The GWG's favourite sites for 2011

The web world continues to hurtle forward at break neck speed and at The Good Web Guide, the team can sometimes suffer from web overload. 2011 has seen the trend for crowd sourcing and funding become ever more popular, not least with WeFund winning our Website of the Year Award. As the year draws to a close, there are some sites that we've added to our favourites' list. Each of us have chosen two sites that we'll be dipping into in 2012.

ARABELLA DYMOKE

The Browser - All the best writing on the web in a well curated space. Its tagline is 'writing worth reading' and it lives up to that in every respect.

Watch out for: FiveBooks interviews with the best reading on any subject, suggested by experts.

bolshoyART - An online gallery where you can tap into creative talent on another continent. The art that makes it on to the site is curated by experts so buyers can feel confident that they are buying the 'real deal.'

Watch out for: bolyshoyART has just launched a site introducing British artists to Russia. What next?

DAVID TEALE

Abe - I still come across booky people who don't know this site. Covers just about all second-hand booksellers everywhere and you find EVERYTHING (almost) - thousands of books that you've been searching for for years - just click on the cheapest and you're there. Owned by Amazon, but don't let this put you off. You can order directly via Abe or (I prefer) you can ring the bookseller and bargain with them.

Arts & Letters Daily - A site I didn't know about until mentioned recently in a Good Web Guide newsletter (Sheila Dillon's). Intelligent in-depth articles taken from a huge variety of sources on a wide range of off-beat subjects - a brilliant interview, for example, with Maurice Sendak a few days ago.

Watch out for: If you're ever bored just go to the archive part of the site, going back to 2000 and you'll find something funny and stimulating.

EMILY JENKINKSON

TasteSpotting - My stomach grumbles just looking at this blog, which links to some of the best food-related stuff - recipes, books, stories, experiences etc -  being posted across the web via a highly tempting selection of beautiful food imagery. It's a great way to access blogs and recipes that you might not otherwise have found and is a real visual treat.

Once Was England - Though I love the fast-paced, information-driven digital age, there are times when it all just seems a bit cheap - cheap entertainment, cheap clothes, cheap goods, cheap flights - and I yearn for an age when toothpaste came in hand-painted ceramic pots and people dressed up to catch a plane. At this point, I check in to Once Was England (In memory of a vanishing land) to reassure myself that quality and elegance still exist. My New Year's resolution? To spend money on fewer, but better things.

FRAN MORLEY-FLETCHER

Guardian Books - Not original, I know, but I love this arm of the Guardian website. Not really being one for hard-hitting front page news - the comforting world of books suits me much better (ie. not so depressing).

Watch out for: Losing hours in highbrow procrastination; there is always a good blog to read or a diverting link to follow.

Project Dirt -  A brilliant green scheme, bringing together Londoners keen to get involved in sustainable and environental projects across the city. Projects with names like 'The Edible Bus Stop' and 'Food From the Sky' well describe the imaginative work that goes on amongst small communities who are doing much to improve quality of life in the city. Inspiring stuff.

Watch out for: Project Dirt going countrywide, I'm hoping that 2012 will see everyone joining in!

NICK WILLS

SEOmoz -  A comprehensive resource for getting the best from Google and other search engines. Invaluable to SEOs and Web Developers in the 'Post Panda' world.

Watch out for: 'Whiteboard Friday'. A new video tutorial published every week.

airbnb - Social meets B&B. An online marketplace for overnight stays in a growing number of countries. A great combination of known concepts tied with slick interactivity and design.

Watch out for: Your neighbours house getting a listing, it's only a matter of time!

TERRIE BARTON

Not Another Bill - Fantastic site for people like me who struggle to buy presents for loved ones/friends and are looking for something unusual. The present that keeps on giving got me sold.

Glamour.com - With its daily round up of the latest celeb news in bite size chunks keeping me up to speed with what's going on in that world without consuming too much of my time. My guilty pleasure.

23 December 2011