Top Government Websites by Visitors:
- Top FederalWebsite: ED.gov
- Top State Website: CA.gov
- Top City Website: NYC.gov
On the eve of the open government directive, I wanted to start thinking about to measure how well an agency does Open Government. Afterall we are not working on Open Government to say we are doing it, but to serve the mission of a specific agency and the government as a whole. A rough measure of service though very imperfect is how many people are visiting a website monthly. At least you can do an ROI on the cost per visit and see whether the site is actually attacting visitors. To start thinking about this, I did a survey of all the .Gov websites I could find and determine the number of visitors based on publically available visitors for the month of August which I could find for free (not claiming these stats are the best but they are a start). Then I organized the list with the sites with the most visitors in one month at the top.
Not doing a full analysis now but some interesting observations: 8 Cities make it to the top 200. The top city is Nyc.gov with about 1.5 millions visitors in a month. Dc.gov is #2 with about 300K per month. The top state is California at 8.5 millions visitors in a month. A caveat on the states, some are represented multiple times and I have to go through and add them up to see which state’s sites together get the most visitors from multiple domains. Interestingly Michicigan with a much smaller population than California is #2 for states. The top federal sites really surprised me. #1 Ed.gov. Why is this? I guess there must be student resources that kids and teachers are downloading. #2 NIH.gov. Again education. #3 Noaa.gov Think Weather but Weather.gov is #5. so why are people going to Noaa instead of weather? I think there must be a weather page on it on somewhere which might have preceeded weather.com.
OK Here is the raw data. Take a look.. Have fun! More analysis later…
| ED.GOV | 8,698,537 |
| CA.GOV | 8,623,016 |
| NIH.GOV | 8,540,076 |
| NOAA.GOV | 6,476,307 |
| IRS.GOV | 5,483,624 |
| WEATHER.GOV | 4,909,405 |
| SSA.GOV | 4,475,842 |
| USAJOBS.GOV | 4,148,250 |
| HOUSE.GOV | 3,778,655 |
| CDC.GOV | 3,730,665 |
| USPS.GOV | 3,247,853 |
| NPS.GOV | 3,117,036 |
| FUELECONOMY.GOV | 3,054,628 |
| SOCIALSECURITY.GOV | 3,043,363 |
| NASA.GOV | 3,017,402 |
| MICHIGAN.GOV | 2,969,417 |
| WA.GOV | 2,961,892 |
| USDA.GOV | 2,826,308 |
| IN.GOV | 2,577,265 |
| WHITEHOUSE.GOV | 2,516,287 |
| SENATE.GOV | 2,473,864 |
| STATE.GOV | 2,463,776 |
| VA.GOV | 2,433,979 |
| MyFlorida.com | 2122613 |
| OHIO.GOV | 2,090,424 |
| OPM.GOV | 2,062,058 |
| Virginia.gov | 1,948,538 |
| travel.state.gov | 1,889,537 |
| HUD.GOV | 1,886,887 |
| USGS.GOV | 1,858,369 |
| MASS.GOV | 1,836,918 |
| HHS.GOV | 1,668,814 |
| LOC.GOV | 1,661,278 |
| NYC.GOV | 1,554,670 |
| MO.GOV | 1,506,210 |
| BLS.GOV | 1,479,790 |
| CENSUS.GOV | 1,304,251 |
| WISCONSIN.GOV | 1,299,780 |
| EPA.GOV | 1,248,190 |
| DOL.GOV | 1,209,052 |
| OREGON.GOV | 1,195,321 |
| USDOJ.GOV | 1,157,258 |
| USCOURTS.GOV | 1,141,537 |
| FTC.GOV | 1,128,844 |
| MEDICARE.GOV | 1,087,953 |
| USA.GOV | 1,074,420 |
| TREASURYDIRECT.GOV | 1,057,461 |
| TSP.GOV | 1,012,046 |
| CPSC.GOV | 978,963 |
| USASearch.gov | 972642 |
| DOT.GOV | 946,137 |
| UTAH.GOV | 945,313 |
| KY.GOV | 942,772 |
| TSA.GOV | 925,138 |
| CAHWNET.GOV | 915,619 |
| ENERGYSTAR.GOV | 888,462 |
| CT.GOV | 886,973 |
| WI.GOV | 870,815 |
| GRANTS.GOV | 849,344 |
| USMINT.GOV | 841,456 |
| FBI.GOV | 781,976 |
| ARCHIVES.GOV | 770530 |
| GEORGIA.GOV | 724,783 |
| DHS.GOV | 719,131 |
| TREAS.GOV | 718,703 |
| RECREATION.GOV | 687,363 |
| MAINE.GOV | 685,044 |
| GPO.GOV | 684,031 |
| GSA.GOV | 683,266 |
| SBA.GOV | 662,257 |
| SC.GOV | 654,754 |
| GA.GOV | 644,928 |
| CANCER.GOV | 641,526 |
| GOVBENEFITS.GOV | 636,189 |
| ALABAMA.GOV | 629000 |
| nY.gov | 624515 |
| NJ.GOV | 602,235 |
| FAA.GOV | 601,904 |
| SEC.GOV | 601,387 |
| FDIC.GOV | 590,306 |
| FEMA.GOV | 587,021 |
