BT reveals nation's favourite websites

— filed under: Media, Entertainment

Added:: Jan 14, 2008

BT Total Broadband has revealed the nations favourite websites, with the BBC and online shopping giant Amazon scooping a majority of the honours in the BT Online Excellence Awards 2007.

Online shopping giant Amazon was voted the best in three of the categories, winning the most nominations for Best Books Website, Best Electrical Website and Best Online Website.

The BBC also scooped first place in three of the 17 categories, winning the top spot for Best Cookery Website, Best Kids Website and Best News Website.

The Awards, which have been running over the last three months, allowed consumers to nominate and vote for their favourite websites that they use and help make life easier for them.

More than 5,000 nominations were received for websites, which were shortlisted by a panel of expert judges* – the shortlists were then opened up to the public vote. More than 27,000 votes were cast to give winners in each of the categories:

Best Books Website – www.amazon.com

Best Celebrity Website – www.holymoly.co.uk

Best Cookery Website – www.bbcgoodfood.com

Best Electrical Website – www.amazon.com

Best Environmental Website – www.greenpeace.org.uk

Best Fashion Website – www.next.co.uk

Best Food Website – www.tesco.com

Best Gardening Website – www.gardenersworld.com

Best Homes Website – www.rightmove.co.uk

Best Kids Website – www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

Best Local Government Website – www.manchester.gov.uk

Best News Website – www.bbc.co.uk

Best Online Retailer – www.amazon.com

Best Search Website – www.google.com

Best Travel Website – www.lastminute.com

Best Video Website – www.play.com

Best Wedding Website – www.confetti.co.uk

The winning sites will each receive the BT Online Excellence Awards gold badge; those sites coming second and third in each of the categories** will receive silver and bronze badges respectively.

The range of products or information was the most important reason why consumers chose particular websites (35.5 per cent), closely followed by the ease of use (34.7 per cent). The look and feel of the site was only important to 29.8 per cent of those nominating their favourite sites in this year’s awards.

Matt Walton, head of online channel development at BT, said: "With the BT Online Excellence Awards, we’ve given consumers the opportunity to recognise the websites they regularly use – whether that’s for shopping, entertaining the kids or getting information from their local authority.

"That’s where they’re different: we weren’t interested in the technical aspects of the sites – just why users like them. As we suspected, the range of products or information available was the most important factor, followed by how easy it was to use."

BT Total Broadband is the UK's most complete broadband package, giving you time to enjoy more ‘Me Time’ - helping you to explore your passions and do whatever you choose. BT Total Broadband customers benefit from ultra-fast download speeds of up to 8Mb***, inclusive internet voice calls****, secure online storage with BT Digital Vault and TV on demand with BT Vision, making life a little easier with everything you need from the internet in one place.

The top 5 results in each category were:

Best Books Website

1. www.amazon.com

2. www.waterstones.co.uk

3. www.play.com

4. www.whsmith.co.uk

5. www.borders.co.uk

Best Celebrity Website

1. www.holymoly.co.uk

2. www.nowmagazine.co.uk

3. www.heatworld.com

4. www.popbitch.com