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The 32 Largest ExpressionEngine Sites

January 21, 2010

People often ask us, “Can ExpressionEngine handle my potentially HUGE SITE TRAFFIC and storage requirements? Because I’m planning to get [one gazzillion hits or something like that] and I might go with Wordpress instead.”

The answer is: Yes, EE can handle your traffic (if you pay for appropriate hosting!). But it’s been hard to back that up with concrete examples of enormous sites, because there wasn’t any single list of large, successful ExpressionEngine-powered Web sites. Well, last year, that changed—we published here a list of the 10 top sites, and it’s been a regularly visited resource ever since. But a year has passed, and times change. Limiting it to the top 10 left out some amazing sites. Also, I made a New Year’s resolution to update the damn thing.  So here, freshly updated, is the current definitive list of the 32 largest ExpressionEngine Web sites. (Why 32? If you have to ask, you’re not a programmer.)

But Wait: What exactly defines “largest”?

That’s a tough question, because some sites that have a huge amount of visitors might still be just one page in scope. Or a site that serves a niche audience and has a low Alexa ranking globally might have crazy active forums. We consulted with many other EE professionals to come up with the following factors, which seemed to be the most relevant ones to determine “largeness.”

  • number of unique visitors and pages / month
  • number of entries and comments
  • number of members and forum posts
  • awards and buzz

Combining all these data points gathered about more than 150 candidate sites, I came up with the ranking you see here, which was based on all the data I gathered plus a little bit of what I like to call “judgement” and you might call “Arbitrary Dart Throwing.” However, I guarantee that you’ll be impressed, and surprised, by this list.

The 32 Largest ExpressionEngine Web sites, January 2010



Please let me know of any missing sites, either in the comments or by contacting me directly. Thanks!
  1. Change.gov: Transition site for Barack Obama
  2. allkpop: Korean celebrity news
  3. iLounge: All about iPod and iPhone
  4. Periódicos Zócalo: newspaper in Mexico
  5. Totally NSFW: adult content (porn)
  6. Red Flag Deals: shopping deals
  7. The Frisky: celebrity news
  8. Gear Live: gadget news
  9. SpeedTV: NASCAR news
  10. Top Gear: BBC car show

  11. paidContent.org: news about online content
  12. DipNote: : U.S. Dept. of State’s blog
  13. A List Apart: resource for CSS and design
  14. BMI Music: music licensing and artist
  15. Smart Bargains: shopping deals
  16. Pep Boys: car parts
  17. Campaign Monitor: email campaign tool
  18. Trend Hunter: trends and gossip
  19. Truthdig: independent political news
  20. Kukla’s Korner: hockey fans

  21. Free Games: That’s what it is
  22. VK Magazine: Dutch news
  23. Grist: environmental news and commentary
  24. Orthodox Union: Jewish kosher resource
  25. Jewish Journal: large jewish newspaper in Los Angeles
  26. CA Government: central page for California’s Gov’t
  27. Univ. of Miami: college site
  28. GOP Site: U.S. political party
  29. Cisco’s Blogs: computer hardware maker
  30. Veerle’s Blog: known Web designer
  31. ABA Journal: lawyer society news
  32. Vancouver Library: city library system

(Items in bold are new since last year.)

The largest confirmed traffic I was told of belongs to iLounge, 20,000,000 pages per month, but All K Pop has 31,000,000 pages a month, unconfirmed. iLounge also has the most forum posts I know of: a mind-blowing 1,300,000. The largest number of entries I know of is JewishJournal.com: 55,000. But there’s another site, ou.org, that apparently has WAY more entries—I just wasn’t able to confirm it.

Here are the caveats: I do think that Change.gov and Periódicos Zócalo have higher traffic, but I wasn’t able to verify their numbers. And you might consider it a bit of a “cheat”, but I’m including Change.gov as of its peak traffic in January 2009, not as of its current traffic. I also left ExpressionEngine’s own site out of the rankings, but they do have a very large site with a very large number of members and posts, and would rank close to if not in the top 10.

The raw data is available for you, too, to look at. Take a look:

 

 

Click here to view the spreadsheet directly

If you think I’ve left any significant sites out, mention it in the comments and I’ll research it. The spreadsheet is a living document, so it may over time show a different ranking than the list in this article does. Special thanks to the folks on Twitter who chipped in with suggestions, and to the folks who couldn’t help me on the record.

If you’d like to see the first version of this from May 2009, click here.

To add information or suggest another site, send me an email: nep@hopstudios.com

Posted by Travis Smith at 8:33 PM

Comments

Great resource. Thank you.