| ENERGY.GOV | 586,903 |
| PA.GOV | 585,369 |
| FCC.GOV | 581,465 |
| MT.GOV | 566,761 |
| FDA.GOV | 564,385 |
| IDAHO.GOV | 549,459 |
| USPTO.GOV | 549,123 |
| CIA.GOV | 534,843 |
| PRC.GOV | 504,484 |
| TENNESSEE.GOV | 502,691 |
| NYSED.GOV | 489,275 |
| AZ.GOV | 484,887 |
| MARYLAND.GOV | 480,648 |
| EFTPS.GOV | 455,302 |
| COLORADO.GOV | 453,280 |
| TIME.GOV | 449,589 |
| NH.GOV | 446,709 |
| TN.GOV | 436,601 |
| Illinois.gov | 430697 |
| LOUISIANA.GOV | 421,737 |
| MARICOPA.GOV | 415,965 |
| CLINICALTRIALS.GOV | 406,033 |
| DOE.GOV | 405,742 |
| DC.GOV | 373,012 |
| USEMBASSY.GOV | 372,672 |
| BOP.GOV | 359,045 |
| OSHA.GOV | 357,587 |
| FWS.GOV | 356,298 |
| RI.GOV | 352,110 |
| ARKANSAS.GOV | 346903 |
| texasonline.com | 344431 |
| PANYNJ.GOV | 341,987 |
| USTREAS.GOV | 333,771 |
| DOLETA.GOV | 328,596 |
| IOWA.GOV | 325,394 |
| BLM.GOV | 311,963 |
| PHOENIX.GOV | 309,870 |
| MIAMIDADE.GOV | 302,498 |
| FAIRFAXCOUNTY.GOV | 294,341 |
| HRSA.GOV | 290,126 |
| DELAWARE.GOV | 287,396 |
| NE.GOV | 280,392 |
| SEATTLE.GOV | 280,215 |
| ks.gov | 279414 |
| FBO.GOV | 278,865 |
| ANL.GOV | 267411 |
| FEDERALRESERVE.GOV | 267,169 |
| SD.GOV | 255,381 |
| pueblo.gsa.gov | 254615 |
| NC.GOV | 254,529 |
| EEOC.GOV | 251,506 |
| MI.GOV | 248,426 |
| SAMHSA.GOV | 247,940 |
| BART.GOV | 242,609 |
| SANDIEGO.GOV | 238,202 |
| ND.GOV | 236,472 |
| NV.GOV | 234,484 |
| PHILA.GOV | 229,070 |
| NIST.GOV | 226,453 |
| METROKC.GOV | 214,579 |
| COPYRIGHT.GOV | 209,753 |
| CITYOFBOSTON.GOV | 208,816 |
| MEDLINEPLUS.GOV | 206,479 |
| GSAAUCTIONS.GOV | 204,997 |
| KENTUCKY.GOV | 201,617 |
| VERMONT.GOV | 200,921 |
| STUDENTJOBS.GOV | 198,043 |
| SBCOUNTY.GOV | 194,910 |
| AMERICORPS.GOV | 194179 |
| PIMA.GOV | 191,544 |
| AHRQ.GOV | 190698 |
| BUSINESS.GOV | 189,624 |
| SANANTONIO.GOV | 186,099 |
| SAVINGSBONDS.GOV | 185,712 |
| MILWAUKEE.GOV | 172,999 |
| HAWAII.GOV | 172,302 |
| NEBRASKA.GOV | 161,688 |
| MS.GOV | 155,851 |
| SSS.GOV | 155,634 |
| ENERGYSAVERS.GOV | 153,337 |
| BPN.GOV | 149,865 |
| MD.GOV | 143,347 |
| ORNL.GOV | 140,146 |
| CABQ.GOV | 140,037 |
| NSF.GOV | 137,118 |
| LBL.GOV | 133,781 |
| DISABILITY.GOV | 128,798 |
| NIFC.GOV | 127,555 |
| NYCOURTS.GOV | 125,292 |
| DOI.GOV | 122,346 |
| EMPLOYEEEXPRESS.GOV | 122,296 |
| GINNIEMAE.GOV | 117,192 |
| AVIATIONWEATHER.GOV | 116,439 |
| NASHVILLE.GOV | 115,447 |
| PEACECORPS.GOV | 114,219 |
| USMARSHALS.GOV | 111,801 |
| ALASKA.GOV | 109881 |
| CBO.GOV | 109,838 |
| DOC.GOV | 106,681 |
| PAY.GOV | 103,917 |
| NHTSA.GOV | 102,818 |
| NATIONALATLAS.GOV | 101,776 |
| NEH.GOV | 100,157 |
| LA.GOV | 96,982 |
| SUPREMECOURTUS.GOV | 95,765 |
| ADA.GOV | 94027 |
| LOUDOUN.GOV | 93,200 |
| LONGBEACH.GOV | 92,906 |
| MONROECOUNTY.GOV | 92,291 |
| MISSOURI.GOV | 91,753 |
| ATF.GOV | 91267 |
| ERIE.GOV | 88,313 |
| NTSB.GOV | 88,273 |
| PBGC.GOV | 87,551 |
| USCONSULATE.GOV | 86,959 |
| PLANO.GOV | 85,603 |
| GOVSALES.GOV | 85,509 |
| FEDSTATS.GOV | 85,454 |
Stay tuned for more on
Ken,
I’m glad to see that you recognize the importance of figuring out how we should measure our progress (or lack thereof) on “open government”.
I suggest that you check out the work of Katie Paine, who has been involved in “public relationship measurement” for 23 years.
http://www.kdpaine.com
Thanks Stephen. Obviously its a crude start but I thought collecting this in one place would be interesting and help get the conversation moving along. I have Katie’s book and have heard her talk.
Ken
Hi Stephen
KD has done some solid work on PR measurement but I guess the question we have to ask is “Is Open Government about improving PR or Agency Performance?” So while PR measurement is useful I think mission outcome measurements need to be incorporated into Open Government efforts as well.
Ken
I suspect California municipal governments are in the worst shape of all. The state is beyond broke and is currently confiscating both county and city revenue in an effort to mitigate budget deficits and lessen fiscal cuts.