If you’re lucky enough to remember the rise of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s, you probably recall old relics like GeoCities, Angelfire, and Netscape. It’s hard to forget the overuse of Comic Sans typeface, WordArt on every page, and prolonged loading times.
Not unlike 30 years ago, having a website is still essential. In today’s digital age, studies show that 99% of customers rely on the internet to find businesses.1 But with so many hosting providers on the market, navigating all the options and making an informed decision is overwhelming.
That’s where we come in. We’ve scoured the web hosting landscape and compiled seven eye-opening statistics to help you make the best choice for your website. From market share information to what customers look for in a website, these web hosting statistics will give you a better understanding of what to look for in a web hosting provider.
Key Web Hosting Statistics
Want to cut to the chase for the important stuff? Here’s what you need to know at a glance:
- Cloud hosting is the most popular type of web hosting14
- GoDaddy is the most popular domain registrar and hosting provider5
- WordPress comes in at #1 for content management systems6,7
Now that you’ve got the gist of what the web hosting market looks like, let’s dive into the details.
1. The Web Hosting Market’s Revenue Will Triple By 2028
Experts predict revenue from the web hosting market will be $90.42 billion by the end of 2023.2 By 2028, revenue is expected to grow to $267.10 billion — three times its current sum!3
A few major players contribute to this projected growth, including:
- AWS Web Hosting: Market share of 18.11%4
- Google Cloud Web Serving: Market share of 8.27%
- GoDaddy Web Hosting: Market share of 8.02%
- 1&1 Hosting: Market share of 7.52%
- HostGator: Market share of 5.4%
Amazon’s subsidiary, AWS, coming out on top is no surprise. We’ve only seen Amazon progress over the past few years — its eCommerce platform is wildly popular, and combined with the release of new services and tools, more people flock to the web giant for a one-stop solution.
2. GoDaddy Is the #1 Domain Registrar and Hosting Provider
AWS may have the largest market share, but GoDaddy is the most popular domain registrar and hosting provider, with around 84 million domains and 52 million websites.5
Coming behind GoDaddy are some other heavy hitters in the hosting space:
- GoDaddy: 52 million websites
- Cloudflare: 12.3 million websites
- Google 10.6 million websites
- IONOS (1&1): 9.2 million websites
- AWS: 9 million websites
- Wix: 3.8 million websites
- Squarespace: 2.27 million websites
- Shopify: 1.48 million websites
A handful of domain registrars also follow behind GoDaddy:
- GoDaddy: 76 million domains
- Namecheap: 16.5 million domains
- Tucows: 11.1 million domains
- Google: 7.9 million domains
- Network Solutions: 6.4 million domains
GoDaddy sits at the top for a few reasons, the most obvious being that it offers a one-stop solution for domain registration, hosting, and website building. Customers can register a domain, choose a hosting plan, and build a website using GoDaddy’s drag-and-drop builder, all in one place.
GoDaddy has also built an unforgettable brand reputation since its inception in 1997. Its marketing strategies — from brilliant ads to celebrity endorsements — have captured people’s attention and earned their trust. And its user-friendly interface, fast loading times, customer support, and affordable pricing only sweeten the pot.
3. WordPress Is the #1 Choice for CMS Systems (63.3%)
Of the websites whose content management systems are public, 63.3% use WordPress. This number has increased by 18% since 2020, surpassing the number of websites that use other major CMSs, including Shopify, Joomla, Squarespace, and Wix.6,7
Some of the most popular websites and companies that rely on WordPress CMS include:8
- The Walt Disney Company
- The Herald Sun
- AMC Network
- Realtor.com
- Chicago Weather Center
WordPress offers features that many other CMSs can’t compete with. WordPress is free, open-source, customizable, and the interface is very user-friendly. Similar to GoDaddy, WordPress has been around for a long time, proving its authority in the hosting space.
4. .Com Is the Leading Top-level Domain (52.8%) with .Org Close Behind
This statistic likely won’t come as such a surprise since 52.8% of global websites — or 270.4 million registrations — use .com as their generic top-level domain (gTLD):9
- .com — 52.8%
- .org — 4.4%
- .net — 3.1%
Users have the highest trustability in TLDs .com, .co, and .org, with memorability scores ranging between 32% and 44%. This data means users are more likely to trust and remember website URLs with these TLDs.
