Companies formed before the surge of online services have begun to make their presence known on the web, according to research.
An annual survey from UK Online Measurement (UKOM) has shown 25 of the top 50 web brand spots belong to traditional businesses, including the likes of Argos and John Lewis. Seven years ago, there were just 18.
Media brands such as the BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph have also broken their way into the top 50.
The general manager of UKOM, James Smythe, said: "Traditional brands have successfully harnessed the trust and confidence consumers have had with their established businesses offline, by migrating them to their sites on the web."
However, the first four spots are still taken by big internet giants namely Facebook, Google, MSN and Yahoo.
Social media sites now account for 10 spaces in the top 50 compared to just one seven years ago Friends Reunited.
Yet, despite its continued growth and media presence, Twitter remained low down the list at 38, behind traditional companies such as BT and Tesco.
"Over the last seven years, we see two broad developments: first, huge growth in the use of sites built on social content, where we mostly find contributions from people we trust; and second, websites with a high-street or real-world' presence translating the strength of their offline brands into online audiences," Smythe added.
"The web has always made it easier for people to feed their fundamental desire to socialise, but the critical element of trust in social online environments has now become mainstream."
