- Welcome to the Journey.
Today you're gonna learn how to apply for awards
and stand out like a true web pro.
- Even if you prefer to stay out of the spotlight
and let your web design work speak for itself,
well, relevant awards can bring a number of benefits.
Anyone who makes a living in the digital space at some point
should look how to apply for awards for their business.
I'm curious, have you done this?
In order to sell your services,
people first need to feel like, you know,
they can trust you and an award could do that,
and let's get into how to apply,
which ones to apply to,
and why they are so great for your business.
- Starting off with how to apply for awards
for your business.
So, first of all,
you should really figure out whether your business
is eligible for award nominations.
So, you can do that by visiting the official website
of the organizations that gives the award,
more on that in a bit,
that you're looking to apply for
and reading their official guidelines.
The guidelines will inform you about deadlines,
detailed business information that you'll need to supply,
and other data so your business
can be considered for nomination.
But be sure to read your application thoroughly
before you submit it,
just to make sure everything's in order,
correct, and there are no grammatical errors and typos.
Also, it's a nice idea to keep a copy
of your application for yourself.
- You might be asking yourself,
"Well, which awards should I apply for?"
Well, there are countless industry specific awards
out there,
but to save you some time,
here are the most popular awards
among freelance web developers and designers.
Starting off with Awwwards.
One thing you don't have to worry about with Awwwards
is a deadline for submitting websites
'cause they are open all year round.
However, the application works in three paid tiers.
The first tier is less expensive per website submission,
while the other two annual membership tiers,
with the middle tier offering three free submissions,
and the last offers unlimited websites submissions.
- Then there's CSS Design Awards.
So, there's an entry fee per website,
and you have two categories to choose from,
Website of the Day and a Website of the Month.
But submission in these two categories
automatically enter for the Website of the Year award.
- Another award is the CSS Winner Award,
and one great thing about this award
is that the submission period is open all of the time.
Yes, all the time.
And the cost is pretty low,
and if you get rejected then they will refund the entry fee,
which is pretty rad.
- I definitely like that.
And then there's the Web Awards by webaward.org.
So, the websites that are submitted for the Web Awards
will be evaluated by a panel of industry experts,
and the winning website will receive a certificate
or a trophy just depending on the category.
- And one more, the Webby Awards.
So, the Webby Awards are probably among the most popular
and well-known awards since they even have
a fully fledged ceremony.
Yeah, that's right, you guys, a ceremony
with high profile attendants like Barack Obama, Tom Hanks,
Demi Lovato, and some other public figures.
- So why?
Why are industry awards beneficial for your business?
Well, any industry expert will agree on the fact
that having won an award for your business
is one of the best ways to position yourself
as an expert in the field.
For example, digital marketers might apply
for the Google Ads Certificate and Google Ad Award.
SEO specialists and marketing agencies
might look into Search Engine Land Awards,
and Google Premier Partners award,
while web developers and designers
will find the Innovative Web Design Award,
or CSS Design Award very beneficial.
- Yeah, and that's mainly because the business market
can be very aggressively competitive environment
for small businesses that are, you know, just starting out.
And with that in mind,
small businesses will need all the help they can get
in order to stand out from the competition.
Logically making a clear effort to leave an impression
of a trustworthy professional web developer is, in fact,
the first step to finding
and establishing healthy long-term relationships.
An industry award will greatly increase your chances
of getting found and contacted by new clients,
which is a win-win and it's practically free marketing,
but also helps you retain current ones,
as they will see this as a seal of authority.
- Besides all that, winning industry awards will get you
the opportunity to attend a free workshops
and important industry events where you can do networking.
You can also gain exclusive memberships
for specific tools or websites,
and essentially boost your online presence.
- Of course, it should go without saying,
but in order to win these awards,
you should apply for relevant niche
and industry specific awards too,
besides just those general awards,
and that way you will align your business
with your line of work,
and really accentuate your field of expertise
while making it look legitimate and trustworthy.
- Winning industry awards is a great and inexpensive way
to boost your business's online presence,
and give it sort of a free marketing campaign.
If you wanna know more about growing your business,
we have over 200 videos for you to watch and check out.
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This is the Journey, and we'll see you in the next video.