Hartland, WI—When it comes to searching for car batteries online, Batteries Plus tops the list, according to Internet Retailer's 2010 Edition of the Search Marketing Guide.

Batteries Plus, the nation's franchise leader in the $24 billion battery industry with more than 370 stores across the country, ranked No. 1 for the term "car batteries" in the popular online news website's annual guide, and placed 76th overall out of the top 250 retailers ranked for natural, non-paid, Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

To determine the rankings, Internet Retailer measured keywords across 20 retail categories on Google's search engine, assigning points for the top five natural search results in each segment. Batteries Plus ranked No. 1 for natural results for the keywords "car batteries," ahead of AutoBatteries.com, Apex Battery, Sears, Auto Zone, Interstate All Battery Center and all other online battery retailers.

"As a retail chain of more than 20 years with brick and mortar locations, we recognize that in today's Internet-driven world, SEO plays an increasingly vital role in a company's success," said Russ Reynolds, CEO of Batteries Plus. "This ranking shows the strategic efforts of our top-notch web marketing team have paid off. To know that web users can type in a common search term like 'car batteries' and be immediately led to Batteries Plus is a win for everyone."

Reynolds noted that Batteries Plus has had a strong web presence since debuting BatteriesPlus.com in 1996, launching ecommerce capabilities in 2006 and has aided sales of Batteries Plus's impressive selection of car batteries. In addition to selling batteries, the company offers related services such as free battery testing, no appointment installation and recycling of used batteries.

The news of the Internet Retailer ranking comes on the heels of several industry accolades for Batteries Plus, including a No. 1 spot on the 2009 Inc. 5000 list in the battery category and number 59 overall in Dun & Bradstreet's AllBusiness AllStars rankings, which listed the top 300 best franchises in the country.