Overview of Active Websites on the Internet
As of 2025, there are an estimated 1.1 billion websites globally, of which only a small number 200 to 300 million—are considered actively maintained.
These include news portals, ecommerce sites, SaaS apps, blogs, and government portals.
Traffic-Based Classification of Active Websites
Websites can be classified based on their estimated monthly organic or total visits. Here's a simplified overview:
| Monthly Visitors | Traffic Classification | Estimated Global Count |
|---|---|---|
| 10M+ visits | Elite Tier | ~1,000 sites |
| 1M - 10M | Large Enterprise / Media | ~10,000 sites |
| 100K - 1M | High-Traffic / Influential | ~50,000 sites |
| 10K - 100K | Mid-sized / Growing | ~150,000 sites |
| 1K - 10K | Emerging / Niche | ~500,000 sites |
| <1K | Low-Traffic / New | Millions |
What Is Semrush Rank?
Semrush Rank ranks websites based on vast number of factors. It could include, monthly organic traffic, traffic value (based on CPC for the keywords), Backlink profile, Keyword positions and volume, Global competition across all websites tracked or other factors as well.
So, a website with 1,000+ organic visits could have very different Semrush Ranks, depending on:
| Factor | Effect on Semrush Rank |
|---|---|
| High CPC keywords | Improves rank faster |
| Better backlink profile | Improves domain trust → rank |
| Top keyword positions | Boosts visibility and rank |
| Low bounce rate & good UX | Indirectly helps via engagement |
Here's an example data, If a website gets 1,200 organic visits/month with Low CPC traffic, weak backlink profile. Semrush Rank might rank it between 3M and 6M.
But if those 1,200 visitors are coming from, high CPC keywords, competitive positions (top 3) and with a solid backlink profile, then the Rank could improve to 1M–2M range.
Here's an example with Semrush Ranking of 12.9 Million;Let's learn with an example of a website that has a current Semrush Ranking of 12.9 Million, what does this data tell?
A site with a rank of12.9M means it is the 12.9 millionth most visited site, indicating very low traffic and visibility.