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By Car Shopping from Jakarta on Feb 24, 2010

Thank you for the list, and providing a high expert ansewer on this !

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By sikiş from ank on Feb 26, 2010

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By cinsel sohbet from hello mamamia on Mar 7, 2010

Thanks, I have started the move over to Expression Engine for Speedbitz.com.
So far so good!

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But it’s been hard to back that up with concrete examples of enormous sites, because there wasn’t any single list of large, successful ExpressionEngine-powered Web sites. Well, last year, that changed—we published here a list of the 10 top sites, and it’s been a regularly visited resource ever since

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By sinop on Apr 14, 2010

thanks alot.

By drupal on Apr 14, 2010

This has been helpful. Thanks for the information.

By Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyer from Canada on Apr 15, 2010

Wow! I had no idea allkpop was 2nd place. I visit that site almost everyday.

By Cast Iron Register Covers from United States on May 3, 2010

This is a list to be proud of. Those are really big names. Especially Change.gov. Congratulations!

By Inktpatronen from België on May 12, 2010

I visit All K Pop a lot. The only complain I have is that it takes forever to load.

By Gap Year from United Kingdom on May 24, 2010

How much traffic is Change.gov getting?

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By çember makinesi from turkey on May 27, 2010

Hey Travis, was reading the part about “most number of entries” and wanted to let you know a site we do has just over 100,000. It’s the Songwriters Hall of Fame museum site, which has exhibits for all their inductees, each with hundreds of entries (songs, photos, albums etc) all related back to the songwriter:

http://songwritershalloffame.com

By Eric Miller on May 28, 2010

P.S. Great list… always refer to it. Thanks!

By Eric Miller on May 28, 2010

you explain well about 32 expression engine.
overall article is great.

By sarkari naukri from India on Jun 16, 2010

I always have some doubts and querries about EE. this post have solved my some these doubts and it helped me a lot…very informative.
a nice article which we can’t get easily.
Thanks.

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By Smart Business Solutions from usa on Jun 18, 2010

Change.gov is expression web?  now that’s impressive for sure

By PLNDR Coupons from United States on Jun 19, 2010

Yeah.. I guess you don’t get a much better referral than that.. I “guess” it can handle the traffic then smile  Unless they have enough money to afford to tweak it such that it does.. I don’t know..

By Cursos de idiomas en el extranjero from US on Jun 19, 2010

yeah, I guess that’s a pretty good referral.. I guess you can assume from that that it can handle traffic well.. unless they just have enough money to tweak it as needed.. unlike myself smile

By Cursos de idiomas en el extranjero from US on Jun 19, 2010

Great article guys keep up the good work!

By Jobs in Cheltenham from United Kingdom on Jun 20, 2010

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By volkswagen on Jun 20, 2010

It was nice to see top gear up there!, great post and very informative

regards

By Web Design Brighton from Brighton UK on Jun 22, 2010

Thanks for making things clear

By Central Home Improvement from uk on Jun 22, 2010

What can I say, this is really amazing. I think the developers of each of this sites are proud of themselves.

By Digital Eternal from deresden on Jun 22, 2010

overall article is great.

By Property Lawyers Tips from malay on Jun 22, 2010

i am very interested in your articles i appreciate you. smile

By güncel blog from TR on Jun 22, 2010

I will use this link absolutely

By keşfedin from TR on Jun 22, 2010

Very nice. Thank you.

By kpss from kpss on Jun 23, 2010

Good list. Thank you.

By oyun oyna from oyunokulu on Jun 23, 2010

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By c0ld from Türkiye on Jun 23, 2010

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By çiçek on Jun 23, 2010

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By hatuntube from turkey on Jun 23, 2010

Really interesting and enjoyable article, very thought provoking and informative

thanks

By Arabian Horses for Sale from UK on Jun 23, 2010

Thanks for this great list of websites. I really appreciate all of your cool information.

Thanks Jenni Madison

By Student Accommodation Cardiff from New Orleans on Jun 23, 2010

what is the exact definition of an expression engine site?
I guess that it is too: infogrok.com

By industry benchmarking on Jun 24, 2010

If expressionengine will be included,where do you think will it closely rank at this moment? Yeah,I think iLounge now has a higher traffic than the last time I checked in this site.

By Aprender Ingles on Jun 24, 2010

hello mra Wow, change.gov is on top. That’s really amazing. thefrisky.com is my personal favorite, I like to catch up on all gossips concerning celebs..

