How TheTopTens Made $68K+ in Annual Revenue
TheTopTens (thetoptens.com) has carved a unique niche as a crowdsourced directory where users create, vote on, and debate top-ten lists across 200+ categories. By tapping into humanity's innate love for rankings and debate, it solves two core problems:
- Information overload: Curates collective opinions on endless topics.
- Community engagement: Lets users contribute rather than passively consume.
Founded in 2005 during Web 2.0's rise, it pre-dated Reddit and Quora in democratizing content creation, amassing 15,000+ daily users by 2025.
1. Directory Overview
| Company Profile | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | TheTopTens |
| URL | https://thetoptens.com |
| Niche/Problem Solved | Top ten lists for everything under the sun. |
| Year Founded | 2005 |
| Current Monthly Visitors | 926.1K |
Estimated Annual Revenue
- Total Monthly Traffic: 926,100 visitors
- Pages per Visit: 3.10
- Ads per Page: 2
- CPM: $1.00
Total Impressions: 5,741,820
Monthly Ad Revenue: $5,741.82
Estimated Annual Revenue: ~$68,902 *estimated
⚠️ Revenue Disclaimer: This is a rough estimate based on industry-standard CPM rates and traffic analysis. Actual revenue may vary significantly based on niche, audience quality, ad placement, seasonality, and monetization strategy. TheTopTens has not publicly disclosed their actual revenue figures.
2. Traffic and Growth Analysis
Monthly Traffic Overview
Total Monthly Traffic
926.1K
Organic Traffic
298.0K
Visitor Engagement
Avg. Time on Site
00:01:42
Pages per Visit
3.10
Bounce Rate
63.4%
Traffic Sources
Growth Drivers
TheTopTens's growth was driven by several key factors:
-
First-mover advantage: Launched in 2005 during the Web 2.0 boom, pre-dating major social platforms like Reddit and Quora in democratizing content creation.
-
SEO dominance: Achieved high rankings for keywords across 200+ categories including music, anime, people, games, and sports, driving significant organic traffic through comprehensive topic coverage.
Organic traffic distribution across TheTopTens' top categories, with music leading at 36.4K monthly visitors
-
User-generated scalability: With 200,000+ lists created by users, the platform requires minimal editorial oversight while continuously expanding content.
-
Viral mechanics: List voting and shareability features drove 35.57% direct traffic, indicating strong user engagement and word-of-mouth growth.
-
Domain longevity: 20-year domain age significantly boosts search engine credibility and rankings.
Growth Timeline & Strategic Evolution:
-
2005–2010: Grew via forum cross-promotions and early blog partnerships during the Web 2.0 era.
-
2011–2020: Leveraged Google's E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) shift by dominating long-tail list queries across diverse categories.
TheTopTens' organic traffic history reveals peak performance in 2016-2017, followed by significant decline due to Google core algorithm updates that impacted user-generated content sites
- 2021–2025: Social media integration (YouTube embeds, Reddit AMAs) drove international expansion, with 11.5% of traffic now coming from India.
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3. Monetization Strategy
Primary Revenue Streams
TheTopTens employs a straightforward monetization strategy focused on advertising:
Primary Revenue Sources:
- Google AdSense: The main revenue driver through display advertisements across the platform
- Amazon Native Shopping Ads: Integrated product recommendations within relevant lists
The platform's low-overhead model relies heavily on user-generated content, keeping operational costs minimal while maximizing ad revenue potential.
4. SEO and Content Strategy
SEO Authority Metrics
Domain Authority
69
Backlinks
183.0K
Referring Domains
8.4K
Keyword Visibility
Total Ranking Keywords
239.0K
Top Ranking Keywords
Keywords driving organic traffic
| Keyword | Monthly Volume | Traffic | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| hardest languages to learn | 18000 | 1600 | 6 |
| twisted dandy | 21000 | 1300 | 6 |
| helluva boss characters | 23000 | 1100 | 5 |
| ugly disney characters | 6500 | 1100 | 1 |
| top tens | 1000 | 833 | 1 |
Top Organic Competitors
Sites competing for similar keywords
| Competitor | Keywords | Overlap | Traffic |
|---|---|---|---|
| watchmojo.com | 286847 | 9.0% | 43301 |
| ranker.com | 1458701 | 5.5% | 91832 |
| kworb.net | 127575 | 4.6% | 15026 |
| tiermaker.com | 114204 | 3.8% | 11681 |
| loudwire.com | 357132 | 3.7% | 20365 |
On-Page SEO Strategy
TheTopTens has built a formidable SEO strategy leveraging its domain authority of 69 and extensive keyword portfolio:
Strengths:
- Long-tail Strategy: 239,000+ ranking keywords cover virtually every niche topic imaginable
- Content Freshness: 5-10 new user-generated lists daily maintain crawl frequency and content relevance
- Backlink Profile: 164,760+ backlinks from 15,320 referring domains boost overall authority
- User-Generated SEO: Community creates content around naturally searched terms
The platform effectively leverages Google's E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) by allowing community consensus to determine rankings, creating perceived authority through collective wisdom.
5. Data Enrichment and User Experience
Unique Data/Features
TheTopTens provides several unique features that differentiate it from competitors:
- Crowdsourced Rankings: 200,000+ user-generated lists across 200+ categories, covering everything from entertainment and sports to controversial subjects
- User Engagement Features: Community-driven voting system, member profiles for tracking contributions and building reputation, plus debate and discussion features on each list item
- Category Organization: Well-structured taxonomy making content discoverable
- Search Functionality: Advanced search across all lists and categories
- Trending Lists: Real-time popularity tracking and trending content identification
6. Actionable Takeaways
5 Key Lessons for Directory Builders:
-
Start with User-Generated Content: Let your community create the value. TheTopTens built 200,000+ lists with minimal editorial oversight, keeping costs low while scaling content exponentially.
-
Target Debate-Worthy Topics: Focus on subjects people naturally argue about (sports, entertainment, politics). This ensures organic engagement and viral sharing without paid promotion.
-
Build SEO into Your Platform: Design your interface so users naturally create content around searchable keywords. TheTopTens ranks for 239,000+ keywords because users create lists people actually search for.
-
Monetize Gradually: Start with simple ad placements (like AdSense) rather than complex subscription models. TheTopTens generates an estimated $68K+ annually with just display ads and affiliate links.
-
Plan for Algorithm Changes: Diversify your traffic sources early. TheTopTens lost significant traffic to Google updates but survived because they had strong direct traffic and community loyalty.
Conclusion
TheTopTens is honestly one of those sites that makes you think "why didn't I build this?"
Here's what blows my mind: they've been doing user-generated content since 2005—before Reddit, before Quora, before anyone really figured out how powerful crowdsourcing could be. And they're still here, 20 years later, making an estimated $68K+ annually with what's essentially a simple voting platform.
What they got right:
- Let users do all the work (200,000+ lists created by the community)
- Picked topics people actually argue about (music, movies, sports)
- Built for SEO from day one (239K ranking keywords!)
- Kept it simple—just ads, no complex monetization
The reality check: But let's be honest—TheTopTens also shows the limits of this approach. The 63% bounce rate and content quality issues are real problems. You can't just throw up a voting platform and expect it to run itself forever.
The takeaway for directory builders: If you're thinking about building something similar today, steal their crowdsourcing playbook but fix their weaknesses. Add better moderation, diversify beyond just ads, and actually invest in user experience.
The core insight remains solid: people love ranking things and arguing about those rankings. Build a platform that taps into that behavior, and you've got something that can last decades.
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