Web consultants Sitemorse have ranked Dobbies’s website as the best-performing garden centre website in the country in the first quarter of the year.

When testing the UK's top 500 retail websites, in Tesco-owned Dobbies scored 6.57 out of 10, well ahead of major rival Wyevale Garden Centres, which managed 4.46.

Sitemorse’s software reads the first 125 pages of each retailer's website to generate a ranked table based on checks on quality, user experience, accessibility, performance and search engine optimisation capability.

Among the 11 garden centre websites tested, Haskins delivered the second best score, with 5.48, followed by Squire's and Klondyke, each with 4.91. Sitemorse say these scores sit well with those achieved by retailers in other sectors.

It also notes that three of the top five sites are transactional, which it says is impressive in a retail category that does not typically have a high level of online sales versus store revenues.

Regardless of whether the sites are transactional or not, Sitemorse say, the top five clearly recognise the benefit of keeping a well-maintained online presence that reflects well on their brands, across all channels.

Sitemorse advises clients on how to improve their web presence and  publishes regular benchmarks spotlighting online leaders.