By iran kedisi from england on Jun 24, 2010

I was surprise about DipNote - I visit that site for info all the time.  Always impressed when government utilizes the same software we might get our hands on smile

By football shirts from United States on Jun 24, 2010

Thank you for the obvious things, the contribution was for me a few answers.

By cinsel iliski from Turkey on Jun 25, 2010

yeah, I guess that’s a pretty good referral.. I guess you can assume from that that it can handle traffic well.. unless they just have enough money to tweak it as needed.. unlike myself

By aldeol from Turkey on Jun 25, 2010

Thanks, I have started the move over to Expression Engine for Speedbitz.com.
So far so good!

By kimya from Turkey on Jun 25, 2010

hello thankyou smile

http://www.iyinetforum.com
http://www.iyinetforum.com smile < ?

By emrah eren from turkiye on Jun 25, 2010

what do you think about infogrok.com?
Can it be an express engine?

By Sandblasted Signs Austin on Jun 26, 2010

nice job. ty

By kral oyun from yok on Jun 26, 2010

Good to know, scalability is a big concern.

By Dust Collector Bag on Jun 26, 2010

we have above almost a complete list. Thanks!

By Ecommerce website development on Jun 27, 2010

This sounds like a great solution, guys. Looking forward to seeing how it works o

By Arıcılık from Türkiye on Jun 27, 2010

we have above almost a complete list. Thanks!

By Oteller from Türkiye on Jun 27, 2010

Thanks, I have started the move over to Expression Engine Güncel Blog

By Güncel Blog from ABD on Jun 28, 2010

Saol

By kaan from İsTanBuL on Jun 28, 2010

Great work thanks for this

By Kartvizit from las vegas on Jun 29, 2010

nice blog thank you very good

By ücretsiz ilan from ücretsiz ilan seri ilan ver on Jun 29, 2010

From time to time we wonder what major websites use ExpressionEngine to manage your content. I usually name a few, as I remember, but Hop Studios has done a great job of doing fieldwork

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By Ergin Ataman from izmir on Jun 29, 2010

they are all great websites and i used them. i really want to thank you for sharing this

By ResimUploadTR from Istanbul on Jun 29, 2010

yeah, I guess that’s a pretty good referral.. I guess you can assume from that that it can handle traffic well.. unless they just have enough money to tweak it as needed.. unlike myself

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By mobilya from iç mimari tasarım on Jul 1, 2010

Thank you for the obvious things, the contribution was for me a few answers.Toko Komputer

By Harga Komputer from uk on Jul 3, 2010

Just to add to your list, we’ve been using expressionengine to run pauladeen.com for the last 20 months. In the last 30 days we’ve had 1.1M unique visitors and served 6.2M pages.

We’ve had no major issues with Expressionengine, our main issue last year was during the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) when our traffic increases by a factor of about 8 we killed our mysql server. After a few optimizations we’ve had no further problems. Great product that makes our lives a lot easier.

By Phil Peterman from Savannah, GA on Jul 4, 2010

Wow, I didn’t realize how many big sites were running on ExpressionEngine, can’t wait to see what the end of the year brings or even next year

By Danny from TX, USA on Jul 24, 2010

Thanks for this list. Very Useful.

By Bir Kadın Fenomeni from Turkey on Jul 28, 2010

Very thanks for this article.

By Nasıl Zayıflarım from Turkey on Jul 28, 2010

Very useful story i will add this into my blog, well done.

By Tim Wehre from Kompozit on Jul 28, 2010

thanks you admin.

By gürteks from Turkey on Jul 28, 2010

Hop Studios: The 32 Largest ExpressionEngine Sites. By Angie Herrera. Every so often we’ll get asked what big websites use ExpressionEngine to manage their ...

By paul from pakistan on Jul 28, 2010

I usually name a few, as I remember, but Hop Studios has done a great job of doing fieldwork

By msn show from turkey on Jul 29, 2010

Every so often we’ll get asked what big websites use ExpressionEngine to manage their ...

By canli show from turkey on Jul 29, 2010

It’s the Songwriters Hall of Fame museum site, which has exhibits for all their inductees, each with hundreds of entries (songs, photos, albums etc) all related back to the songwriter:

By canlı show from turkey on Jul 29, 2010

each with hundreds of entries (songs, photos, albums etc) all related back to the songwriter:

By show sitesi from turkey on Jul 29, 2010

Songwriters Hall of Fame museum site, which has exhibits for all their inductees, each with hundreds of entries

By iskenderun from turkey on Jul 29, 2010

Teşekkürler

By Karaburun Emlak from izmir on Jul 30, 2010

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