6 Elements All Great Awards Websites Share

Your website is the crux of your awards program. It’s where folks go to apply and find information. It also serves as the home base for your online marketing efforts.   So it seems obvious that your website is extremely important and that making sure it’s in ship-shape should be a top priority.

But what does it take to have a good awards website that will not only

attract people, but also encourage visitors to apply?

Well, we did the research so that you don’t have to! We examined the websites of many different awards programs and found several elements that the best of these sites all have in common.

The best awards websites…

1. Are Focused on What Matters

Good awards websites will first and foremost be focused on what matters: the awards. It’s important for the entire site to reflect what the awards are all about.   For example, if your program is about photography it’s a good idea for your website to have strong, powerful images throughout the website to drive interest.

2. Are Well Laid Out

There’s nothing worse than visiting a website that’s cluttered, confusing, and ultimately stressful to look at. Because an awards website is a repository of information that is meant to drive visitors to apply, you’ve got to ensure the layout and organization of the site is both clean and simple. You want it to be easily navigable so that anyone will be able to find what they’re looking for.

3. Have an Interesting Design

They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but they also say first impressions are crucial. And your awards website is definitely your program’s first impression.   While it’s not necessary to include every type of fancy web design element out there, your site should still be visually and stylistically appealing. Because, like it or not, the way your website looks is how people are going to initially evaluate the prestige and importance of your program.

4. Are Informative

Of course an awards website needs to have important information in it! However, the best will go the extra mile and make sure each page of their site (especially the call for entry page) has been properly built out so that any visitor will be able to find answers to their questions, whether it’s about eligibility requirements or past winners.

5. Have Personality

Don’t let yourself get too serious! Your awards program is here to celebrate those in your organization or industry that stand out from the crowd. When putting your site together you should keep in mind the tone and personality of your awards program and let that shine through. Trust us, your visitors will appreciate feeling like they’re dealing with real people.

6. Include Calls-to-Action

Harassing your website visitors is a definite no-no. Nothing is more off-putting than being bombarded with buttons and pop-ups and flashing graphics when you visit a website. However, calls-to-action are still an important part of awards websites, because (as the term suggests) they help prompt people to do something.   A few well-placed and designed CTAs throughout your website inviting folks to apply can help to increase your submissions in a non-intrusive way.

How does your awards website

measure up?

Ready to kick your website game up a notch?

Ready to kick your website game up a notch?

Download this

Want more content like this? Subscribe to the OpenWater blog.

Subscribe