Kelley Blue Book provided the best online customer experience among the top 10 third-party auto websites, a performance-tracking company said Wednesday.

Kelley Blue Book was ranked No. 1 by Keynote Systems Inc. based on research with 2,000 consumers as they evaluated and interacted with the 10 leading sites. The other sites included Autobytel.com, Automotive.com, AutoTrader.com, cars.com, CarsDirect, Edmunds.com, MSN Autos, Vehix.com, and Yahoo! Autos Web.

Cars.com and Edmunds.com were ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.

The study also found that 58 percent of consumers prefer researching cars online over traditional methods, such as newspaper ads or asking advice from friends and family, but many do all three. Fully 65 percent ask advice from a friend or family, and 53 percent check newspapers.

Three-quarters of consumers visit a manufacturer's website or visit a dealership in their evaluation process, with 65 percent visiting a third-party auto site, Keynote said.