19th May 2008
The University of Derby won an award for best higher education website in the UK, with their website developed by Silktide Studios.
The website won 'Gold' at the prestigious 2008 Heist Awards for best website across the sector. Silktide Studios redesigned the website from the ground up in 2006, and has worked closely with the University to develop it to the present day.
The new website was launched with just over 1,500 pages, two years later this has exploded to over 10,000 pages of content, video and interactive features. Using Silktide’s Site Manager technology, the University has been able to create and maintain all of this content themselves.
The new website was a huge success with visitors, with 162% increase in page views in 2006 when the site launched. With over 90% of prospective students choosing the web as their first point of contact, the website is now more beneficial than ever.
The award is the result of years of hard work by Web and Publications Manager Lucy Temple, her colleagues Charlotte Hancock and Sarah Liddle, the University of Derby Interactive Media Unit and Silktide Studios.
Silktide’s managing director, Oliver Emberton, graduated from the University of Derby in 2001 and immediately founded Silktide. Almost 7 years later, Silktide has split into two successful companies occupying separate offices in PridePark.
The Heist Awards have recognised excellence in education marketing for the past 18 years and are widely revered throughout the sector.
