Web Marketing Association Names Best Web Sites in the Investment Industry During 2006 WebAward Competition

Best Web sites announced in 10th Annual WebAward Competition covering 96 industries including investment and finance.

West Simsbury, CT (PRWEB) October 4, 2006 -- www.webaward.org -- The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce the investment-related Best of Industry Winners for the 10th annual international WebAward Competition, the Internet’s premier Web site award competition.

The investment and finance industries represent significant categories in the WebAward competition including Best Investment Website, Best Mutual Fund Website and Best Credit Union Website among many others.

“Web sites are extremely important to company success in the investment industry because both individuals and companies crave the ability to track their money online. Being able to do so gives investors peace of mind,” said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. “Investment companies benefit from the independent evaluation and recognition of their online efforts provided by the WebAward competition allowing them to make changes to better benefit end-users.”

Investment websites entered in the WebAward competition are judged on the following seven criteria:

• Design

• Innovation

• Content

• Technology

• Interactivity

• Copy writing

• Ease of use

The overarching goal of the WebAward Competition is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing the most effective websites on the Net today.

This year’s best web sites along with past WebAward winners in investment and financial related categories are:

Best Investment Website

2006 BetterInvesting Website Redesign

2005 BusinessWeek Online

2004 Allied Capital Corporation

2003 Summit Partners

2002 Strong Financial Corporation

2001 Frank Russell Company

Best Mutual Funds Website

2006 Cohen & Steers Website

2005 Cohen & Steers Website

2004 HighMark Funds Website

2003 Barclays Global Investors iShares.com

2002 Strong Financial Corporation

2001 Frank Russell Company

Best Banking Website

2006 Wachovia Championship 17

2005 Sainsburysbank.co.uk

2004 HSBC Card Services HK

2003 Deutsche Bank Global Cash Management

2002 Freddie Mac - Your Route to Homeownership

2001 Dollar Bank Loans Website

Best Brokerage Website

2006 Ameritrade Spotting/Seizing Opportunity

2005 A Defining Year: Charles Schwab

2004 Strong Financial Corporation

2003 Strong Financial Corporation

2002 Strong Financial Corporation

2001 Solomon Smith Barney Young Investors Network

Best Credit Union Website

2006 Union America Mortgage

2005 America First Credit Union

2004 APCI Federal Credit Union

2003 U.S. Central Credit Union

2002 Santa Clara County Federal CU

2001 Security Service Federal Credit Union

Best Financial Services Website

2006 Chase card with Blink

2005 Merrill Lynch Gateway Website

2004 Trancentrix

2003 Deutsche Bank Global Cash Management

2002 CNBC on MSN Money

2001 Strong Financial Corporation

Best Insurance Website

2006 Blue Shield of California

2005 Medical Mutual - Ohio's get Well Card

2004 Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Website

2003 Empire BlueCross BlueShield Website

2002 progressive.com

2001 John Hancock eVariable Life

A complete list of past and present WebAward winners can be found at: http://investment.webaward.org

The WebAward competition awards web sites in 96 industries as well as determining overall web site awards including Best of Show.

The 2006 Best of Show WebAward was presented to New York-based Big Spaceship (www.bigspaceship.com), for its outstanding work on the "TBS: Department of Humor Analysis" web site at www.tbshumorstudy.com. Big Spaceship joined forces with Mother Interactive to turn their very silly questionnaire into an addictive, fully interactive web site.

R/GA (www.rga.com) was named Top Agency at the 2006 WebAward Competition, taking home 19 WebAwards.

The 2006 WebAward Competition sponsors include:

BURST! Media (www.burstmedia.com)

Misukanis & Odden (www.misukanisodden.com)

SimpleFeed (www.simplefeed.com)

Register.com (www.register.com)

NewsUSA (www.newsusa.com)

AdTools Inc(www.adtoolsinc.com.)

Small Army (www.smallarmy.net)

TopRank Online Marketing (www.toprankresults.com)

Creative Chocolate Printing Company (www.creativechocolateprinting.com)

Perseus Development Corp (www.perseus.com)

PRWeb (www.prweb.com)

Media Sponsors include:

Website Services Magazine (www.websiteservices.com)

AdRants (www.adrants)

MarketingVox (www.marketingvox.com)

MediaPost (www.wediapost.com)

eComXpo (www.ecomxpo.com)

Ad:Tech (www.ad-tech.com)

Macworld (www.macworldexpo.com).

The Web Marketing Association thanks all of its sponsors for helping to make this annual competition possible.

About the Web Marketing Association

The Web Marketing Association is working to create a high standard of excellence for Web site development and marketing on the Internet. Staffed by volunteers, it is made up of Internet marketing, advertising, PR and design professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of Website development and marketing on the Internet.

Since 1997, the Web Marketing Association’s annual WebAward Competition has been helping interactive professionals promote themselves, their companies, and their best work to the outside world. Now in its ninth year, the WebAward Competition has become the premier award event for Web developers and marketers worldwide.

Learn more at www.webward.org

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