Linking and Advertising (10 % of overall score)

Links (5 points): Make sure all the links on your site work! It looks very unprofessional clicking on a link and finding that it leads to a dead page.

Pop-ups (5 points): Pop-up/under advertisements are becoming more commonplace on web sites. They can cause irritation, slow down computers and increase loading times. You will lose points if your site contains more than two pop-ups/unders.

Copyright, Privacy and Disclaimer (15 % of overall score)

Copyright (5 points): You probably spent significant time and energy developing the content of your web site. So protect it! Make sure you have copyright notices on your site. You don't want people taking what is yours and not acknowleging you as the source. Similarly, if you have used material from another site, then make sure you are permitted to use it and acknowledge the source of the information!

Privacy (5 points): Privacy is becoming a thing of the past. Email addresses and demographic information are being traded left right and centre. Consider the rights of your visitors and make sure you have privacy policies that are current and easily found. Links to your privacy policy should be adjacent to sections where information is collected from visitors (e.g. forms, forums etc).

Your privacy policy should also have a Children's Online Privacy Protection Act section if you are (purposely or inadvertently) collecting information (e.g. email address, telephone number etc.) from anyone under the age of 14.

Disclaimer (5 points): Your site should have a comprehensive disclaimer if you provide visitors with goods or services of any kind. This allows your visitors to know their rights and to know how much responsibility you take for the contents/services of your site.

Awards

If awarded a FreeWorldGroup Webmaster Award you must not alter it in any way without our prior permission.

Notification

Successful/unsuccessful applicants will be notified of the result within 2-4 weeks of submitting an application.

Check out the disqualification criteria, click here.