How to Receive Web Awards

Awards are nice to receive after having put a lot of effort (or not) into your site. If you haven't gotten one yet for your killer design, you are at the right place. You undoubtedly have seen several sites around the net showing off their nice, shiny awards. Then you wonder: "Why haven't I got an award? My site is at least just as good!". The truth is, you can't receive an award if you don't apply for one. Those other sites don't get their awards straight out of nothing, they've applied for it!

There are numerous award sites available on the net, with most of them legitimate ones, and others which look more like link-exchanges. Some award sites only allow non-commercial sites, while others only allow corporate websites.

Read through the criteria of each award website carefully, some only accept non-frames sites, or disallow java-applets. A lot of people miss out on awards because they didn't read the criteria fully.

If you were planning to get some extra hits with your newly acquired awards, you will probably need to have a superb site (a good site anyhow, to get an award), since the most prestigious awards are usually only showcasing the winner(s), which often leads to more hits. If you're just planning to show off to your friends with your award, well then, you have the wrong attitude towards webdesigning, in my opinion.

If you haven't won, don't be discouraged. Web design can be fun and profitable, so don't let it get you down, see it as a challenge to learn more and improve your site.

Here are some tips on getting yourself an award:

Don't spam the award site with numerous requests
No adult sites
Make sure the site is finished, so no "under construction" signs
Get your loading time down, nobody wants to wait an eternity for your website
No broken graphics and 404 errors
Have some content, unless you're running a link-exchange site
Write out your name, website URL, title, etcetera out in Notepad, and just copy and paste everything in your browser, that saves you a lot of time if you're applying for multiple awards

Some award sites to get you started:

By Kang He Zheng
Kang He is the director of z-net webdesign services for
z-netonline.com.