4] Always proofread and edit your content for common errors: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, etc.

5] Check to be sure all links work.Links sometimes need upgrading or a mistake may be made when they are entered.

6] Background and font design are as important as content itself. Be sure background is compatible with font color. Never use fluorescent or brilliant font color, or background. These shades of color often blind eyes and make reading difficult.

7] Although banners are becoming "IN" thing on Internet, they have their down side.Load time of a page is considerably slower if page has many banners. Visitors will leave site if load time is slow..thus losing potential customers.Sites are often rejected for having a "Banner Farm." Instead, try writing an interesting paragraph or two about link and then link to site.More often, than not,a short description will prompt visitor to click. Overload of graphics, and clip art are also related.

8] A vital part of any web site are meta tags, title description and key words. search engines will never find your site, unless you put in these key words. Take a look at each page and identify these words. You will need many of them, take your time to assemble list of up to 150 words, or related words that are used most often.

9] Be careful of content on site, such a lottery games, adult content only, if you wish to apply for an award. It might come to getting rid of this type of content.

10] Free hosting can often be a downfall as well. You should have your own domain available at minimal cost if you are well established. I am still using free hosting, but will upgrade in near future.

This list of ten qualities is by no means all that some ask for when you apply for an award. Some of tips are not required, but are necessary for a quality web site.

Check your files. It's easy to upload a new HTML page, and forget to upload any additional graphics, leaving visitor with a blank square. I find this especially easy when I'm just using an icon such as **New!** or **Free** - so I keep these in a directory on my site called **Common_Images** - that way, I know where they are, and don't need to upload them for every page I add.

Check in more than one browser. You probably have a favourite browser for surfing web - but we're all different, and all round world people will be dismissing your choice as **terrible!** So check on your hit counter stats - which browsers are your visitors using? If you don't have room on your hard drive for more than one browser, use one of webmaster forums to ask for a check from different browser users. http://webmaster-forums.com , http://siteownersforums.com , and http://sitepointforums.com all have a forum for this. You're expected to review other members sites in return.

Use these five checks every time you update your site, and you'll have less chance of losing your visitors through simple mistakes.