How Many Websites Are There? [2024’s Data]

The internet is filled with various websites. Having a website is equivalent to having an address, especially if you run a business! The first thing customers do is check out your company’s website and many will form an opinion about your business from the website itself.

But how many websites are there? Which type of website is most common? How many of those websites are active? Which countries have the most number of websites?

Here are a few interesting statistics and facts about websites that you can look at. These statistics will help you make the most in your business, and help you understand more about the internet in general.

How Many Websites Are There? Fascinating Statistics

• There are over 1.88 billion websites as of 2021
• Less than 200 million websites are active
• Facebook is the most popular social media website with 3.75 billion visits 
• There are more than 50 billion web pages on the internet
• There are approximately 1517 domain extensions to choose from
• 46% of Google searches are looking for local information
• YouTube gets over 3 billion visits each month
• 92% of people will pick businesses on the first page of search results
• 46% of Google searches are looking for local information 
• Google has over 11.35 billion visits per month

General Website Statistics 

Let’s begin with a few general statistics and facts about websites and the internet. They will show you the magnitude of websites on the internet and how the number has grown tremendously over the last decade.

1. There are over 1.88 billion websites as of 2021

(Statista)

The number of websites keeps increasing and was recorded at more than 1.88 billion in 2021! These are only the websites on the surface web and don’t even include the websites on the dark web which is very difficult to access.

The internet crossed the 1 billion mark in 2014 and the numbers have been growing significantly ever since. It only took 5 years after 2014 to double that number.

Speaking of the increase in the number of websites, this next stat will shock you.

2. Approximately 175 websites are created every minute

(Siteefy)

If you’ve ever thought about how many websites are created every day, we have an even better stat for you. 175 websites are created every minute on the internet! This means that there is a new website every 3 seconds.

By the time you finish reading this article, just imagine the number of websites already created and launched.

But are all these websites active sites? Read the next stat to find out.

3. Less than 200 million websites are active 

(Internet Live Stats)

Have you ever wondered out of all the billions of sites how many active websites are there? As per statistics, less than 200 million websites are active.

This means that as per website stats, the number of inactive websites is five times the number of working sites

Many of the inactive websites are parked domains or serve a similar function. There are also many websites that were created but their payment was not updated.

So to speak technically, there are only a few million websites that are truly active.

4. There are more than 50 billion web pages on the internet

(Siteefy)

A webpage is different from a website. Websites can have a number of web pages. For example, if you visit any blogging website, each blog usually has its own webpage.

You don’t need any stats to determine that the number of web pages would naturally be more than the number of websites.

Each day, the number of web pages changes. Moreover, the exact number of web pages is quite unknown because there are so many!

Websites alter their web pages every single day by adding or deleting them. However, based on Google index statistics it can be concluded that there are more than 50 billion web pages!

As established by statistics about websites, many web pages belong to inactive websites.

5. 24% of the top websites are not mobile-friendly

(Canonicalized)

Many of us browse the internet on our mobile phones. Have you ever noticed that in many of the websites you have to zoom in manually to read? This is because those websites are not mobile-friendly.

In fact, according to statistics, 24% of the top 1 million websites are not mobile-friendly. Most of the websites checked in the survey had links too close to one another which is another feature that makes a site not mobile-friendly.

Having a website that is not mobile-friendly will reduce your sales significantly because most people tend to search through their mobile phones.

Location-based Websites Statistics 

Which countries have the biggest number of websites? Which place uses the internet the most? How many local searches lead to sales? How many people search for local stores? Read these location-based statistics to find out.

6. 46% of Google searches are looking for local information

(Social Media Today)

Think about all the times you’ve searched for a local pharmacy store or cafe. As per this stat, almost 50% of the Google searches are for local information.

Websites have become as important for businesses as having an address. It allows your business to reach a wider audience and positive reviews of Google are the icing on the top.

The footfall after a local search certainly increases and our next stat confirms it.

7. 78% of local-based mobile searches result in sales

(Hubspot)

The website trends of 2021 reveal that 78% of the local-based Google searches result in offline sales!

This means that out of every 100 people who search for your business, 78 will not only visit but also purchase from you. 

Even if customers don’t purchase anything, they would at least become aware of your business. Awareness is what ultimately leads to sales.

8. 92% of people will pick businesses from the first page of the search results

(Hubspot)

This stat also highlights the importance of local SEO. Your website should ideally appear on the first page and not get lost amongst numerous other web pages.

This will help more customers become aware of your business and inevitably increase sales.

Now that we’ve looked at local statistics, let’s take a look at the global ones.

9. US alone manages more than 100 million website domains

(Siteefy)

Have you ever wondered how many websites are there in the US? Well, it is not easy to estimate the exact number because most websites are global.

Some are created in the US and managed from somewhere else, while others are created in another country but run their business in the US.

Thus, in order to determine the number of sites in the US, experts calculated the number of websites registered with the US domain registrars. Based on this criterion, there are more than 100 million websites in the US, the highest number in the world.

