The OpenWater Blog

Generating More Quality Entries With a Quality Awards Website

Shortcuts rarely cut it, and when it comes to your awards program, things are no different. While posting a page to your website or linking a PDF on a page seems simple enough, neither of these choices pack the same punch that a quality awards website does for your program. Why? Because instead of turning up the success of your program, doing this turns off potential submitters.

An awards website does more than just present your program in a dignified manner. In fact, the quality of your site translates into your submissions, meaning that you not only get more entries, but entries from qualified entrants. So, avoid the hassle of taking the wrong approach. Instead, do it the right way and watch your efforts pay off.

Publicity

Imagine this: you’re creating an awards program and you need to get the word out about it. This means turning to social media and email blasts to make announcements, of course! But, where do you lead entrants to after they see your call for entry? If you don’t have a website, this part can get tricky.

Advertising your awards program and building publicity is essential, but difficult without a high-quality awards website. You can always link to a specific page on your site, but if you’ve uploaded a PDF, your information can easily get buried. However, by creating a sleek, simple, and informationally-rich site, you can get the publicity that you want and get recognized for all the right reasons.

Legitimacy

It doesn’t take long to create a quality awards website, but it does take some time to build legitimacy with potential entrants if you choose to present your program on a page or PDF. Legitimacy is important, as it gives submitters a reason to trust your program and to want to take the time to create a quality entry. But, where to begin when building legitimacy?

The beauty of your website is that simple additions like an archive page that delivers a stunning visual representation of your program’s history can make a huge difference in the perceived legitimacy of your program. The page itself can be as in-depth or brief as you want, but should showcase previous winners and familiar faces that potential entrants can relate to. By doing so, you can increase legitimacy and boost the success of your program.

Prestige

Building prestige often isn’t easy, but with the right awards website it can be. There’s no one way to accomplish this with your site, but rather a few different tactics that you can choose.

Most obviously, you can speak to the prestige of the award itself, its past winners, and even the qualifications or status of your judges. By doing so, you can lend this prestige to your program and boost the quality submissions that are coming in.

Removes Barrier to Entry

Barriers: The worst nightmare of any awards program. They can occur for a number of potential reasons, especially if information is buried, if the submission process is sloppy, or if you aren’t utilizing social media to its full potential to announce important upcoming deadlines.

Your website makes entry easy by organizing the information needed to enter and answering questions without having to handle each entrant on an individual basis. This makes your entire awards program easier for you and your entrants. This probably sounds like a win-win situation, because it is.

Requiring only minimal effort and promising a whole lot of reward, setting up an awards site separate from your primary website promises benefits you simply won’t have otherwise. Get building, and see what your custom website can really do!

What measurable benefits has your website delivered for your program? Share your thoughts below!

Ready to create your own perfect website for your awards program? Be sure to download our guide to guarantee that you have every aspect you need to generate the quality submissions you want!

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Miriam Hancock

Miriam Hancock
Miriam is the Marketing Coordinator for OpenWater. When she isn't writing and designing content she paints and cooks for her own personal blog.

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