How to Filter and Verify High-Traffic Websites

Learn how to filter website lists for minimum traffic requirements in Google Sheets and verify their historical stability using the Wayback Machine.

June 30, 2026 By Ross Mae Santos

This guide demonstrates how to filter a master spreadsheet to identify partner websites with a minimum of 10,000 monthly traffic. It also covers how to cross-reference those websites with historical archives to ensure they have stable traffic profiles over time.

This guide is intended for SEO specialists, link builders, and outreach coordinators who need to vet potential partner websites for quality and historical stability before pursuing collaborations.

Setup Filter

Select all traffic values that exceed 10,000 to narrow down the view.

Highlight Selected Websites

Avoid selecting websites with rows highlighted in pink, as this indicates their traffic is declining.

Step #1: Select a cell corresponding to a website with stable traffic above 10,000. — Select a cell corresponding to a website with stable traffic above 10,000.

Step #2: Click the Fill color button in the top toolbar. — Click the **Fill color** button in the top toolbar.

Step #3: Select a color, such as yellow, to mark the website as a candidate. — Select a color, such as yellow, to mark the website as a candidate.

Verify Website History

Step #4: Click the + button in your browser to open a new tab. — Click the + button in your browser to open a new tab.

5

Type Wayback Machine into the search bar and press Enter.

Step #6: Click on the search result for the Wayback Machine website. — Click on the search result for the **Wayback Machine** website.

Step #7: Switch back to your Google Sheets tab. — Switch back to your Google Sheets tab.

Step #8: Click on a highlighted website URL to select it. — Click on a highlighted website URL to select it.

9

Press Cmd + C (or Ctrl + C on Windows) to copy the URL.

Step #10: Switch back to the Wayback Machine browser tab. — Switch back to the Wayback Machine browser tab.

Step #11: Click inside the main search input field. — Click inside the main search input field.

12

Press Cmd + V (or Ctrl + V) to paste the copied URL.

13

Press Enter to search the archives.

Review the Wayback Machine calendar timeline to verify that the website has a stable history without significant fluctuations or missing snapshots.

Repeat this verification process for each of your highlighted websites.

Q: Do we need to manually check the traffic in Ahrefs?

A: No, the traffic numbers in the checklist are automatically updated every week from the main dashboard list.

Q: What does a pink highlighted row indicate?

A: A pink row means the website's traffic is actively declining. You should avoid selecting these sites for your lists.

Q: What should I look for when checking a site on the Wayback Machine?

A: Ensure that the website's history shows stable activity without major historical gaps, unusual fluctuations, or systemic downtime.

Term	Definition
Ahrefs	An SEO software suite used to estimate website traffic and analyze backlinks.
Wayback Machine	A digital archive of the World Wide Web used to view older versions of websites and check their historical stability.