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West Simsbury, Connecticut - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - March 7, 2007 - An Internet Standards Assessment Report (ISAR), which provides industry-specific benchmarking data for web development, has been issued by The Web Marketing Association, for the second year.

According to the ISAR Index, a decline in the overall standard of excellence in web development exists, across 96 industries. The ISAR index is an average of all scores in the Web Marketing Association’s WebAward competition since 1997. Index fell from 52.2 in 2005 to 50.7 in 2006, a reduction of 3%.

William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association remarked, “The ISAR Index is the benchmark that many organizations use to compare their Web development efforts to. Web standards are not falling, we believe that consumer expectations, as reflected in the judges’ scores, indicate that web sites have to work harder at creating a total user experience that both informs and entertains the visitors who reach their sites.”

The ISAR report includes the following just-released information:
- Detailed Industry findings as compared to historical trends
- Best and Worst Industries in Web Development
- Best and Worst Industries as they compare to the 7 criteria for a successful Website
- Award-wining sites for each industry
- Commentary for each industry as compared to the overall competition in 2006

Information within the report is derived form the Web Marketing Association’s annual WebAward competition, which judges websites in 96 industries based on the seven criteria that combined help create award-winning websites.

The WebAward’s seven criteria for a successful website include:
- Design
- Innovation
- Content
- Technology
- Interactivity
- Copywriting
- Ease of Use

The ISAR report also includes an index with a running benchmark of web development to which each industry can draw comparisons. For example, the chart below shows how Small Business websites compare to the WebAward index across the 7 judging criteria.

Drawing off information found in the ISAR report, web developers and others within organizations responsible for web design, can leverage statistical data to make more informed decisions in an effort to create more effect websites.

Mr. Rice added, “The most successful award-winning websites develop the correct balance of design, innovation and technology to create a total user experience. Once the total user experience is attained, the site becomes a sales tool itself because it has captured the visitor and the winners of the WebAward do this especially well.”

According to the ISAR report, the five best industries for Website development in 2006 were:
1.   Airline Websites
2.   Computer Retailer Websites
3.   Game Site Websites
4.   Toy and Hobby Websites
5.   Food Websites

The worst overall industry websites included those such as Brokerages, Credit Unions and ISP websites. Web Developers anxious to see how their site compares with the ISAR Index can enter the 2007 WebAward competition in April and receive valuable feedback regarding their web development efforts.

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.

To learn more about the 2007 WebAward ISAR report, please visit: www.webaward.org/isar_report.asp

For more information about WebAwards, please visit: www.webaward.org.

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