Shopping coupon site RetailMeNot has scooped the pool at the inaugural SmartCompany Web Awards, winning the awards for best search strategy, best social media strategy and best overall website (20 staff or less).
The awards, sponsored by Webfirm, attracted more than 200 entries from websites around the country, with particularly strong entries from the eCommerce and internet services sectors.
SmartCompany editor and awards judge, James Thomson says SmartCompany decided to launch the awards after two years of judging the best website category of the Smart50.
“The entries were, to put it kindly, fairly unimpressive and we were determined to show our community just how good small business websites could be,” he says.
“The Web Awards certainly do that.”
Thomson says it was particularly impressive to see how smaller businesses are managing to compete with far bigger rivals despite relatively small budgets – almost 80% of the award entrants spent less than $10,000 on their site.
The awards were judged by a team of internet experts, including Webfirm’s Andrew Dalton, ProBlogger Darren Rowse, Deloitte Digital’s Peter Williams and Red Balloon’s Naomi Simson.
The award winners:
Best overall site (under 20 staff)
Winner: RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com)
Finalists: nt3 Digital Resume Database (www.nt3.com.au), Space Out (www.spaceout.com.au)
Best overall site (over 20 staff)
Winner: Lasoo (www.lasoo.com.au)
Finalists: Beerenberg Farm (www.beerenberg.com.au), Baker’s Delight(www.bakersdelight.com.au)
Best Blog
Winner: Parenting Ideas (www.parentingideas.com.au/blog)
Finalists: Bluewire Media (www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog), PB Web Development (www.pbwebdev.com.au/blog)
Best Online Tool
Winner: Everyday Hero (www.everydayhero.com.au)
Finalists: Mozo (www.mozo.com.au), CushyCMS (www.cushycms.com)
Best Social Media Strategy
Winner: RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com)
Finalists: Super Green Me (www.supergreenme.com), Rentoid (www.rentoid.com)
Best eCommerce site
Winner: Carbonite Australia (www.carbonite.com.au)
Finalists: nt3 Digital Resume Database (www.nt3.com.au), OzHut (www.ozscopes.com.au)
Best search strategy site
Winner: RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com)
Finalists: City Software (www.citysoftware.com.au), Suburb View (www.suburbview.com)
Best site design
Winner: Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre (www.mcec.com.au)
Finalists: Beerenberg Farm (www.beerenberg.com.au), Stateless Systems (www.retailmenot.com)
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
