Which social networks do the world's most-visited websites link to from their homepage? We checked 572 homepages from the Tranco top 1,000 and recorded every link to a social profile. Here is how many link out, to which networks, how many and where, set against the platforms Americans use.
Of 572 working homepages among the 1,000 most-visited domains, 382 (67%) link to at least one social-media profile; 190 link to none. See details
After X, the most-linked networks are YouTube (47%), Instagram (46%), Facebook (44%), LinkedIn (37%); TikTok is on 15% of homepages, and Threads and Bluesky on under 5% each. See details
X is linked from 53% of homepages, more than any other network, though only 18% of U.S. adults use it (Pew); YouTube, used by 84%, is the second-most linked at 47%. See details
Sites that link to social media link to 4 networks (median), and 172 homepages link to five or more. 96% of the sites with links have at least one in the footer. See details
Years after Twitter became X, 161 of the 301 sites linking to X (53%) still use only a twitter.com address. See details
The biggest sites link least: 43% of homepages in the top 100 link to social media, against 70% of the rest. Google, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Wikipedia link to none. See details
How many top websites link to social media?
Two in three. We opened the homepage of each of the 1,000 most-visited domains on the Tranco list in a desktop browser and recorded every link to a profile on a social network. Of the 572 that answered with a working homepage, 382 (67%) linked to at least one; 190 linked to none. Share buttons, links to single posts or videos and a network's links to itself (YouTube's own homepage linking to YouTube) don't count.
Which social networks do websites link to?
X leads, on 301 homepages (53%), followed by YouTube (267), Instagram (262), Facebook (250) and LinkedIn (214). Newer networks barely register: 24 homepages link to Threads and 27 to Bluesky.
X is the network top websites link to mostShare of 572 working homepages among the 1,000 most-visited domains that link to a profile on each network, October 2026.Use this chart on your site
Often: 267 of the 572 homepages (47%) link to a YouTube channel, making it the second-most-linked network after X. Set against how people use the networks, the outlier is X. In Pew Research Center's 2026 survey, 84% of U.S. adults say they use YouTube and 70% Facebook, but only 18% use X, the network top websites link to most. Facebook runs the other way: it is the second-most-used platform but only the fourth-most-linked.
What websites link to vs what people useBlue: top homepages linking to the network. Grey: U.S. adults who ever use it (Pew, 2026).
The comparison mixes two groups: the Tranco list is global, while Pew surveys U.S. adults. It shows which networks websites point visitors to next to the networks Americans use, not a like-for-like measure.
How many social networks do websites link to?
Usually several. The sites that link to social media link to a median of 4 networks, and 172 homepages link to five or more. 365 of the 382 (96%) put at least one of those links in the page footer, the usual home of a row of social icons.
Sites that link to social media link to 4 networks (median)How many networks each of the 572 homepages links to.Use this chart on your site
Yes. Twitter was renamed X in 2023, but of the 301 homepages that link to an X profile, 161 (53%) still use only a twitter.com address and 7 use both; 133 use only x.com. It's a sign that many footers haven't been updated since.
Do the biggest websites link to social media?
Less than the rest. In the Tranco top 100, 26 of 61 working homepages (43%) link to a social profile, against 356 of 511 (70%) further down the list. Google, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Wikipedia link to none from their homepages; GitHub and Amazon Web Services link to 6 networks each. Every site's result is in the CSV.
What this means for your website
Link to the networks you post on. A link to an abandoned profile tells visitors it's abandoned.
Put the links in the footer. 96% of top sites with social links have at least one there.
Link your YouTube channel if you have one. It's the platform the most Americans use, and 47% of top homepages link theirs.
Update twitter.com links to x.com. The current address shows the footer is maintained.
Sites. The 579 working homepages found among the 1,000 highest-ranked domains on the Tranco list ZJ8PG in our homepage video study, a list built for research (Le Pochat et al., NDSS 2019). On this second visit 7 failed to load or answered with an error or bot check (avito.ru, intuit.com, shopee.co.id, shopee.com.br, umich.edu among them), leaving 572.
Crawl. On October 29, 2026 we opened each homepage in headless Chromium driven by Playwright, at a desktop size of 1366 x 900, waited five seconds, scrolled to the bottom and collected every link on the page, including links inside web components. A link counts when it points to a profile, channel, page or community on one of 18 networks (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Threads, Discord, Reddit, Twitch, Telegram, WhatsApp, Bluesky, Snapchat, VK, Weibo and LINE); share buttons, single posts and videos are left out, and so are a network's links to itself. "Footer" means the link sits inside the page's footer element or in the bottom 30% of the page.
Checking the detection. We reopened a random 20 homepages where links were found, outlined every detected link and screenshotted it: in 18 the links were on screen, and in 2 they were in the page but not displayed (counted all the same). Of a random 10 homepages where none were found, 9 showed no social links at the foot of the page; BBC's shows follow icons built as buttons that open a menu rather than links, which this method doesn't count. None of the sites or networks reviewed or endorsed this study.
Mark Studios. "Website Social Media Links Study." Published Oct 29, 2026. https://www.markstudios.com/research/website-social-media-links-study
APA
Mark Studios. (2026, October 29). Website social media links study. https://www.markstudios.com/research/website-social-media-links-study
MLA
“Website Social Media Links Study.” Mark Studios, 29 Oct. 2026, www.markstudios.com/research/website-social-media-links-study.
Chicago
Mark Studios. “Website Social Media Links Study.” Last modified October 29, 2026. https://www.markstudios.com/research/website-social-media-links-study.
BibTeX
@misc{markstudios_website_social_media_links_study_2026,
author = {{Mark Studios}},
title = {{Website Social Media Links Study}},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
url = {https://www.markstudios.com/research/website-social-media-links-study},
note = {Last verified 2026-10-29}
}
Our measurements and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.
We plan to rerun the crawl every six months with the homepage video study. Corrections go to contact@markstudios.com.
Oct 29, 2026: First published: 572 homepages among the 1,000 most-visited domains.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of websites link to social media?
Among the most-visited websites, 67%. Of 572 working homepages among the 1,000 most-visited domains on the Tranco list, 382 linked to at least one profile on a social network in October 2026, most often X, YouTube and Instagram. The sites that did linked to a median of 4 networks. Smaller business websites may differ.
Which social media links should be on a website?
The networks your customers use and you actually post on. Among top websites the most linked are X (53% of homepages), YouTube (47%) and Instagram (46%). Among U.S. adults the most used are YouTube (84%) and Facebook (70%), in Pew's 2026 survey.
Where should social media icons go on a website?
Usually in the footer. Of the 382 top homepages that linked to social profiles, 365 (96%) had at least one of those links in the page footer. A row of icons at the foot of the page is the standard placement, next to the contact and company links, and 67% of all the homepages we checked had social links somewhere.
Do websites still link to Twitter instead of X?
Many do. Of the 301 top homepages linking to an X profile in October 2026, 161 (53%) used only a twitter.com address and 7 used both. Only 133 used just the x.com address. Twitter was renamed X in 2023, so a twitter.com link is usually one that hasn't been updated since.
How many websites link to a YouTube channel?
47% of the most-visited websites' homepages link to a YouTube channel, which makes YouTube the second-most-linked network in our check of 572 homepages. YouTube is the platform the most U.S. adults use (84%, Pew 2026), so a channel link reaches the widest audience.
Can I use this data?
Yes. Our measurements and the per-site CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. The Pew figures belong to Pew Research Center and are quoted from its 2026 fact sheet; the websites and their profiles belong to their owners.