10. Asia makes up 53.4% of all internet users

(Internet World Stats)

Despite the fact that the US has more registered websites, it is Asia that makes up 53.4% of the internet users! This shows that many of the websites are being managed in Asia.

This could also be because Asia has a larger population compared to the US. Moreover, China comes second to the USA in the number of websites with 17 million websites.

Technical Stats About Websites

Now that we’ve looked at both local and global stats, let’s take a look at some of the technical stats. How many websites use .com? How many domain extensions are there?

11. There are approximately 1,517 domain extensions to choose from

(Makeawebsitehub.com)

The domain extension is the last part of a domain name. Examples include .com, .net, .org, .gov, etc. They serve as an address for your website.

While you may think .com is one of the few domain extensions available, you’re wrong! There are more than 1,500 domain extensions to choose from on the World Wide Web.

As per website trends, this number remains quite constant because individuals like to choose from well-established domain extensions only.

Speaking of well-established domain extensions, the next stat will shock you.

12. .com has approximately 151.8 million domain names

(First Site Guide)

Let’s first understand what domain names are. To put it simply, a domain name is the name of your website. You can have your business’s name as the first part, while the last part indicates the address of your website, which is known as the domain extension.

Most popular websites like Google, Amazon, and Facebook all end with .com. It is one of the most popular domains across the globe.

But how many websites are there in 2021 with .com as a domain extension? Approximately 151.8 million! You might not even get .com if you create your business’s website now!

So which other domain extensions are common? Read the next stat to find out.

13. .cn follows next with 28.7 million sites

(First Site Guide)

Each country has its own domain extension and .cn is the domain for China just like .us is for the US.

Remember we said there are approximately 17 million websites in China, the second-highest number in the world. Naturally, .cn is the second most popular domain extension with approximately 28.7 million websites!

Now let’s go back in history and take a look at these fun website facts.

14. Symbolics.com was the first domain name to be registered

(First Site Guide)

Registered in 1985, Symbolics.com was the first ever domain name to be registered! However, it was not the first website.

The first website was created by Tim Berners-Lee and his team. It is way different from the ones we see now and only has one page.

Nowadays people use CMS to create websites, and the next stat will provide more information on that.

15. 63 million websites use CMS

(First Site Guide)

Website design trends reveal that approximately 63 million websites use CMS. CMS stands for Content Management System, a platform that helps in the creation and publication of websites. It is easy to use and allows even beginners to create and host a website.

WordPress, Wix, and Joomla are some popular CMS options and WordPress is the most popular one. You can use these CMS providers to create, modify and maintain your websites at affordable rates.

Different Types of Websites Stats 

Since we’ve already discussed how many websites are there in total, let’s take a look at the different types of websites. Which websites are the most popular? How many eCommerce websites are there? These are some of the questions we’ll answer in the next few stats.

16. Google has over 11.35 billion visits per month

(First Site Guide)

Google is one of the most visited websites. The majority of people use it as their primary search engine. Google processes 63,000 search queries every second!

Moreover, an average person searches on Google 4-5 times a day. This means that Google’s average monthly website visits are over 11.35 billion!

It is more popular amongst mobile users and visitors spend approximately 24 minutes for each search.

17. Yahoo.com is the most popular news website with 100 million visits per month

(Similar Web)

While it is quite difficult to calculate how many news websites there are, we can determine the most popular ones.

Currently, Yahoo.com is the most popular news website with over 100 million website visits per month which is a lot of website traffic! The average visit duration is 17 minutes and it has a 34% bounce rate.

18. Facebook is the most popular social media website with 3.75 billion visits

(First Site Guide)

Facebook is the most popular social media website. Yes, it is even more popular than Instagram or Snapchat!

Facebook has over 3.75 billion visits and is also the third most visited website in the world. On average people spend 23 minutes on this network website. More than 50% of the users visit Facebook through their mobile phones.

19. 19.7 million websites use eCommerce solutions

(First Site Guide)

Yes, there are a lot of websites apart from Amazon that uses eCommerce solutions. How many websites existed in 2020 that used eCommerce solutions? 19.7 million!

There has been a significant increase because many small businesses have also created their own websites. The majority of them are mobile-friendly, have regular updates, and use responsive design.

You can also easily create an eCommerce website using a free website builder and take your business to the next level!

20. YouTube gets over 3 billion visits each month

(First Site Guide)

These stats would be incomplete without mentioning the entertainment websites. YouTube is the most popular entertainment website with over 3 billion visits each month! Most of it is organic traffic and many people have also become full-time YouTubers!

YouTube is also the second most visited website overall. On average, people spend 20 minutes on YouTube and 79.97% of users visit it via a desktop.

Wrap Up

Now you’ve learned a lot about websites, like how many websites are there overall, their types, and the most popular ones.

New websites are created every second but many of the websites remain inactive. Google and YouTube are the most visited websites and have a lot of organic traffic. Creating a website is very important especially if you run a business. It can help increase your sales significantly, so if you don’t have one, go ahead and create your own website!