As more firms make a push to amp up their websites, Dalbar -– the Boston-based market research firm -– revealed who's leading the pack on Tuesday in its Quarterly Ranking & Trending Report. OppenheimerFunds and T. Rowe Price took the top honors this time.

While Dalbar ranked T. Rowe's consumer website number-one, Dalbar preferred OppenheimerFunds' website in the financial professional site category. This marks the 17th consecutive quarter that T. Rowe Price earned a ranking of 'Excellent' from consumers. Oppenheimer also garnered an 'Excellent' rating for the 15^th consecutive quarter.

In the consumer category, Wells Fargo placed second, followed by (in rank order) OppFunds, Vanguard, and Fidelity. Firms receiving 'Excellent' ratings from consumers included Wells Fargo, Oppenheimer, Vanguard, Fidelity, BlackRock, Invesco Aim, Schwab and E*Trade.

Dalbar put American Funds' website into second place among sites for financial professionals, with Fidelity, Putnam, and Thrivent rounding out their top picks. However, Oppenheimer was the only top-five website in the financial professionals category that earned an 'Excellent' rating, as American Funds and Fidelity were deemed merely 'Very Good.'

The biggest chart climber was Thrivent Financial's website, which rose from tenth place last quarter to fifth in the financial professionals category. Meanwhile, ING rose seven notches to 14th in financial professionals rankings.

Rankings aside, DALBAR found that many websites are highlighting Roth IRAs in anticipation of the regulatory changes in 2010 that will open up the vehicle to new investors. As some websites stuck to the facts, offering information about the upcoming changes, others, such as Pioneer, preferred a splashier style, displaying a banner advertisement counting down the days until the changes take effect. 

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