WRIS Wins Three 2007 WebAwards

WRIS, Inc., a web design and development firm located in Warrensville Heights, received three Standard of Excellence awards in the Web Marketing Association's eleventh annual WebAward Competition for website development. Laurel School (http://www.laurelschool.org), won in the School category, Heartland Industries (http://www.heartlandind.com), won in the Retail category and Wellcorp (http://www.wellcorp.com), won in the Professional Services category. 2007 marks the fifth consecutive year of WebAward wins for WRIS.

The first award was for the website WRIS developed for Laurel School, a college preparatory, independent day school for girls, kindergarten through grade 12 located in Shaker Heights and founded in 1896. Their newly redesigned website was carefully organized to present relevant information to prospective students and their parents as well as the entire Laurel community including current students, parents, teachers, and alumnae. A judge from the WebAward competition said, "the colors are highly engaging, the site is well laid out and easy to navigate."

The award-winning site includes many interactive features including complete site content management and automatic synchronization with the school's internal user directory. A sophisticated online application allows prospective students to complete their application over time and even link teacher recommendations to their account. An in-depth alumnae tool known as LaureLinks allows registered users to search the alumnae directory, update their own information and communicate with one another in a private online community.

The second award was for the site WRIS developed for Heartland Industries. With 30 years of experience and 1.5 million satisfied customers, Heartland has become the expert in providing consumers with custom outdoor storage and recreational building solutions. Originally built as an online brochure offering product information only, this award-winning website was recently redeveloped into a complete start-to-finish ecommerce selling tool. The site allows visitors to customize backyard storage buildings, gazebos, playhouses and/or play systems and place orders online. A prominent radius search feature allows consumers to locate nearby dealers and calculate shipping charges. Additionally, the entire website is backed by a content manager enabling Heartland to change pricing, offer discounts and run promotions.

Finally, the third award was for the site WRIS developed for Wellcorp. Wellcorp provides corporate health management programs that help improve employees' lives and rejuvenate the organizations for which they work. Wellcorp's services range from on-site programs including health screenings, training seminars and nutrition consultation to online services such as lifestyle health coaching and employee health resources. The clean and uncluttered layout of the website conveys their corporate mission and effectively communicates their broad range of offerings to current and prospective clients. Time-sensitive sections of the site such as awards & honors, news, media kit, health management resources and career opportunities are completely updateable through a content manager.

Founded by the Web Marketing Association in 1997, the WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks based on the seven criteria of a successful website: design, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, ease of use and use of technology. Thousands of sites were adjudicated in 96 industry categories during this year's competition. The competition was judged by a team of independent Internet professionals representing a variety of relevant disciplines of Web site development. Judges included members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, corporate marketing executives, content providers and webmasters.

The goal of the WebAwards is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective websites on the Internet today. Beyond validation, entrants benefit from a website assessment by a professional judging panel, which provides specific feedback on how each site ranks against standards of excellence.

About The Web Marketing Association, Inc.
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 eleventh year, the WebAward Competition has become the premier award event for Web developers and marketers worldwide. Its website is located at http://www.webaward.org.

About WRIS
WRIS, Inc. is an award-winning, Cleveland-based web design and web development company founded in 1996. Their primary objective is to develop practical websites and nurture long-term client relationships. Committed to understanding their clients' businesses and goals before beginning projects, WRIS is able to deliver websites that effectively reflect their clients' messages, increase profitability and support steady growth. Visit http://www.wris.com for more information.