Candymag.com, the online counterpart of the Philippines’ leading teen magazine Candy, bagged the award for Best Magazine Website in the recently concluded 2^nd DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards, a project that aims to promote and increase awareness of the Internet as a venue for business development by identifying and rewarding outstanding Philippine websites.

Candymag.com Deputy Managing Editor Macy Alcaraz shares that one thing that makes Candymag.com stand out in the World Wide Web is its strong online community. Candymag.com averages 230,000 visits and 3.2 million pageviews a month (January-August 2008). Its message board, TeenTalk, boasts over 80,000 registered members.

Candymag.com is packed with many interactive features that keep its online community hooked. Aside from allowing the site’s visitors to rate photos, comment on articles, or talk with fellow readers, Candymag.com also gives teens a chance to watch their favorite celebrities in action through Candy TV or chat with them through Candy ChitChat. Other features include behind-the-scenes pictures and videos from Candy magazine shoots, Candymag.com’s social network Candy Faces, and Candy Games.

Since Candymag.com is updated daily, users visit the site regularly to be kept in the loop. “That’s what makes it click, visitors are compelled to check the website daily because they want to check new replies to their posts on TeenTalk, read the new blog entries, and watch the latest videos on Candy TV,” Alcaraz continues.

“Candymag.com is not just any website targeted towards teens. It’s their best-est friend online,” Alcaraz says.

The 2^nd DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards reviewed websites in over 40 categories, including Art, Automotive/Cars, Beauty, Computer/Consumer Electronics, Food, Games, Music/Movie/Film, Newspaper, Social Networking, and Travel, based on criteria such as search engine readiness, content and organization, structure and navigation, design and functionality, technical performance, and interactivity.

Also nominated in the Magazine category were two other Summit Media websites, CosmoMagazine.com.ph and T3Mag.com.ph. Another Summit website, Spot.ph, was nominated in the Guides/Review division. In the 1st DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards held in 2007, Summit’s FemaleNetwork.com took home the award for Best Beauty Website.

For more information on Candymag.com contact Macy Alcaraz at macy@candymag.com. For advertising inquiries, contact Hazel Hung at hazel.hung@summitmedia.com.ph.