In previous articles, we've discussed how to search the web better for what you want, what the meaning of awarding is to us, and how our team really works. As our regulars are starting to see, we're trying to gear the articles more to your advantage now. Give you an insight that perhaps you didn't have before and hopefully walk away from your computer with a little bit more knowledge you had before. This article is for all those webmasters out there. Professional on the verge or beginner on the brink of greatness, either way you'll hopefully find something useful in this edition of the Awards Team article.

We're going to talk about the quality of websites that you put out there on the web and that we track down to award. The obvious is the graphics, content, and how long the URL is. If you don't make the website pleasurable to look at, then they're not going to care if you have any good information or not. How about if you have all these great graphics, but no content to really back it up. Chances are web surfers aren't going to stay too long. Then there's always the problem with if your website's URL is longer than the content it's holding that surfers won't find it. Those should be the basics for you as a webmaster, but here are some things that you might not have thought of.

A couple of years ago, I started my own website as a fansite for the country singer Bryan White. I'm a huge fan and that's always been one of my goals. Over the years, I've learned stuff through trial and miss, but you can also listen to other people who have already established websites. I had a great circle of friends when I joined the ring of Bryan White fansites. With their support, I became one of the established websites that I never thought I could be. Become the unofficial apprentice of someone who has a website that you admire and listen to them. You're going to fail and you're going to mess up, but that doesn't mean to have to repeat their mistakes. And if their website is as big a hobby as yours is to you right now, then they'll be more than willing to share their insights as a webmaster. More than once I've found that to be true personally.

Maybe you have an established website already or are just getting the last page done to be put out there for viewing, either way you can improve. There's always a link to be fixed on your links page, always a broken image to correct, and there's always a little something you can improve upon to make a world of a difference. Learning your own tricks of the trade is going to come down the road, but you gotta stick with it. And to be willing to do that, you gotta have a website people are willing to visit and then come back to. Always improving is important.

You can always change your website's approach down the road. Perhaps you were so excited to get a website that you didn't really think through on what you wanted on it. There's always a twist to a great website like one that the Awards Team awarded in December 2002. It's called The Jeddles. It was a humor website with a Star Wars twist on the famous 1960's band called the Beatles. If you even remotely knew anything about the Beatles, then you were in for a laugh. But always try to get a twist and a theme to your website that has a unique approach to something that could be already gone and done.

The Awards Team has been out in the field. We've seen some awesome websites and we've just shook our heads at some wasted webspace. With these tips, hopefully you'll be able to improve on your website and make it next month's winner! The Awards Team will release a new line of winners this month, after taking a break from working in January. But we'd like to start off the New Year with a welcome to our newest Star Trek affiliate Lieutenant Mave! Come back to our little corner of the Tribune next month with some great sites from this girl!

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