There are approximately 120 Rent to Own companies that maintain websites. These websites represent the bulk of the 10,000 plus RTO locations in the US, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia.

RTO Online reviewed every known Rent to Own website and we are happy to announce that Mt. Vernon, IL based Rent One ( www.rentone-rto.com ) has been awarded "Best of the Web".

Our selection criteria

• First Impression
  • The average surfer spends less than 1 minute on any given website. You have less than 60 seconds to convince a potential customer to 'stick' or 'move on'. First impressions are easy to make and impossible to change. We gave a sites first impression more weight than any other criteria.
• Navigation
  • Intuitive
  • Little or no scrolling required
• Information
  • Product Catalog
  • Pricing
• Contact
  • Email key employees
• Consistency
  • Borders, menus, and color scheme consistent throughout site.
• Location information
  • Phone
  • Easy to understand maps

What makes www.rentone-rto.com great?

If you had to describe Rent One's website in a word, that word would be "confident". Everything about the site oozes confidence...in the products, the service, the people, and most importantly, in the Rent to Own transaction.

There are 4 things that literally jump off the page upon entering Rent One's site...

• The Company name in a bold, clean font

• A very attractive women centered on the page with a smile that could light up Chicago

• An colorful animated gif (lower left) that says simply..."It's better to rent" (more on this later)

• A "$10 today takes it away" coupon (lower right)

All of this is visible with no scrolling. Colors are soft and there is no unnecessary clutter.

Site navigation is accomplished through clean pop out menus that drill down into subcategories. The menus are fast, intuitive, and consistent throughout the site.

Online catalogs typically come in two types. Too little or too much. Rent One displays just enough product to give the impression of 'having it all' without overwhelming the senses or bogging the customer down with model numbers. The 'Laundry' page shows a single washer/dryer pair.

Every product, without exception, is accompanied by happy, smiling faces of infinitely satisfied customers. I didn't think it was possible to feel good about viewing an air conditioner on the internet until I saw this picture.

Most sites publish a generic info@yadayada email address or, only slightly more satisfying, an online form to contact customer service. Online forms may be more efficient, but nothing says 'confidence and accountability' like the president of a company publishing his/her email address. There are only 3 email addresses on Rent One's site. President: Larry Carrico, General Manager: Richard Bergman, and Human Resources Manager: Keith Carrico. (One gets the impression there aren't too many problems this trio couldn't solve)

Online maps are becoming the norm. The problem with Mapquest and other similar services is that the maps are too detailed. Rent One put forth the effort to produce simple, legible maps to each location. The maps pop-up in a borderless window and show the location and a few cross-streets. Simple, straightforward, easy to understand.

A final editorial thought about the slogan "It's better to rent". We spent countless hours reviewing every page of over 100 websites for this article. Nearly every RTO company has a 'why rent-to-own' page. Most of these pages seem to be written for the sake of consumer groups rather than potential customers. Seeing a successful Rental dealer state the simple fact "It's better to Rent" is downright refreshing.

The following websites were in the running and deserve honorable mentions

Showplace Lease/Purchase

Shop Aarons.com

Box Clever UK

BrightHouse UK Formerly Crazy George

National Rental Centres

Rent 2 Own

Rent America