The Top 10 Most Popular Sites on the Web

The giants of the online world

This list of 2022's most visited websites, based on total traffic and unique visitor information maintained by Similarweb, probably includes some of your favorites. They tend to make this list year after year because they excel at serving the needs of their audiences.

Person sitting at their computer, whose screen shows a TED Talk in progress on YouTube
Adrian Mangel / Lifewire

The most visited websites aren't necessarily the best for all your needs. See the most useful sites to visit and the coolest websites for when you're bored.

01
of 10

Google.com

Google Search home page

Google is the world's most popular search engine. Billions of people generate billions of searches every day, and it's not just for search: Google also offers a variety of peripheral services.

02
of 10

Youtube.com

YouTube video page for Queen Don't Stop Me

You've probably watched a video on YouTube this week, as did billions of other people who use both crowdsourced and commercial content to entertain themselves, learn new skills and ideas, pursue self-improvement goals, and stay current.

More About YouTube

  • What Is YouTube?: Learn more about this hub of entertainment and how to use it. It hosts videos uploaded by individuals, groups, and businesses.
  • How to Make a YouTube Channel: It's easy to make your own YouTube channel so that you can share your video content on the web. Learn how to take advantage of this far-reaching influencer.
  • What to Watch on YouTube: YouTube content offerings expand every day, so finding what you want to watch isn't always easy. Here's information on how to locate content that matches your interests (you'll even find free movies on YouTube).
  • YouTube TV: What You Need to Know: YouTube TV is an online streaming service that subscribers use to watch live television on their computers, phones, and other electronic devices.
03
of 10

Facebook.com

facebook website

Facebook is the most popular social media site on the web. Billions of active users around the world access Facebook daily to communicate with family and friends.

More About Facebook

  • Facebook 101: How Facebook began and the features you can expect out of the social media giant.
  • How to Use Facebook: If you don't know what a timeline or a status on Facebook is, you can pick up the lingo here and expand what you can do on the social network.
  • How to Use Facebook to Find People: Facebook is a powerful tool for finding people online. Learn more about using Facebook to search for old friends, classmates, and family members.
04
of 10

Twitter.com

Twitter home page

Despite changing owners toward the end of the year, this social media site, where users share short posts and exchange messages with their follower, still managed to hit the top charts in 2022 (like most years).

On the business end, most major companies and organizations have Twitter accounts, which figure prominently in their marketing and customer service efforts.

05
of 10

Instagram.com

Instagram website

The social media trend in this list isn't over yet. Instagram, owned by Meta (like Facebook), is a photo and video sharing social networking site. With well over a billion active monthly users, it's no surprise it made the list.

06
of 10

Baidu.com

Baidu search engine home page

With a massive search market share, Baidu is the largest Chinese-language search engine and is used by millions of people every day. The estimate is that 90 percent of China uses Baidu as a search engine.

Much like Google, Baidu offers companion sites including an alternative to AdWords, Translate, and Maps.

Baidu often reaches the top 5 most visited sites in China. Only 1 percent of Baidu visitors are from the U.S.

07
of 10

Wikipedia.org

Wikipedia page for Lifewire

Wikipedia is one of the most useful and most visited sites on the web. It's a "living" resource, in the sense that any piece of content can be edited by anyone with expertise in that particular topic. More people use Wikipedia worldwide than any other knowledge-based resource on the web. 

More About Wikipedia

  • How to Search on Wikipedia: There's far too much content on Wikipedia to look through it by hand. Learn how to quickly search for something on Wikipedia to use it like a pro.
  • How to Write a Wikipedia Page: Want to add something to one of the top 10 most visited sites? If you're an expert on a topic that's not currently covered sufficiently, you can write your own Wikipedia page. 
08
of 10

Yandex.com

yandex search engine

Yandex is a Russian technology company. It offers a wide variety of services and could easily be compared to Google, with its search engine, translation service, navigation tools, email, file storage, and more.

09
of 10

Yahoo.com

Yahoo.com home page

Yahoo is a web portal and search engine. It offers mail, news, maps, videos and many other web services. It doesn't hand out its statistics freely, but one estimate put the number of visitors per month at about 1 billion.

More About Yahoo

  • Yahoo 101: Everything you need to know about Yahoo, including all that the company offers, how to search on Yahoo, and Yahoo services that no longer exist.
  • What Does Yahoo Stand For?: Yahoo isn't just a name; it's actually short for something else.
10
of 10

WhatsApp

WhatsApp home page

More than a billion users worldwide have made WhatsApp the most popular messaging platform in the world. With end-to-end message encryption, WhatsApp offers a safe, free way to communicate electronically.

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