The Good Web Guide's first Website of the Year Award attracted over a thousand entries.

A shortlist of 25 sites was chosen and sent to judges including Emma Jones, founder of Enterprisenation.com, Sháá Wasmund, founder of Smarta.com, Liane Dietrich, MD of Linkshare.co.uk; Yanique Francis-Lalin, senior web analyst at Twenga.com, Nick Wills, founder of Beatsdigital.com and MD of Thegoodwebguide.co.uk, Arabella Dymoke.

The standard of the shortlist was very high and judges found it hard choosing a winner. In the end, Simonseeks.com, the new concept travel website which combines user generated content with expert moneysaving tips and a comprehensive choice of booking options was picked as the overall winner.

An awards lunch was held at Quo Vadis, Soho where Nick Trend, the editor of Simonseeks.com, received a cheque for £1,000 and a selection of other fantastic prizes. For more details, click here.

Judge Yanique Francis-Yalin (Twenga) said of Simonseeks.com 'I especially like the way the user content is organised and that there are standards to ensure good quality content.' Meanwhile, Nick Wills commented, 'It's solid, executed well and could go a long way.'

Nick Trend spoke on behalf of the team at Simonseeks.com when he accepted the award saying, 'Everyone in the office is delighted and it is a huge boost to our confidence after many months of hard work!'

Runners Up in The Good Web Guide Website of the Year Award 2009 included: Songkick.com, which tracks artists, venues and festivals to ensure you never miss another gig; Findinvestgrow.com, which works with and supports young entrepreneurs; and Shiply.com, which helps visitors to find cheap courier services already making trips across the UK and Europe.

A big thanks to all those who entered the awards. Please do watch out for our Website of the Year Award 2010 - launching soon!

4 November 09