WOBURN, Mass., Sept. 16, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bridgeline Digital, Inc. (Nasdaq:BLIN), a developer of award-winning web engagement management software and interactive technology solutions, announced today that web applications it developed for Janney Montgomery Scott, Berkshire Bank, and PODS were recently honored by the Web Marketing Association for Outstanding Achievement in Website Development.
Founded by the Web Marketing Association in 1997 and now in its 14th year, the WebAwards is the annual standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks for the best websites. More than 2,000 sites from 45 countries were adjudicated in 96 industry categories during this year's competition. Entries were judged on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and use of technology. Over the past 10 years, Bridgeline Digital has amassed over 50 industry related awards, including the esteemed 2010 CODiE Award for the Best Content Management Solution globally.
"The level of excellence in website development continues to increase, constantly making the Internet a very competitive place to do business," said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. "Each year the WebAwards receives amazing entries from around the world that show impressive creativity and functionality. As the Internet evolves, so does the state of website development, and winning a WebAward is a great way to demonstrate the effectiveness of your development efforts."
Winning in the Investment site Standard of Excellence category is the Janney Montgomery Scott website (www.janney.com), developed on Bridgeline's iAPPS Product Suite. The newly launched website is the result of a successful effort to create a fresh online presence for Janney that efficiently directs site users to the information they need, strengthens the Janney brand and enriches the user experience for its many target audiences. By leveraging iAPPS Content Manager, Janney can quickly and easily deliver up-to-date, brand-sensitive content in real time. Additionally, iAPPS Content Manager empowers Janney's non-technical site administrators to create, manage and edit site content within an easy-to-use interface. Moreover, iAPPS Analytics offers Janney critical intelligence on site visitor behavior and path and scenario analysis, enabling efficient content delivery and improvement in overall site effectiveness that can only be achieved with iAPPS' deeply integrated platform. Since migrating to the new iAPPS managed solution, Janney has not only achieved a 10-20% increase in website traffic, but with the SEO tools that are native to iAPPS, its ranking with search engines such as Google and Bing has also increased significantly.
Winning in the Bank site Standard of Excellence category is the Berkshire Bank website (www.berkshirebank.com), also developed on Bridgeline's iAPPS Product Suite. Headquartered in Pittsfield, MA, the new website was designed and developed to match Berkshire's image as "America's Most Exciting Bank" and to help them achieve business goals like consolidating their four business divisions on a single website platform. Utilizing iAPPS as a technology and content management platform has also enabled Berkshire to store and provide management capabilities for all Berkshire Insurance Group forms and applications. Additionally, iAPPS provides improved security and workflow for the online loan payment section of the site. And like all iAPPS-powered websites, Berkshire's various non-technical site administrators leverage both standard and advanced content management functionality such as real-time content updates, inline content editing, and multi-site management. Moreover, their use of iAPPS Analytics provides critical reporting insight into specific promotions and overall site effectiveness.
Winning accolades for Outstanding Website is the portable storage and moving company PODS website (www.PODS.com). The PODS site redesign was targeted specifically at increasing the percentage of PODS' customers that book online versus over the phone. The new website goes beyond improvements in functionality to achieve their goals and focuses heavily on delivering relevant user experiences for identified audience segments that visit PODS.com. Site visitors are able to self select into content experiences specifically designed to meet their needs, including quoting mechanisms. Since the launch of PODS' new website, the percentage of customers booking online has more than doubled from its pre-launch levels.
"Bridgeline's interactive design and development teams work with some of the most innovative organizations in the world. These are companies that understand the significant value they can achieve by leveraging scalable web-based technologies, led by outstanding usability and design," said Thomas Massie, Bridgeline Chairman and CEO. "We are honored to win these three WebAwards."
About the Web Marketing Association
The Web Marketing Association is working to create a high standard of excellence for Website 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 14th year, the WebAward Competition has become the premier award event for Web developers and marketers worldwide. To learn more, visit www.webaward.com.
About Bridgeline Digital
Bridgeline Digital is a developer of an award-winning web engagement management platform and award-winning interactive business technology solutions that help customers leverage best in class web-based technologies to achieve their business objectives. The iAPPS Product Suite is an innovative SaaS solution that unifies Content Management, e-Commerce, e-Marketing, and Analytics capabilities into the heart of websites, online stores, intranets, extranets, and portals – enabling business users to swiftly enhance and optimize the value of their web properties. The iAPPS Product Suite has been recognized by KMWorld Magazine as a Trend Setting Product of 2010. iAPPS Content Manager is the 2010 CODiE Award Winner for Best Content Management Solution, globally.
Combined with award-winning interactive technology development services by Microsoft Gold-Certified development teams, Bridgeline Digital helps customers to cost-effectively maximize the value of their rapidly changing web applications. Bridgeline's teams of developers specialize in web application development, e-commerce development, usability engineering, SharePoint development, rich media development, and search engine optimization.
Bridgeline Digital is headquartered near Boston, with additional locations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Bangalore, India. Bridgeline Digital has hundreds of customers ranging from middle market organizations to divisions within Fortune 1,000 companies that include: Sun Chemical, Honeywell, Healthcore, LG Electronics, Marriott International, Berkshire Life, PODS, Budget Rental Car, Washington Redskins, AARP, National Financial Partners, The Packard Foundation, DTCC, Cadaret, Grant & Co., National Insurance Crime Bureau, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. To learn more about Bridgeline, please visit www.bridgelinedigital.com.
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