The Good Web Guide Website of the Year Award 2010 was once again geared towards small businesses and non-profit organisations. A few well-funded sites entered, such as Spotify and IPC’s houseandhome.co.uk, but, although they are market leaders, these have been excluded from the shortlist.

The response to the award was good, with 1809 entries received in total. Some of the sites entered are fantastic and unknown to us, others already favourites. After much deliberation, the judges agreed upon the following sites for the shortlist:-

TRAVEL

1. Perfectlychilled.com Offers an independently selected and highly eclectic range of private property rentals, small independent hotels, B&Bs and unusual places to stay combined with magazine-style editorial features in its Travel Notes section.

2. Audleytravel.com 100% tailor-made holidays, covering all manner of activities in destinations across the globe. Itineraries are designed around the customers' interests and budget with the full list of luxury accommodation searchable online.

3. Pitchup.com Find a huge selection of holiday parks, campsites and caravan parks in the UK and Irleand on this comprehensive guide. Select your site with the help of ratings, reviews and video footage, filtering results according to your own set criteria. The site mades camping look fun, even if the weather isn't.

PROPERTY

4. Mybuilder.com An online market place that brings builders and homeowners together. Post a job on the site and wait for builders registered on the site to bid for the work. Choose your builder based on the bid and the reviews left by others who have employed them in the past.

5. Luxehomeswap.com This site allows people to exchange their own lovingly-cared-for homes for homes elsewhere in the world and never pay a hotel bill again. Live like a local in luxury, homely accomodation in destinations ranging from Argentina to Bali to Scotland.

6. Remortgage.com Get a free no-obligation quote for your mortgage, browse mortgage types, find competitive rates and benefit from regulated mortgage advice.

7. Anyvan.com Moving house? Gain accessto thousands of transport companies and courier services which are already making the journey and who have space in their vehicles for your items. Just post the details of your load and wait for the cheapest bid. Saves money and the environment.

LEISURE

8. ShareMyPlaylists.com A free resource, run independently of Spotify, which allows users to share and explore Spotify Playlists.

9. Walkit.com Get a route map between any two points, including your journey time, calorie burn, step count and carbon saving, or search for walking directions using the journey planner.

10. Ooh.com A free site for listing and booking trips, courses, classes accomodation and events. Helps visitors to find original things to do wherever they are in the world.

NEWS & INFORMATION

11. Demotix.com News service which gives people the opportunity to sell photos, videos and news stories to established media outlets all over the world. In exchange for brokering deals for the sale of your work, it will take 50% of the fee.

12. FarmingFutures.org.uk An online resource to help farmers prepare for the impacts of climate change with the help of fact sheets, case studies, diagrams, information, events and more.

GARDENING

13. Growveg.com An innovative online garden planner, which helps novice gardeners to grow fruit and vegetables, plan their garden and gain timely advice to ensure their plot or garden is a success.

WINE

14. Nakedwines.com Wine specialist which invests in independent winemakers, in exchange for preferential prices, which it passes onto the customer. A lively online community, recommendations and information makes this a fun site to browse.

FASHION

15. Looklet.com Presents visitors with an online model, which they can outfit and accessorise online and, in doing so, visualise how different items go together before making a purchase.

ART

16. Unknownprints.com Unknown artists can submit original artwork to this site, which it then transforms into prints and sells online. Artists whose work is accepted receive an initial £50, a free A1 print of their choice from the shop and a percentage of the profits on their work.

INTERIORS

17. Made.com Strips out the middleman to connect visitors with the furniture makers directly, cutting the cost of high quality, design-led furniture by 50-80%.

18. Thesleeproom.com Makes finding and buying high quality, hand-made mattresses and beds a pleasure with beautiful lifestyle imagery and video content on a clear and presentable site.

GIFTS

19. Greatenglish.co.uk Athene English has showcased craftsmanship from Britain and overseas alongside her own fine leatherwork. Her website puts this experience into practice with an array of stunning crafts-led gifts, sourced locally in Britain.

20. Coxandcox.co.uk Unusual gifts for the home, weddings, birthdays and more, beautifully presented with lifestyle photography online.

RECRUITMENT

21. Gatszu.com Online recruitment marketplace which connects employers to a nationwide network of specialists and independent recruitement agencies. Employers register for free and upload vacancies, paying only if a recruiter finds you a candidate you wish to employ.

FAMILY

22. Findababysitter.com Helps parents to fulfill very specific childcare requirements without going through an agency, the idea being to save money. The site does not vet candidates, but provides parents with all the information needed to conduct their own checks.

23. Mangahigh.com Developed by education professionals to provide a computer game and learning package that improves maths ability in children and adults alike.

24. Netmums.com Founded in 2000, Netmums is one of the biggest parenting sites with over 840,000 members, bringing mums together through its satellite websites that are run and edited by local volunteer mums.

The shortlisted sites will be encouraged to get their visitors and customers to vote for their site in The People's Choice. This is a separate entity to the Website of the Year and will be a good test to see which site is the most proactive on the social media front.

WINNER

The winning site will be announced at the 2010 Awards Reception in London during Global Entrepreneurship Week (15-19th November 2010), alongside the site that had the most votes in the People's Choice. The Reception will be held at The Royal Institution in Albemarle Street, London W1 on Tuesday 16th November. Tickets to attend the reception can be purchased for £29.38 inc VAT via Eventbrite. Eventbrite fee is extra.

Contact: Emily Jenkinson or Arabella Dymoke at award@thegoodwebguide.co.uk for more information. Tel: 020 7402 6412