Luxury cottage specialist sheepskinlife.com has been named Google’s first travel industry Best of British Web winner having be selected from hundreds of hopefuls.
Sheepskin is first travel firm to win Google’s Best of British Web
Luxury cottage specialist sheepskinlife.com has been named Google’s first travel industry Best of British Web winner having be selected from hundreds of hopefuls.
The leading search engine launched the search for a small business that was making the most of the web in May.
Google was keen to promote the web as a channel to market for small businesses after an IPSOS poll found 40% of small firms in the UK do not even have a web presence.
Helen Shaw, co-founder of Sheepskin, said: “Winning the Best of the British Web competition means a lot to us as we’ve worked hard to deliver what our customers want through our collection and brand online.
“The website allows us to reach a huge market and we’ve learnt to promote ourselves to the right audiences through search and social media. Making small changes to the site has had a big impact on our success. The website is vital to our business so we’re delighted to be recognised by Google.”
Google clams that small businesses with a website are growing four times as quickly as those without one.
Matt Brittin, managing director, Google UK said: “We’re delighted to crown Sheepskin as the travel winner of our competition to find the country’s most outstanding small business websites.
“Sheepskin is a great example to other businesses in the industry; it really demonstrates how the use of online marketing can make a big difference to the number of users visiting your website. We hope that their success will inspire others to make the most of the Internet.”
The competition covered seven industry sectors including travel, transport, professional services and B2B, health & beauty, hospitality, retail and trade and manufacturing and winners were selected by a panel of experts based on several criteria including web design, usability and content.
Sheepskin, which was founded in 2009, offers luxury holiday cottages and tailor-made travel services to hard-working professionals.
Google said it is determined to help more travel businesses like Sheepskin take advantage of the web’s potential and help the UK economy grow.
It is encouraging small businesses and entrepreneurs to visit , which offers a free www.gbbo.co.uk website building service run by Google’s partner Yola.com.
