There’s not enough website awards in Australia with credibility, but SmartCompany have just held their inaugural SmartCompany Web Awards which shows some outstanding contributions from the Australian web community.

Having entered a website I can tell you that the criteria is thorough and asks a number of probing questions regarding cost to build, time to build and the all important standards compliance.

In true web-friendly style they ditched the gala ball idea for announcing the winners and did it via a webinar instead. Nice work SmartCompany!

Below are a selection of my favourite winners from the awards.

DESIGN: Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre (Reactive)

Simplicity and ease of use are two key factors designers strive for when building a new website.

BEST SEARCH STRATEGY: RetailMeNot

Building a fancy new website worth thousands of dollars won’t be worth the effort if users can’t find it. Understanding search marketing is a key component of any successful website, which is why coupon retailer RetailMeNet records monthly web traffic of 10 million unique browsers and 22 million page impressions.

ECOMMERCE: Carbonite

Developing a website around an eCommerce offering relies on simplicity and good design in order to make your business stand out. Data backup company Carbonite has managed to achieve a simple eCommerce offering without burdening users, according to category judge Naomi Simson, CEO of RedBalloon.

BEST ONLINE TOOL: Everyday Hero

One of the key factors of our web award winners is simplicity, the ability to create a complex offering in an easy-to-navigate website. According to judge Simon Van Wyk, Hothouse Interactive owner, fundraising site Everyday Hero took out the best online tool award for its no-fuss design.

BEST BLOG: Parenting Ideas

There are many ingredients to a successful blog, including strong design, good navigation and great SEO. But the key element is content – the best blogs have a clear connection with their audience and are updated frequently to keep the conversation going.

To read more about the SmartCompany Web Award winners in great detail, have a peek at their article.

It’s rare I receive an email newsletter that I pay close attention to, but the team at Returnity sent out a great one this morning, which perfectly highlights the points they were trying to get across regarding how visitors read your web and email content.

Heat mapping studies provide great insight into how people consume web content, presenting critical applications to how emails and web pages are designed. We have reviewed several studies and summarised the key findings for you.

General findings

• People don’t read, they scan - so use bullet points, short sentences and bold text
• People rarely scroll - therefore put important copy and calls to action above the fold
• People only focus on about 35% of email content - so keep the message clear
• Images get a lot of attention - use them effectively

Specific findings for email copy

• Bulleted copy gets more attention than straight copy
• Bold copy causes a typical reader to skip over the 2-3 lines above it.
• People are inclined to skip introductory messages
• Replicating important words can improve response
• Immediate calls to action often produce higher response rates, e.g. ‘Sign up today’
• A prominent call to action at the bottom of the email often guides the reader’s eye for the entire email
• Headlines over 50 characters in the email body should wrap on two lines with action words either at the beginning or end
• The first word in every headline and paragraph has vastly more impact and influence over response rates than any other words in the headline, sentence or paragraph.

This is the first email newsletter I’ve recieved from Returnity since I subscribed, but if you’d like to subscribe and catch some useful tips, you can subscribe here.