The contest opened to submissions on January 1, 2008 and closes to submissions on March 31, 2008. The contest is open only to current REALTOR® members. Please see below for complete contest rules and requirements.
|
The winners will be chosen by three nationally recognized judges: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stephen Canale
Technology Speaker, Trainer and Author
Canale.com |
Who May Enter
All REALTOR® Members, except those serving on the MAR Technology Committee for the current contest year, are eligible for the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Web site contest. Membership must be current at both the time your website is submitted as well as when the results are announced. A member may enter one Web site into the Broker category or Individual Agent category. A website may be entered in only one category, and each MAR member may only enter one website in the contest. In the event of multiple entries from a single member are received, only the first submitted website will be accepted. In order to submit a website to the contest, the submitting member must have authority over the website they are entering. In the Broker/Office category, only the Broker or authorized representative may submit the website for judging. In the event a website is entered multiple times into the Broker/office category, all entries will be combined.
How The Entries Will Be Judged
The websites will be reviewed by the distinguished three-judge panel of Michael Russer, David Friedman, and Stephen Canale. Judging is based on five broad judging criteria outlined below. The sum of the point totals for the five categories will be 100 points. If required, tie-breaking will be at the discretion of the contest judges. All questions should be directed to the contest administrators. The contest is administered by the MAR Technology Committee. You may contact the contest administrator by writing MAR’s IT Director, Mike Cutlip, at
info@marealtor.com.
Contest Deadlines
Member must submit their URLs no later than March 31, 2008 using the contest entry form below.
PrizesThere will be no monetary prizes for the contest. Awards will be in the form of state and national recognition in print and digital communications as provided by the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® as well as acknowledgement at the 2008 MAR Professional Awards Reception.
Judging Criteria
Category I - Content (25 Points Maximum) - Content includes all the information provided on your site.
Things to consider:
- Branding: Is the home page quickly identifiable as your site? Is there a company logo? Is there a REALTOR® logo?
- Focus: what is the page about? Is this focus quickly apparent to the user?
- About the site: Where are copyrights, legal notices, and privacy policies?
- Contact: Is there information to indicate your identity and how to contact you?
- Do you provide enough content through your website? Sites with current, original, and/or local information will score better than those without.
- Is your content up-to-date?
Category II - Structure and Navigation (15 Points Maximum) - Structure and navigation refers to the organization of information on the site and the method utilized to move through sections.
Things to consider:
- Format: How is information is provided? More pictures and less text, or vice-versa.
- Page links: Are they useful and meaningful?
- Where to find content: Is the navigation logical and intuitive?
- Navigate easily: Does your site offer access between distant sections in only a few clicks?
- Can the site be navigated on something other than a computer, i.e.- a cell phone, Internet tablet, or other wireless Internet device.
Category III - Visual Design (15 Points Maximum) - Visual design is the site appearance. Is it of high quality? Is it appropriate and relevant for the audience while emphasizing your brand?
Things to consider:
- Text: Is it legible? Not too small and not too large? Low contrast colors may be difficult to read.
- Is the color scheme appealing and easy on the eyes?
- Layout consistent: Page navigation and important elements should be in roughly the same place on all pages of you site.
- Do you make use of pictures and graphics to enhance the site? Are the graphics relevant to you message and goal of your site?
Category IV - Functionality (25 Points Maximum) - Functionality is the use of technology on the site. Good functionality is technology you can not see that allows information to be found easily and action performed smoothly.
Things to consider:
- Does the site load quickly?
- Do all of your site’s images display correctly?
- Broken links severely detract from your site. Sometimes the material you’ve linked to disappears or changes location. This is understandable, but it should be the exception and not the norm.
- Does your site works across platforms (PC and Mac) and different web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and others?
Category V - Interactivity and Experience (20 Points Maximum) - Interactivity and experience is the way the site allows the user to do something and how the reader feels about the site visitation experience.
Things to consider:
- What is the input/output expectation? How much information are users required to enter in order to get more information from you or your site?
- Is your page engaging to the user? Does it use multimedia such as audio or video recordings? Does it have areas for users to post comments?
- Scoping: Is the site customizable to different targets, i.e. buyers vs sellers?
The contest is now closed to submissions.
Thank you for your interest in the 2008 Website Design Contest!