Tuesday, August 29, 2023

BestWeb.lk 2023 Feed Back Session


Prof. Gihan Dias - LK Domain Registry


It's great to have a feedback session to improve the quality of websites in Sri Lanka. Setting high standards is important for overall growth and improvement. It's also nice to see that everyone has an opportunity to receive a merit award, which is a fantastic way to recognize the efforts put into the websites. I'm curious to know more about Prof. Gihan Dias' explanation. Could you please share what he said? I'm here to assist you with any questions or suggestions you might have for the competition!


  • Prof. Gihan Dias briefed that we have not told anything secret to the Judges since everything written on the website Ref. https://www.bestweb.lk/judging-criteria/ has noted several websites just missed out on getting an award. Bestweb Term & condition is to display the bestweb.lk logo is a must until the awards day, clearly mentioned on the website.
  •  It's also important to adhere to the Bestweb terms and conditions, which include displaying the bestweb.lk logo. This helps promote the competition and recognizes the achievement of those who receive awards. If you have any specific questions or need further assistance regarding the competition or any other topic, feel free to ask!
  • Logo display on the website is an essential requirement of the competition. Others, if they had put in a little more effort, could have gotten something since there are no restrictions on giving merit awards; in one category, there were nine merit awards.
  • If you feel that we have made any mistakes, please let us know the details so we can take them into account. Please give your thoughts and feedback. Furthermore, Prof. Gihan Dias said a new competition was introduced in 2023, i.e. TopWeb.lk.
  • TopWeb.lk is the initial part of the bestweb competition, unlike the bestweb annual competition. TopWeb.lk criteria are on the topweb website, and similar to bestweb, we would like you to apply for the topweb.lk competition, which is a minimum requirement of bestweb.lk competition.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMPiudoTn3s

Mr. Sandaruwan Maduma Bandra - 3Cs 

Judging Categories & Competition stages, 

Mr. Sandaruwan explained the differentiation between e-commerce and non-e-commerce website features. 


Government, bank, and finance categories are typically required to be trilingual since it is the government policy to have all three official languages.

  • In 2023 bestweb.lk CSR category introduced to the competition. When it comes to nonprofits, they are essentially charities with no profit motives. CSR projects are typically maintained by large budgets with a lot of resources by larger companies. The best personal website is more straightforward, small, and medium, where the conclusion is drawn, and the intention is for larger companies to be in the corporate category.
  • Corporate category companies' annual turnover limit matter was discussed at the briefing session, and the limit intended to increase to $200 million from $100 since the rupee value has also devalued to adjust to the entity.
  • Advertising and marketing differentiate; if you are directly selling products, it should go to the e-commerce category; if you are still trying to sell or market your products, it goes to advertising and marketing.
  • The health and wellness category was described, like hospitals, spas, etc.; medical facilities, pharmacies, etc.
  • The Sports Media and Entertainment category is a broad area category. This category can promote entertainment, music-related Sports Media Channels, etc., 
  • The travel and tourism category is very straightforward. This category is Hotels, Travel travel-related companies that can be applied & promoted through this category.
  • Best Bank, Finance & Insurance Company, Most Popular, Overfill, and Best Developer In general, it is supposed to apply to the best category in the event the website enters the wrong award category, which will create additional confusion. 
  • Websites sent for the competition ask to update the latest news, blogs, and copywriting information.
  • Topic completeness includes Search functionality on a website. Privacy and cookie policy updates are not a standard requirement in Sri Lanka. Having a cookie policy on your website is good since Google can penalize your website on www and will not get the traffic to your website as needed. In the US and Europe, Cookie Policies are legal, and it is good to have a privacy and cookie policy on a website to get traffic as needed.

In terms of navigation,

  • Social media links are broken since links are not tested before publishing. 
  • Link errors appear,
  • Although we have mentioned that HTTPS is required only for the e-commerce category on the website, now at present, it is stranded to have https for Award Categories mentioned on the website since Google doesn’t like HTTP on the web.
  • W3’s errors Google doesn’t care much, about the site performance. There are free testing tools on the web that you may use to improve your websites. 
  • There are free can be found on the net, check broken links and fix errors & speed, some websites' quality assurance is not possible for a large website to find errors and spelling mistakes, etc.,  

Privacy and Security,

  • The first thing is security; it should pass in the competition. There are minimum levels of security requirements to pass the security test carried out by LK Domain Registry to be qualified, i.e., HTTP is a basic requirement and will not allow you to take part in future competition.
  • Mobile optimization typically has date packages and screens that are smaller.


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TTP8dV9_VI

Mr. Ruwan Bakmedeniya mentioned that,

  • How do you monetize contact details on a website? Compare websites; CNA could be an example for the media category.

  • Purpose of the website
  • Have we changed the business directions over the years, 
  • Front End structure and color schemes 
  • Languages and quality control are not done
  • an organization representing has to spend adequate time reviewing the work done by the 3rd parties.
  • How to monetize your website and check with other websites
  • Chat Bots, 
  • Contact details on the website are not properly shown in the website.
  • Look at the CNN website and relate your website (Media Category)


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV25Ub0sz9I

Mr. Budhika Senasekara also spoke about that,

  • Purpose of having a website
  • The client doesn’t know what to have on the site.
  • Missing the logo
  • Rules to be followed in the competition.
  • Images resized anywhere on the page.
  • e-commerce avoids a lot of white spaces, unless really for a good purpose.

Mr. Sampath Hennayake - Technical Evaluation briefing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zULwnsCq63U&t=11s

REASONS TO DISQUALIFY

Judges 

  • Security Evaluation Evaluation
  • Incomplete or not operational websites
  • Site re-direction
  • Bestweb logo unavailability
  • Best Practices Regularly update the web server software, OS, and any applications or plugins. 
  • Quickly apply security patches to web server software and OS to address vulnerabilities.
  • Use Strong Authentication.
  • Use secure Cryptographic function for integrity and encryption
  • Implement a WAF/IDS/IPS to identify and respond to potential attacks in real time.
  • Conduct periodic security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and address potential weaknesses
  • Regular Backups

Organized  by :

Address: 106 Dutugemunu St, Dehiwala 10350
Contact No. 0114462865