Best Family Website Trends Detailed in New Report from the Web Marketing Association

March 20, 2007; 01:48 AM
The Web Marketing Association, host of leading website awards competition WebAwards, recently released the Internet Standards Assessment Report (ISAR), which includes specific benchmarking data to help the family industry create more award-winning websites.

"As the standard of excellence for websites continues to increase, web visitors are increasingly picky about what they consider to be an effective website," said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association. "Family Web sites tend to have a clear understanding of their target audience and provide strong content to support their user's experience."

The WebAwards competition evaluates family websites on seven criteria that combined create effective websites:

•    Design
•    Innovation
•    Content
•    Technology
•    Interactivity
•    Copywriting
•    Ease of use
  

Family Websites are above average in terms of content compared to overall web development. Interactivity, copywriting, and ease of use continue to be the strong points for financial websites.

According to the ISAR Study, family web sites are typically right at average in technology, innovation, and design owing to their intended audience.

The 2006 WebAward for Best Financial Web site went to Family Cookbook Project for www.familycookbookproject.com.

Other past winners include:

• 2005 Family Cookbook Project for www.familycookbookproject.com
• 2004 Zipatoni for Bring Elsie Home
• 2003 BabyCenter.com for BabyCenter's website
• 2002 Ripple Effects Interactive for Experience PA Web Site
• 2001 Disney Online for Family.com
• 2000 Yfactor Inc. for Family Channel Web Site
• 1999 Kevin Sebesky, Inc. for Official Berenstain Bears Website
• 1998 Kevin Sebesky, Inc. for Official Berenstain Bears Website
• 1997 Kevin Sebesky, Inc. for Official Berenstain Bears Website
  

To request your copy of the 2007 WebAward ISAR report, please visit: http://www.webaward.org/isar_report.asp

2007 WebAward Call for Entries
The Web Marketing Association will soon be accepting entries into its 11th annual international WebAward Competition. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks that the Internet Standards Assessment report is based upon. The family industry represents an important category in the WebAward competition, and the Web Marketing Association will again be honoring the Best Family Web site of 2007. Participants will receive valuable feedback and the opportunity to earn peer recognition. The deadline for entry is May 31, 2007 and the WebAward Web site is located at www.07webaward.org.

The Internet Standards Assessment report and the 2007 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organiztions: Burst Media, PRWeb, Misukanis & Odden, Small Army, SimpleFeed, ExactTarget, ad:tech conferences, NewsUSA, eComXpo, MediaPost's OMMA conference, TopRank Online Marketing, Creative Chocolate Printing Company, OTOlabs, Internet World UK, Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster Radio, Rovion's InPerson and eMarketer.

Now in its 11th year, the 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.07webaward.org.