word, phrase or graphic you've placed on your site and secondly it provides positive or constructive feedback for you as you win or don't win the award you have applied for.

Serious applications for website awards, in my opinion, are a pathway to critique for the efforts you have made on your own websites. Any serious designer or anyone for that matter that has made the effort to produce and upload a website, needs feedback beyond that of friends and family to see how they have done. Awards for your website is a great way to do just that. By careful reading of criteria and comparison of the winners list on award givers sites the feedback is almost instant.

Websites that give awards come in all shapes and sizes. You got a site about your dog? There are serious award givers that award sites about dogs. You are the web designer for a major corporation and need feedback on your efforts? There are award sites with the designation of "World's Top Awards" for you to get some serious eyes on your work. No matter the level of your expertise or your time invested in your design training, there are sites that can help you learn and grow.

I am very happy you have taken the time to learn about website awards. The best thing to do is read the criteria for the site to which you intend applying to, carefully and send off your application. Get started today!

Karen Pimtzner, Webmistress
petalperfect Digital Photography Gallery (site closed)

A web site award is like any other honor bestowed on an individual or organization. Put simply: It is "tangible" proof that they have excelled at their craft ... in this case ... web site design, art or any of a wide variety of web-related areas.

There are as many reasons why people want them, as there are people themselves. But, I think mainly ...

On a personal level, a website award is the ultimate symbol of achievement for a webmaster. It is acknowledgement for all of the hard work, long hours (and, let us not forget, talent) that goes into creating an award-winning website. It is the ultimate "thank-you" for making a positive contribution to the World Wide Web.

On an academic level, awards are the bar by which a webmaster is judged against other webmasters. As the level of award achieved goes higher, so goes the bar.

On an elementary level, a novice webmaster might see an award as a learning tool, an indicator that he or she is moving in the right direction. With each award, they feel they have learned something new about website design and about their own website. Many see the criteria of various awards as "guidelines" or "pointers" to compare their website against and, ultimately, use to improve their website.

On a more superficial level ... some see awards as "collectibles," toys, if you will and, you know what they say: "He who has the most toys ... WINS!!!"

Jef Peace, Webmaster
PeaceWork Certified Sites (site closed)

To me, serious website awards (awards which are backed by carefully planned criteria and an ethical award giver) represent invaluable critique from folks who really care about website design.

It logically follows that these remarkable men and women are also very good at website design and their opinions are crucial to the evolution of my websites. Granted, it feels good to receive an award, especially a top-level award from a high-rated program. For example, I opened a 14-year-old bottle of Mouton Cadet Bordeaux to toast the WebPix I received from the Beeline and I won't even try to hide the fact that my ego is sufficiently stroked on such occasions. However, the main reason I apply for awards is that each one I receive, or fail to receive, is indicative of how well the website I submitted will serve its purpose to the Internet community.

As a businessman trying to present my "best face," the value of these critiques can not be measured.