Another 250.2 million registrations are country-code TLDs (ccTLDs):10
- .uk — 1.8%
- .au — 1.8%
- .in — 1.7%
- .de — 1.6%
- .ir — 1.5%
- .ca — 1.1%
With only 107.9 million registrations, new gTLDs make up the rest of the registrations, such as .xyz, .app, .blog, and .shop.
5. There Are 1.13 Billion Websites Globally, But Only 18% Are Active
A staggering 1.13 billion websites live on the World Wide Web, but only 18% of these websites are active. That means a whopping 82% of websites are just gathering virtual dust.11
Even more surprising is that a third of registered .com domain names are unused. 13 Whether they’ve been abandoned or belong to a business that no longer operates, the average cost to buy an existing domain can vary between a few dollars to thousands of dollars depending on its popularity and the owner’s willingness to sell it.
Despite this, about 252,000 websites are created every day.12
6. Cloud Hosting (18.3%) Is the Most Popular Type of Web Hosting
Cloud hosting is still the most popular choice among website owners:
- 18.3% use cloud hosting14
- 10.3% use shared web hosting
- 5.6% use dedicated web hosting
Cloud hosting is growing rapidly, with the market size expected to reach $139.1 billion by 2025, up from $45.3 billion in 2020.15 Many prefer cloud hosting because it’s cheaper than dedicated hosting and handles traffic levels better than shared hosting.
7. Website Speed Is Becoming More Important than Ever
In 2000, a website took longer to load than a dial-up connection. But today, it’s all about speed. With the rise of instant gratification and consumer expectations for fast, seamless online experiences, website speed has become increasingly critical for businesses:
- 47% of mobile users won’t wait longer than two seconds for a website to load.16
- The average bounce rate — the percentage of visitors who enter a particular website and leave after viewing only one page — is between 26% and 70%.17
- 61% say they’ll go to another site if they don’t find what they’re looking for within about five seconds. 18
- Websites that load in two seconds or less have an average bounce rate of 9%, while websites that take five seconds to load have a bounce rate of 38%.19
- In Q1 2023, mobile devices generated 58.33% of global website traffic.20
These statistics clearly show the importance of a fast-loading website — especially on mobile devices. Your web hosting provider can significantly impact your page speed, so choose a web hosting provider that prioritizes speed.
Supercharge Your Online Presence
With these web hosting statistics in your arsenal, you can stay ahead of the competition, create a better user experience, and drive more traffic to your website. So why not give it a shot and see the difference for yourself?
Sources and Further Reading
1. https://www.zippia.com/advice/small-business-website-statistics/
2. https://www.statista.com/outlook/tmo/it-services/it-outsourcing/web-hosting/worldwide
3. https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/web-hosting-services-market-to-cross-usd-26710-billion-by-2028-exhibiting-a-cagr-of-180-2023-04-17?tesla=y
4. https://www.datanyze.com/market-share/web-hosting–22/
5. https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/web-hosting/web-hosting-statistics/
6. https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress
7. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/wordpress-powers-39-5-of-all-websites/391647/
8. https://colorlib.com/wp/wordpress-example-websites/
9. https://www.statista.com/statistics/265677/number-of-internet-top-level-domains-worldwide/
10. https://colorlib.com/wp/domain-name-statistics/
11. https://siteefy.com/how-many-websites-are-there/
12. https://siteefy.com/how-many-websites-are-there/#How-Many-Websites-Are-Created-Every-Day/
13. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/many-com-domain-names-unused-063709887.html/?guccounter=1
14. https://financesonline.com/30-essential-web-hosting-statistics-2019-analysis-of-trends-data-and-market-share/
15. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/21/2081841/0/en/Cloud-Computing-Industry-to-Grow-from-371-4-Billion-in-2020-to-832-1-Billion-by-2025-at-a-CAGR-of-17-5.html/
16. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/website-statistics
17. https://www.semrush.com/blog/bounce-rate/
18. https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2012/09/25/google-research-no-mobile-site-lost-customers/?sh=5ebd75bf59d1
19. https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/building-websites/website-load-time-statistics/
20. https://www.statista.com/statistics/277125/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices/
