Facebook was the No. 1 website in the world for the sixth consecutive year, according to Experian Hitwise.

As further evidence that the worlds of search and social are colliding, Facebook accounted for four of the top 10 most frequently searched terms in 2011. “Facebook” took the No. 1 spot for the sixth consecutive year, a report from Experian Hitwise found.

The three others terms pertaining to Facebook on Google’s search engine were “facebook login”at No. 3, “facebook.com” at No. 5 and “www.facebook.com”at No. 8. The list demonstrates the popularity of the social giant, but a number of other websites rounded out the top 10, including YouTube (No. 2), Craigslist (No. 4), Yahoo (No. 6), eBay (No. 7) and Mapquest (No. 9).

Yahoo’s appearance on the list is especially interesting given the search portal’s waning popularity Most recently, Brafton reported that Bing and Yahoo are now essentially tied in the second position in terms of search engine market share, well behind leader Google. The popularity of Yahoo mail (the No. 4 website by Hitwise’s measure) may also have contributed to the prominence of this search term.

While searches for Yahoo as a potential conduit to Yahoo mail may remind marketers of the value of email marketing, the report proved the significance of both SEO and social media marketing, as Facebook and Google were the two most frequently visited websites in 2011. The pair appeared in the same order atop the list in 2010 as well. According to Experian, 10.29 percent of all website traffic in 2011 went to Facebook.com, while 7.7 percent went to Google.com.

Myspace’s position as a viable social network may officially be over as it fell from the top 10 entirely. While this certainly doesn’t come as a surprise, its absence further cements Facebook as the global leader in social media.

Facebook’s rapid ascent has continued in recent years, as the website becomes important not only to consumers but also to brands with social media marketing campaigns. Most recent figures peg Facebook’s active users at more than 800 million

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.