Best Financial Services Website of 2011 to be Named by Web Marketing Association in Annual WebAward Competition

WEST SIMSBURY, Conn., March 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Web Marketing Association announces the call for entries for its 14th annual international WebAward Competition for Web site development at www.webaward.org. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets benchmarks for 96 industries, including bank, credit union, insurance, investment, mutual funds and financial services websites, based on the seven criteria of a successful web site. The deadline for Financial Services web sites to enter to be judged is May 27, 2011.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110322/NY68948LOGO )

"The financial services industry is very competitive when it comes to Web development and companies can benefit from the independent evaluation of their online efforts," said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. "Financial websites going forward will need to find a balance between what the web visitor craves in terms of innovation and technology and what the industry demands in terms of regulation."

Websites are judged on seven criteria including design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copy writing and ease of use. Each WebAward entry in the Financial Services category is judged against other financial services entries and then against an overall standard of excellence.

All financial services entrants benefit from receiving valuable feedback in terms of their specific criteria scores compared against the average scores for their industry. They also may receive specific comments from the WebAward's professional judging panel on their Web site development efforts.

Winners of a WebAward in the financial services categories will also receive:

• Handsome statue or certificate of achievement
• Increased visibility for their company
• Marketing opportunity to promote the company website to the media
• Links to your site from the highly ranked WebAward site to help SEO
• A highlight for your resume.
• Admiration of peers, friends and co-workers

Each year, the Web Marketing Association names the Best of Industry for the various financial services categories based on the score they receive from the WebAward judges.

Recent winners of the Best Financial Services Website include:

• 2010 - Standard Chartered Bank and TBWA\TEQUILA\Hong Kong for The Standard Chartered Bank Homepage
• 2009 - Standard Chartered Bank and TBWA\TEQUILA\Hong Kong for The Standard Chartered Private Bank Global Website
• 2008 - Organic Inc for Bank of America Fees & Processes
• 2007 - John Hancock Funds, LLC for Financial Professional Website
• 2006 - T3 (The Think Tank) for Chase Card with Blink
• 2005 - Merrill Lynch for Merrill Lynch Gateway Website
• 2004 - Moving Minds, LLC for Trancentrix Corporate Payment Solutions Website
• 2003 - Weber Shandwick Worldwide for CNBC on MSN Money

Recent winners of the Best Bank Website include:

• 2010 - Standard Chartered Bank and TBWA\TEQUILA\Hong Kong for The Standard Chartered Bank Homepage
• 2009 - Organic, Inc. for Bank of America - Morris on Campus (2009 Best of Show Winner)
• 2008 - TBWA\TEQUILA\ HK for Standard Chartered Bank/People in Action
• 2007 - Organic, Inc. for Bank of America No Fee Mortgage Plus
• 2006 - Carat Fusion for Wachovia Championship 17
• 2005 - Agency.com for Sainsburysbank.co.uk
• 2004 - Ion Global Limited for HSBC Card Services HK

Recent winners of the Best Credit Union Website include:

• 2010 - Extractable for Citizen's Equity
• 2009 - America First Credit Union for www.americafirst.com
• 2008 - Delta Community for CU Delta Community Credit Union
• 2007 - Extractable for SAFE credit union
• 2006 - Webnbeyond for Union America Mortgage
• 2005 - America First Credit Union for www.americafirst.com
• 2004 - Imirage, Inc for APCI Federal Credit Union

Recent winners of the Best Insurance Web site include:

• 2010 - Liberty Mutual, Hill Holiday, and RED Interactive Agency for 2099 Online Racing Game, Presented by Liberty Mutual
• 2009 - AXA Equitable for www.axa-equitable.com
• 2008 - Blue Shield of California for blueshieldcachatbox.com
• 2007 - Progressive Insurance for Progressive Corp.
• 2006 - Blue Shield of California
• 2005 - Internet Communications for Medical Mutual – Ohio's Get-Well Card TM
• 2004 - Graficalnter.active for Horizon Empire Blue Cross BlueShield
• 2003 - Empire BlueCross BlueShield for Empire BlueCross BlueShield web site
• 2002 - Progressive Insurance for progressive.com

Recent winners of the Best Investment Web site include:

• 2010 - Lending Club Corporation for Lending Club
• 2009 - Razorfish for Investor's Business Daily
• 2008 - John Hancock Annuities for  jhannuities.com
• 2007 - Frank Worldwide Inc. for 55 West Wacker- Cape Horn Group
• 2006 - i33 communications LLC for BetterInvesting web site redesign
• 2005 - BusinessWeek Online for BusinessWeek Online web site
• 2004 - Alliet Capital Corporation for Allied Capital Corporation web site
• 2003 - Summit Partners for Summit Partners web site
• 2002 - Frank Russell Company for Russell.com

Recent winners of the Best Mutual Fund Web site include:

• 2010 - John Hancock Funds, LLC for Mutual Fund Financial Professional Website
• 2009 - John Hancock Funds, LLC for John Hancock Funds Financial Professional Website
• 2008 - John Hancock Funds John for Hancock Funds Public Website
• 2007 - John Hancock Funds, LLC for John Hancock Funds Financial Professional Website
• 2006 - Cohen & Steers for Cohen & Steers website
• 2005 - Cohen & Steers for Cohen & Steers website
• 2004 - bbdigital/SEI Investments for HighMark Funds web site
• 2003 - Barclays Global Investors for iShares.com
• 2002 - Pioneer Investments for pioneerfunds.com

There is one significant change in this year's WebAwards. The much coveted Top Agency WebAward is given to the organization who wins the most total WebAwards in a single competition. However each year many agencies win multiple awards and deserve additional recognition. This year, we will recognize each organization that wins 10 or more WebAwards with an Outstanding Interactive Developer trophy.

Participants can improve their chances on winning a WebAward by checking out the Web Marketing Association Facebook Page and becoming a fan of the page.  The Web Marketing Association will be providing hints and tips on how to improve your chances on winning a top award though out April and May.

The 2011 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organizations: BGT Partners, Burst Media, PR Newswire, ExactTarget, ad:tech conferences,  Internet World UK, SES Conferences, Webmaster Radio, and Website Magazine.

About the WebAwards

The Web Marketing Association's 15th annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 96 industries by evaluating Web sites based on the seven essential criteria of successful Web site development. The WebAwards recognizes the people and organizations responsible for developing the most effective Websites on the Internet today. Entrants benefit from a Website assessment by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented to an award-winning Web site. For more information, visit www.webaward.org.

SOURCE Web Marketing Association