The DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards 2008

It's been encouraging to attend the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards for 2008 at Taste Asia, Mall of Asia last November 5, 2008, 1pm to 5:30pm. I remembered last year how it felt to be a winner for our website Philrealty-showroom.com. Most of the winners this year must have been delighted and surprised to be selected as best websites in their respective categories.

Janette started the event discussing the criteria for judging of the entries. I understand that for some artists out there, some of the winners would not have passed their standards. That is because the awards is not about the best website visual design, but about the best website in all aspects and e-commerce practices. The entries were judged openly by the DigitalFilino Club members with regards to search engine readiness, good navigation, originality and freshness of content, layout, design, site speed performance, and interactivity.

Below is the list of winners per category this year:

1. Apparel / Fashion Category - Tesoro's Philippine Handicrafts and Barongs
   
2. Art Category - Hiraya
3. Association / Organization Category - Information Technology Association of the Philippines
4. Auction / Shopping Portal Category - KabayanCentral
   
5. Automotive Category - AutoIndustriya
6. Beauty Category - Godiva
7. Blog - Corporate Category - The Belo Medical Group Blog
   
8. Blog - Personal Category - The D Spot
9. Blog - Professional Category - Tech at Hand
10. Books Category - OMF Literature
11. Community Category - TipidPC
12. Computer / Consumer Electronics Category - Villman Computers Philippines
13. Consumer Banking / Bills Payment Category - Philippine National Bank
14. Corporate / Professional Category - Syntactics
15. Events / Conferences Category - WordCamp Philippines
16. Financial Services Category - Absolute Traders
    
17. Food Category - Filipino Recipes
18. Games Category - RF Online Philippines
19. Gifts Category - Express Regalo
20. Guides / Review Category - ClickTheCity.com
21. Home Furnishings / Improvement Category - Philippine Interior Design & Feng Shui Tips
22. Jobs / Employment Category - MyNimo
23. Magazine Category - Candymag.com
    
24. Music / Movie/ Film Category - TitikPilipino
25. Newspaper Category - Inquirer.net
26. Pharmaceuticals Category - GlaxoSmithKline Philippines
27. Podcast Category - The Daily PCIJ
28. Politics Category - Filipino Voices
29. Real Estate Category - BF Homes Properties
30. School / University Category - De La Salle University - Manila
31. Services Category - Load.com.ph
32. Social Networking Category - GreatPinoy!
33. Tourism Category - Cebu CeBoom CeBlog
    
34. Travel Category - Philippine Airlines

The winners representative were given a time to share their experiences and insights as they developed their sites. I enjoyed The D Spot talk as she shared how her son encouraged her to try blogging. I also liked The Daily PCIJ's talk as she passionately encouraged bloggers to join forces with journalists in informing the people especially for the 2010 Philippine Election. I find the talk of one of the sponsors, CashSense, enlightening. The CEO shared their story as they shifted being an online company to bricks and mortar then back to being an online company again. It made me realize that it really takes time, effort, strategy and commitment to customers needs and benefits, to win the market.

For more info and coverage on the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards, visit digitalfilipinowebawards.blogspot.com