The OpenWater Blog

6 Ways to Improve Your Awards Website That Won’t Destroy Your Budget

One of the first ways potential entrants will judge your awards program is based on the look of your website. It may sound silly or frustrating, but your website does factor into the value and prestige that visitors place on the awards.

Therefore, it’s every program’s priority to make their awards website as appealing and informative as possible. But making a good and memorable website is hard and can be quite expensive.

So if you don’t have the money, time, or resources to make a killer website are you doomed to a lackluster site that won’t yield any submissions? Luckily, no. Your website doesn’t have to encompass every web design trand to be good. In fact, there are several things you can do to improve your website that won’t use up your entire budget.

1. Update Your Header

The header is the first thing visitors will see when visiting your awards website. So you want to make sure their first impression of your website is a good one. A simple way to give your website a little facelift is to take some time and create a new header for your site. Try to make it both eye-catching and informative. Check out these awesome headers for some inspiration.

2. Include a Winners Gallery

Not only do people process images way faster than text (try 60,000x faster) but people also really like to look at pictures. Including a gallery of past winners is a great tool to get people more interested in your program. It’ allows them to become better acquainted with the history and personality of your program.

3. Incorporate More Calls-to-Action

You want people who visit your awards website to apply to your program right? Well, if they fit the eligibility requirements, that is. Then make it easy for them to do so! Improve your conversion rates by including a few appropriate CTAs throughout your website. If you want visitors to your website to take a certain action, it’s as important to prompt them as it is to give them the opportunity to do so.

4. Link to Your Social Profiles

Social media is such an important tool for organizations nowadays, awards programs included. Every awards program should use social media to interact with entrants and promote their program. So if you’re trying to utilize this tool to raise awareness of your program, you need to make it easy for visitors to find your profiles! Include links to your social profiles so visitors can easily follow you and start receiving all that interesting info you’re sharing.

5. Consider Your Brand

One simple way to spice up the look of your website is through consideration of your brand. Essentially, you first need to evaluate your program’s goals and personality. Then you can figure out a way to express that on your website. This could mean incorporating your logo in an interesting way or introducing your programs colors into your website’s design.

6. Evaluate & Organize

Organization is a major factor of your web traffic. Nowadays if people can’t find what they’re looking for on your page in a few seconds there’s a good chance they’ll just give up. Frustrating, I know, but come on, we’ve all done it.

It’s a good idea to step back and evaluate your website regularly to spot opportunities for improvements. To see if there are better or more intuitive ways to present information, look at your website from the perspective of a stranger. The more easily navigable your site is, the better chance there is that a visitor will stop and look around.

What simple, effective ways have you updated your awards website? For more information on getting a website that does your program justice, download our guide.

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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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