Are there companies out there, which rate various Web Sites, on the
items listed below beside Other things:                               
                                                                      
     *Design Look  *Information Structure   *Site Functionality 
*Customer Service                                                     
                                                                      
                   *Number of Clicks the Web Site is receiving

Based on the criteria above mentioned, which are the "Best Web Sites"
selling "Outdoor Furniture".

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 10 Oct 2004 20:11 PDT

floor-ga,

I've had a good look around, and don't think there's an explicit
ranking of the type you asked about.

There is a good deal of information available, however,

I found an article from June 2003 that reviews the state of internet
use and website development in the furniture industry.

Sites are not ranked in the article, nor is there an explicit focus on
outdoor furniture.

However, the article does mention the some of the stronger sites in
the industry, including:


Benchmark
Gallery
Crate and Barrel
Rhodes
El Dorado
Raymour and Flanigan


A number of other companies are mentioned as well.  


In addition, the site includes articles that provide information on
how other companies -- such as The Bombay Company, Ikea, JC Penney, 
-- are making use of web sites.

Lastly, Galvin's, a California-based furniture store and spin-off
marketing business, has produced a detailed online seminar of what
works and what doesn't in terms of furntiture industry web sites and
internet marketing.


Would you be interested in a link to these articles and the seminar as
an answer to your question?


As I mentioned, the articles do not focus specifically on outdoor
furnture, nor do they offer explicity ranking of sites.  But they do
seem to be the most detailed information available on web-sites in the
furniture industry.

Let me know what you think.

pafalafa-ga

I use a website called alexa.com which is an a company created by
amazon.com This website is very informitive because it not only rates
the websites but it also displays a graph that shows various charts
such as the hits per day and the hits it has recieved since it first
was online. Also, alexa.com has very informed staff members which
respond to any of your questions in a timely fashion.
     But.... That isn't even the best part... Alexa.com also uses a
website called the waybackmachine (web.archive.org) where you can
explore what the site looked like back in the day when it was first
around. For instance, take a look at msn.com on Feb. 29, 2000
(http://web.archive.org/web/20000229202802/http://www.msn.com/ )
    Also, alexa.com rates select websites on their functionality,
design look and other such criteria. They rate a website using stars (
5 being the best) and this is usually displayed next to the snapshot
picture of the site.

This above answer covers number of clicks the website is receiving,
design look, and site functionality.
          -David Ratner