One of the objectives of state insurance departments is to serve the insurance consumer online, since many consumers use the Internet to learn about products and services such as insurance. Research on how these Websites can best serve insurance consumers is limited. This dissertation describes two studies. The first reports the results of data collection that used content analysis to examine the consumer features of 51 insurance department websites (all U. S. states and Washington D. C.). The second describes the results of online focus groups in which insurance consumers were asked what features of insurance department Websites they find important. These two studies and their results are reported in Chapters 3 and 4, respectively. Chapter 5 is based on the two studies and includes best practices for those interested in building or revamping an effective state insurance department Website.