"The insurance 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. "Insurance websites can increase their effectiveness for both agents and consumers by integrating illustrations and graphics to help explain the different products/services available."

Web sites are judged on seven criteria including design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copy writing and ease of use. Each WebAward entry is judged against other entries in its industry category and then against an overall standard of excellence.

All entrants benefit from receiving valuable feedback in terms of their specific scores compaired again 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 insurance category will also receive:
   Image plaque 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
   Admiration of peers, friends and co-workers

Each year the Web Marketing Association names the Best Insurance Website based on the scores submitted by the competition judges. Recent winners of the Best Insurance Web site include:

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

A complete list of past winners and the entry form for companies who wish to compete for 2007 honors can be found at the best Insurance Web site page.

Using the quantifiable data collected from more than 15,000 Web site evaluations over the past decade, the WebAwards has defined and recognized industry-specific benchmarks for successful Web sites in each of the seven judging criteria and released an Internet Standards Assessment Report to detail the findings of the study. A copy of the 2008 Internet Standards Assessment Report, including details regarding the insurance industry, will be provided to all participants.

Judging for the 2007 WebAwards will take place in June through August, with winners announced in September. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet marketing professionals who have direct experience designing and managing Web sites with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site development and technology. Past judges have included top executives from leading organizations such as Organic, Inc., Ogilvy Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, Blattner Brunner, Comedy Central, Sun Microsystems, Refinery, Euro RSCG, EPB Interactive, New York Post Interactive, The Cincinnati Enquirer, J. Walter Thompson, Xerox, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Modem Media, and Answerthink just to name a few.

The 2007 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organizations: 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.

About the WebAwards
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.