The Top Websites report, available in all ActivTrak plans, shows which websites your users visit most frequently. Use it to understand technology patterns, ensure role alignment, and verify policy compliance.
To access the Top Websites report, navigate to Live Reports > Top Websites.
Tip: Add the Top Websites report to your Favorites for quick access.
The Top Websites Report
Contents
- When to use the Top Websites report
- Navigating the Top Websites report
- Practical applications
- Learn more
When to use the Top Websites report
The Top Websites report shows which websites your team visits most frequently and for how long. This data helps you:
- Ensure compliance with company internet usage policies
- Evaluate if website usage aligns with job roles and responsibilities
Note: Anything set to the Ignore category inside Settings > Classifications will be excluded from these reports. You can read more about this feature here.
Navigating the Top Websites report
Filter settings
Like other Live Reports in ActivTrak, the Top Websites report can be filtered by user, group, and time range using the drop-down filter menu options at the top of the report. Click the Refresh button after making your selections to ensure they are applied.
You can also filter by productivity classification to show only Productive, Unproductive, or Undefined websites, helping you focus on specific aspects of website usage.
Quick Stats
Expand Quick Stats to see time breakdown by productivity category:
- Summary View - Shows time broken into Productive, Unproductive, and Undefined categories
- Detailed View - Further categorizes time as Active or Passive
Quick Stats: Summary View
Quick Stats: Clear View
Using the Top Websites report
The report is displayed in two sections:
The left panel shows the website name, its productivity classification, the time spent on the website and the percentage of overall website usage, sorted from highest to lowest duration. In Summary View, you will see the total time spent visiting websites. Switch to Detailed View for a breakdown by Active and Passive time.
The icon to the left of each website indicates its productivity classification:
- Teal: Productive websites
- Purple: Unproductive websites
- Gray: Undefined websites (not yet classified)
You can directly change a website's Activity Classification (Productive, Unproductive, or Undefined) from this report by clicking the Update Website Classifications button above the right panel. Group Classifications allow you to tailor which websites are productive based on each team's needs. For example, social media sites might be essential for marketing teams while being distracting for engineering teams.
Top Applications Report: Left Panel
Hover over a specific website, and three new options will appear from a hidden menu:
- View Activity: Navigate to the Activity Log, filtered for that particular website
- Open Link: Open the URL for that specific Website in a new tab
- Copy Link: Copy the URL for that specific Website to your device’s clipboard
Websites: Hidden Menu
When you select a website on the left, the right panel shows detailed information broken down into four tabs:
Titles: Top title bars for the selected website, with duration and usage percentage
- Create targeted alarms by clicking the bell icon next to specific titles
- Note: Requires Advanced Details in Sensitive Data Visibility or Screen Details
Subpages: Shows which specific pages are visited most frequently
- Note: Requires Advanced Details in Sensitive Data Visibility or Screen Details
Users: Visual breakdown of top users via heatmap
- Note: Only available if the date range is 30 days or less
Usage: Timeline graph showing website usage patterns
Top Applications: Right Panel
The Titles and Subpages tabs will display two additional icons:
- The screenshot icon allows you to quickly search if there are screenshots available for the associated activity.
Note: Not all accounts can access screenshots; review ActivTrak account requirements here.
- The bell icon lets you quickly create an alarm for the associated activity.
Screenshots & Alarms Icons
Hover over a specific Title or Subpage, and three new options will appear from a hidden menu:
- View Activity: Navigate to the Activity Log, filtered for that specific website
- Open Link: Open the URL for that specific Website in a new tab
- Copy Link: Copy the URL for that specific Website to your device’s clipboard
Titles & Subpages: Hidden Menu
Customizing the report
Productivity classification
Websites are assigned a productivity classification based on your organization's settings. To adjust how websites are classified:
- Navigate to Settings > Classifications
- Find the website you wish to reclassify (Tip: utilize the search bar in the top right corner)
- Change its status to Productive or Unproductive using the dropdown menu
Note: Classification is done at the domain level.
For more information about setting up Classifications, we have these resources:
- Help Center Article: Guide to Activity Classification
- Webcast: Classification 101
Creating website alarms
You can set up alarms to be notified when certain websites are visited. To create an alarm:
- Select a Website in the left panel
- From the Titles or Subpages tab in the right panel, click on the bell icon next to the item of interest
- Configure your alarm settings
- Click Create
Note: Only users with Admin or Configurator access can create new alarms.
For more information about setting up alarms, see this article in our Help Center: ActivTrak Alarms Guide.
Exporting data
Use our Export feature to seamlessly integrate ActivTrak data with additional metrics to uncover correlations between technology investments and key performance indicators, such as overall employee performance.
To export data from the Top Websites report:
- Set your desired filters for user, group, time range, and productivity classification
- Click the Export button in the upper right corner
- Select the data you want to extract: Websites Only, Websites and Titles, Websites and Subpages or Websites and Users
- Choose to Download the data directly to your device or Save to Google
Practical applications
Ensuring policy compliance
Use the Top Websites report to maintain alignment with company internet usage policies:
- Track time spent on social media and entertainment websites
- Identify excessive use of non-work-related websites during business hours
- Monitor access to websites that may violate company policy
- Verify that teams are using approved web resources for business tasks
Monitoring website usage with alarms
Set up targeted notifications to stay informed when specific websites are visited:
- Receive alerts when unauthorized websites are accessed on company devices
- Monitor usage of high-risk websites that may present security concerns
- Track visits to competitor websites that could indicate potential turnover risks
- Get notified when critical business resources are being accessed consistently
Optimizing technology investments
The Top Websites report provides an introductory view into application usage that can help you identify:
- Which websites are being used most frequently
- How usage varies across teams and departments
- Potential opportunities for consolidating similar tools
- Websites where usage is lower than expected, indicating potential adoption issues
This report is a helpful starting point for organizations making strategic decisions about software investments. However, for more comprehensive license optimization and technology ROI analysis, ActivTrak offers specialized solutions:
- Technology Usage Dashboard (available in select plans) - Provides deeper insights into website and application usage patterns, adoption rates, and unused licenses with detailed visualization of technology utilization across teams.
- Technology License Optimization Report (Power BI template) - Delivers advanced analytics to maximize software investments through intelligent license management, helping organizations reduce technology costs and make data-driven decisions about software renewals.
Pro Tip: The Technology Usage Dashboard shows both application and website usage in one view, which is particularly valuable for tools that can be accessed via either method (like Zoom, ChatGPT, or Microsoft Teams) to get a complete picture of actual usage.