A WordPress Voting Guide to the Webby Awards

The People’s Voice voting for the 25th annual Webby Awards closes in three days on May 6, 2021. Since 1996, the Webbys have recognized excellence on the internet among what is now seven major media types: websites, video, advertising, media and PR, social, apps, mobile, voice, games, and podcasts. After nearly 13,500 entries were submitted from 70 different countries, the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences selected fewer than 10% as Nominees and opened voting on April 20.

WordPress is well-represented among nominees and honorees in the website category. In fact, nearly every single sub-category of five nominees includes at least one WordPress site. If you want to vote for the WordPress sites linked below, click on the category name to view the five nominees and vote for your favorite one. Just remember that you can only vote for one site in each category to win the Webby People’s Voice.

In the Government & Civil Innovation category, 4 out of 5 nominees are powered by WordPress. The current front-runner, WhiteHouse.gov, was built by the Wide Eye agency with help from 10up, and a team of many others. The website uses the block editor with a highly customized site editing and management experience.

Update: WordPress actually sweeps this category with 5/5 nominations, as we just learned the XQ Super Schools site is a headless WordPress + Gatsby + WPGraphQL site. The Political Playlist site is also a is headless WordPress site using NuxtJS + WPGraphQL.

10up has another competing site in that same Government & Civil Innovation category, The California Grants Portal. The company designed and built a web portal for state agencies to submit their grant data.

10up also worked on another nominated site, The Undefeated, which was recently migrated to the block editor. The site is contending in the Cultural Blog/Website category against two other WordPress-powered sites: The New York Review of Books and Culture Type.

Web developer Daniel Schutzsmith shared in Post Status’ Slack that a site he built custom Gutenberg blocks for is up for a Webby under the Professional Services & Self-Promotion category. The site, audouy.com, is a portfolio for production designer François Audouy.

Real estate has been a hot industry over the past year and 2 out 5 nominees in the Real Estate category are running on WordPress: Tri Pointe Homes, a US-based builder site, and Zillow’s “What Moved Us” site. Zillow is currently in 2nd place with its WordPress-powered landing page that details visitors’ search behavior. It also displays surprising facts from this past year of sales and searches, such as “In 2020, 1 in 8 people made an offer sight unseen.” The page is beautifully illustrated and looks just as good on mobile as it does on desktop.

In the Activism category, Amnesty International’s WordPress-powered Tear Gas investigation website is leading the way in 1st place right now. Visualize NYC 2021, the other WordPress site in this category, is currently in 5th place. Both are powerful examples of primarily black and white design created to evoke a response from the visitor.

In the Charitable Organizations/Non-profit category, 3 out of 5 nominees are using WordPress, including Everytown, Antisemitism Uncovered, and the Photography 20/20 Compendium. Each design is wildly different from the next and it’s tough to tell that these are WordPress sites without viewing the source code. Everytown, a gun violence prevention organization, leads the pack in this category, followed by Antisemitism Uncovered in 2nd place, and the Photography 20/20 Compendium in 5th place.

The Law category is also dominated by WordPress sites with 3 out of 5 nominees using the software to create compelling designs. Gilleon Law Firm, which handles sexual harassment cases, is currently in first place by a wide margin, followed by two other WordPress sites, Ashcroft and Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel P.C., in 2nd and 4th place. If you build websites for attorneys, these sites should provide some solid design inspiration.

One thrilling byproduct of the Gutenberg project can be seen in these nominations: As more of digital forerunners adopt the block editor and explore its limits, WordPress site designs have become less predictable and more vibrant.

These nominations are just a handful of the best WordPress sites nominated for a Webby, and the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences site is also running on WordPress. If you find more WordPress site nominations or want to share one you worked on, please leave a link in the comments. Webby People’s Voice voting closes on May 6, 2021, so there is still time to help your favorite websites take first place. Winners will be announced on May 18, 2021.