Best Public Relations Website of 2006 to be Named by Web Marketing Association

(PRWEB) April 24, 2006 -- The Web Marketing Association announces the call for entries for its 10th annual international WebAward Competition at http://www.webawards2006.org. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks based on the seven criteria of a successful Web site.

The PR industry represents an important category in the WebAward competition, and the Web Marketing Association will again be honoring the Best Public Relations Web site of 2006. The deadline for entry is May 31, 2006.

“The PR industry understands the benefits of winning an award in terms of creating a news-worthy event to publicize,” said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. “Public relations Web sites have generally under performed the overall ISAR Index. The averages were drastically reduced with a dreadful showing in 2003. This under performance in 2003 has significantly impacted all of the 3-year average criteria scores and placed PR at the bottom of most criteria performance indexes and third lowest in average score in the WebAwards. It is important to note that while the entire industry has under performed, many individual companies have risen above and their Web development efforts help them stand out from their peers.

Each year the Web Marketing Association names the Best Public Relations Website based on the scores submitted by the competition judges. Recent winners of the “Best Public Relations Web site” WebAwards include:

2005 Community Coffee History Site - http://www.communitycoffee.com/history
2004 News@Cisco: Innovating Cisco's Corporate Press Room - http://newsroom.cisco.com/
2003 Toshiba Tablet PC Launch - http://63.220.28.252/Weber/toshiba/tabletpc.html
2002 - Wealth Management News Service - http://www.wmns.org

A complete list of past winners and the entry form for companies who wish to compete for 2006 honors can be found at http://www.webaward2006.org.

Web sites 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.

Using the quantifiable data collected from 9,748 Web site evaluations over the past decade, the WebAwards has defined and recognized industry-specific benchmarks for successful Web sites in each of the seven judging criteria and released an Internet Standards Assessment Report to detail the findings of the study.

“Participants in the 2006 WebAwards PR category will receive their scores in each of the seven criteria compared to the average of the entire industry. That type of feedback and benchmarking alone in worth the price of admission,” said Rice.

A copy of the Internet Standards Assessment Report, including details regarding the public relations industry through 2005, is available at www.webawards2006.org.

Judging for the 2006 WebAwards will take place in June through August, with winners announced in September. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet marketing professionals who have direct experience designing and managing Web sites with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site development and technology. Mark Kingdon, CEO of Organic, Inc. (www.organic.com) has been selected to lead the judging panel this year. Past judges have included top executives from leading organizations such as Ogilvy Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, Blattner Brunner, Comedy Central, Sun Microsystems, Refinery, Euro RSCG, EPB Interactive, New York Post Interactive, The Cincinnati Enquirer, J. Walter Thompson, Xerox, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Modem Media, and Answerthink just to name a few.

The 2006 WebAward Competition current sponsors include Burst Media (www.burstmedia.com), SimpleFeed (www.simplefeed.com), Register.com (www.register.com), NewsUSA (www.newsusa.com), AdTools Inc(www.adtoolsinc.com), Small Army (www.smallarmy.net), Perseus Development Corp (www.perseus.com) and PRWeb (www.prweb.com). Media Sponsors include Website Services Magazine (www.websiteservices.com), AdRants (www.adrants), MarketingVox (www.marketingvox.com), MediaPost (www.wediapost.com), eComXpo (www.ecomxpo.com), Ad:Tech (www.ad-tech.com) and Macworld (www.macworldexpo.com). The Web Marketing Association thanks all of its sponsors for helping to make this annual competition possible.

About the WebAwards

The 10th annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 96 industry categories by evaluating Web sites and defining benchmarks based on the seven essential criteria of successful Web site development. The goal of the Web Marketing Association, sponsor of the WebAwards, is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Web sites on the Internet today. Entrants benefit from a Web site assessment by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented to an award-winning Web site. For more information, visit www.webawards2006.org.